More Fruits of "Godly Christians" - 13 Year Old Attempts Suicide

Personally, I hope that there is a special place in Hell for those who denigrate and malign others out of supposed religiosity. How much blood and/or ruined lives do these false Christians have to have on their hands before they are satisfied? Christ himself must be sickened by the pain and suffering engendered by folks like Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, James Dobson, Don Wildmon, et al. These foul individuals not only make a nice living off of peddling hatred and intolerance, but they knowingly engage in behavior that encourages others to torment and harass others. I can only wonder at the psychological and moral depravity of these individuals who seemingly only feel good about themselves by maligning and denigrating their fellow humans. These people make the most tawdry whore look like a tower of virtue. Their latest victim is a 13 year old in Tehachapi, California, who tried to hang himself and is now on life support. Here are some highlights from KGET-TV 17:
*
Friends and neighbors of Tehachapi 13-year-old who attempted suicide Sunday said the boy is openly gay and was taunted by bullies for years, at school and at a local park.

T*he bullying might have been what led him to try to take his own life, friends said. The boy hanged himself at his own home from a tree and has been on life support since Sunday, according to the Tehachapi Police Department.
*
He previously attended Jacobsen Middle School, but was put on independent study this year. Friends said he was still bullied outside of school for being gay and bisexual, but he didn't tell close friends how the bullying affected him.
*
[S]ome parents said the school hasn't done enough to prevent bullying and they are concerned about their children's safety at school.
*
As a parent, I truly cannot say that I would not resort to violence against some of the perpetrators if this child were one of my own. Christianity becomes a more toxic and foul belief system with every passing day in the hands of the professional Christians who maintain an atmosphere where this type of situation becomes all too likely. I find it more and more difficult to have anything to do with Christianity - epscially because the "good Christians," to there are any constantly yield the field to the hate mongers rather than openly confront them.

More Saturday Male Beauty

Banana Republic, Here We Come - Downhill with the GOP

I suspect many voters are feeling that the November election offers them no really good options. On the one hand, we have the increasingly insane and sectarian GOP. On the other hand, we have the incompetent and spineless/truth challenged Democrats. It is in many ways a dilemma of choosing one's poison. I don't want the GOP in power, yet I expect nothing really positive from the Democrats whose only value seems to be that they're not Republicans. It really is a pathetic state of affairs. In his column in today's New York Times, Paul Krugman adds reasons to vote for the Democrats if only because they're not peddling the GOP party line. Here are some highlights:
*
Never mind the war on terror, the [GOP]party’s main concern seems to be the war on arithmetic. And this party has a better than even chance of retaking at least one house of Congress this November.
*
On Thursday, House Republicans released their “Pledge to America,” supposedly outlining their policy agenda. In essence, what they say is, “Deficits are a terrible thing. Let’s make them much bigger.” The document repeatedly condemns federal debt — 16 times, by my count. But the main substantive policy proposal is to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, which independent estimates say would add about $3.7 trillion to the debt over the next decade — about $700 billion more than the Obama administration’s tax proposals.
*
[T]he only way to balance the budget by 2020, while simultaneously (a) making the Bush tax cuts permanent and (b) protecting all the programs Republicans say they won’t cut, is to completely abolish the rest of the federal government: “No more national parks, no more Small Business Administration loans, no more export subsidies, no more N.I.H. No more Medicaid (one-third of its budget pays for long-term care for our parents and others with disabilities). No more child health or child nutrition programs. No more highway construction. No more homeland security. Oh, and no more Congress.”
*
So how did we get to the point where one of our two major political parties isn’t even trying to make sense? The answer isn’t a secret. In short, say whatever it takes to gain power. That’s a philosophy that now, more than ever, holds sway. . .
*
[T]he clear and present danger isn’t that the G.O.P. will be able to achieve its long-run goals. It is, rather, that Republicans will gain just enough power to make the country ungovernable, unable to address its fiscal problems or anything else in a serious way. As I said, banana republic, here we come.

*

Canada is looking better and better all the time. Hell, even some former banana republics might be better than staying in the USA given the country's direction.

Sex Scandal Threatens a Homophobic Georgia Pastor’s Money Empire

With yet a fourth young male now coming forward and alleging that he was the victim of sexual coercion, the empire of Bishop Eddie L. Long (pictured at left in a muscle shit shot e-mailed to a victim) may well be on the verge of crashing. Long has clearly used religion to parlay himself a fortune and a lavish life style. In addition to his apparently hypocritical public homophobia and condemnation of gays,to me, Long represents the one of the worse aspects of modern Christianity in that he seems to put money above all else (his home is pictured below). The Gospel message of giving away one's fortune to help the poor and homeless was surely lost on Long. And, of course, many other professional Christians like Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and many others who have used hate and intolerance wrapped in religiosity to line their own pockets. Like Ted Haggard - who has come to Long's defense - it's Long's hypocrisy (if the allegations prove true) that will make his downfall so sweet to savor. Long has repeatedly condemned homosexuality and fomented the "cure" myth - now, the reality may well be that all the while he was lusting for it like Haggard and Ed Schrock and abusing his position of trust to satisfy his sexual cravings.

*

The New York Times looks at Long's lavish life style and the allegations that may well spell the end of his disingenuous career. Here are soem highlights:
*
Over the last two decades, Bishop Eddie L. Long has built a religious and financial empire from scratch, transforming a small, faltering church into a modern cathedral with one of the largest and most influential congregations in the country.
*
Today, Bishop Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church includes a multimillion-dollar network of charities and businesses, a private school and the Samson’s Health and Fitness Center, where he holds court and pumps iron with young people.
*
His message that God wants people to prosper has attracted celebrities, professional athletes and socialites, swelling the membership to 25,000. The church hosted four United States presidents for the funeral of Coretta Scott King in 2006.
*
But Bishop Long’s reputation and sprawling enterprises now stand threatened by a sex scandal. Four former members of a youth group he runs have accused him of repeatedly coercing them into homosexual sex acts, and of abusing his considerable moral authority over them while plying them with cash, new cars, lodging and lavish trips.
*
The accusations are all the more explosive because Bishop Long styles himself a social conservative, rails against homosexuality and calls for a ban on same-sex marriage. His church even holds seminars promising to “cure” homosexuals.
*
In 2005, for instance, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published tax records showing that from 1997 to 2000 Bishop Long had accepted $3 million in salary, housing, a car and other perks from a charity he controlled.
*
The four complaints filed in court describe how Bishop Long arranged for the church to provide cars to the young men and put them on the church payroll. Two of them also said they received free lodging in church-owned houses, where, they said, Bishop Long visited them for sessions of kissing, oral sex or masturbation. He also took them on trips to other cities and abroad, sharing rooms with them, with the knowledge of several church officials, the complaints say.
*
“There are biblical and spiritual passages that were given to them to make them comfortable and make them believe that they were not gay,” Ms. Bernstein said.
*
If the allegations against Long prove true, it will be yet another example of the louder one markets homophobia, the more likely it is they are secretly getting gays sex on the side. It does make one wonder about Tony Perkins, Robert Knight, Maggie Gallagher and similar professional gay haters.

"Battered Gay Voter Syndrome"

Since this past Tuesday disaster in the U.S. Senate there as been much debate about the way - at least in my view - the way the Democrats play LGBT voters again and again for votes and money, yet never seem to be able to deliver on promises. Now, even the Libertarian Party has weighed in and is urging LGBT Americans to break the "battered gay voter syndrome." The Libertarians point out that by constantly allowing themselves to be played for fools by the Democrats, LGBT voters are displaying traits akin to battered spouses who keep on returning to the abusing spouse no matter how bad the treatment they receive. Here are some highlights from a press release from the Libertarian Party on Thursday:
*
WASHINGTON - Like abused spouses who keep returning to their aggressors, gay voters keep handing their votes to the Democrats who abuse them. The Libertarian Party (LP) wants to break this self-destructive behavior and offers LGBT voters a better alternative.
*
LP Chairman Mark Hinkle said, "Exit polls indicate that Democrats get over 70% of LGBT votes in federal elections. Those voters must really love the Democrats' rhetoric, because they certainly aren't seeing any action.
*
"President Obama and the Democrats had almost a year of complete control of the federal government: the Presidency, the House, and a filibuster-proof 60 votes in the Senate. They could have repealed 'don't ask don't tell.' They could have gotten rid of the Defense of Marriage Act. But they didn't do either of those things. That's a complete and total betrayal of all the promises they made to gay and lesbian voters for years.
*
"After a carefully orchestrated failure in the Senate, the Democrats are now blaming Republicans for blocking the repeal of 'don't ask don't tell.'
*
Unlike the Democratic and Republican Parties, the Libertarian Party believes that gays and lesbians deserve equal treatment under the law.
*

Personally, I am over the lies and inaction. The question is this: are we willing to walk from the Democrats, allow them to suffer in the short term as a consequence, and perhaps end the cycle of abuse in the long term? Frankly, I am leaning towards NOT voting on November 2, 2010.

Saturday Male Beauty

Ken Cuccinelli Files Amicus Brief Saying Gay Marriage Not A Fundamental Right

Virginia Attorney General Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli has joined in an amicus brief filed in Perry v. Schwarzenegger yesterday, September 24, 2010, arguing that gay marriage is not a fundamental right under the U. S. Constitution. From his past actions, it's pretty clear that Cuccinelli would most prefer to apply his own version of a "Final Solution" to LGBT Virginians and simply drive gays from Virginia and exterminate those who fail to leave. The man is a religious extremist of the highest degree who ought to be working for a professional Christian organization such as FCR or holding office in Opus Dei as opposed to serving as the top legal official for a state with over 7 million residents. So far I haven't seen any Virginia newspaper report on the filing - not a surprise given the low quality of most of said newspapers - and learned of it via the Wyoming StarTribune which is reporting in part as follows:
*
Wyoming and nine other states will file a legal brief today saying a federal court "exceeded its judicial authority" when it ruled that the U.S. Constitution requires legal marriage to include same-sex couples.
*
In the amicus brief, which will be filed late this afternoon in the case of Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, the states disagree with the court's ruling that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right. The brief also asserts that individual states, not the federal court system, have final say in decisions about whether to allow same-sex marriages.
*
The other states joining the brief are Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Utah and Virginia. The brief doesn't mean the states will join the lawsuit. Amicus briefs are often submitted in court cases by outside parties to volunteer their opinions on cases.
*
The brief can be viewed here. Not surprisingly, the brief tries to basically ignore Loving v. Virginia where the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in to end illegal discrimination under the U. S. Constitution. Kookinelli and his fellow Christo-fascist attorneys general would limit Loving to ending laws that continued "an incident of slavery" and "measures designed to maintain White Supremacy." Mob majority rule is clearly the mantra of these individuals - a mantra that ought to terrify every minority group in their respective states. The brief states in part as follows:
*
Federal intervention was justified in cases such as Loving to uphold the core guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. See, e.g., Loving, 388 U.S. at 6, 11 (describing anti-miscegenation laws as “an incident to slavery” and as “measures designed to maintain White Supremacy”); id. at 11 (observing that “[o]ver the years, this Court has consistently repudiated ‘[d]istinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry’ as being ‘odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality’”).
*
But the Supreme Court has never countenanced the use of federal judicial power to recast the basic parameters of marriage. The notion is at war with the federalist structure of our republic. That structure is designed to allow individual states to experiment with novel social or economic arrangements, without the attendant disruption of forcing the entire nation to do so.
*
[V]oters and legislatures in forty-one states have affirmatively rejected the notion of same-sex marriage, either by constitutional amendment or legislation, and voters or legislatures in four other states have left in place statutes that plainly assume the opposite-sex definition of marriage. See supra n.1. Thus, as in Glucksburg, “[t]he history of the law’s treatment of [same-sex marriage] in this country has been and continues to be one of the rejection of nearly all efforts to permit it.” 521 U.S. at 728. “That being the case . . . the asserted ‘right’ . . . is not a fundamental liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause.”
*
The United States Supreme Court has never held that homosexuality constitutes a suspect class, and the law in this circuit is that homosexual persons do not constitute a suspect class. . . . Because Proposition 8 does not involve a fundamental right or a suspect class, it benefits from a “strong presumption of validity.” Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312, 319 (1993). Proposition 8 must be upheld “‘if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification.’”
*

Of course, given his religious fanaticism, Cuccinelli's personal religious beliefs are the only basis needed to uphold the religious based discrimination embodied in Proposition 8. Never mind that the proponents of Prop 8 failed to produce any facts to support it other than by default religious belief.

Court Orders Maj. Margaret Witt Reinstated: DADT Unconstitutional

The Christianists and Barack Obama suffered a second major blow as an other federal court found DADT to be unconstitutional and ordered the reinstatement of Major Margaret Whitt who was discharged under the religious bigotry writ law in DADT. After Tuesday's Senate vote, it's obvious many in Congress should resign for supporting an unconstitutional law and basically showing contempt for the Constitution's guaranty of religious freedom and its prohibition of religious tests. While pundits on the right and blogs run by self-loathing closet cases like Matt Drudge have denigrated Lady Gaga's activism, the truth is the 24 year old entertainer has a better grasp of what equality under the law means than 43 U.S. Senators. Faced with two court decisions now, will Obama continue to kiss the ass of the Christian Right and Christianists within the military or uphold the Constitution? If he had a spine, he'd support the Constitution, but sadly, Obama seems to be made of Jello - so I'm not holding my breath. Here are highlights from the Los Angeles Times on yesterday's ruling:
*
The U.S. military violated the constitutional rights of a decorated Air Force Reserve flight nurse when it discharged her under the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays in the armed forces, a federal judge said Friday in ordering her reinstatement.
*
U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton's order applied only to Maj. Margaret Witt, but the judge in Tacoma, Wash., made it clear that a blanket policy of dismissing openly gay military personnel from the armed forces violated an appeals court holding that such action was justified only if it advanced important military objectives.
*
Leighton cited Witt's exemplary career and performance evaluations as evidence that the Air Force was unharmed by her sexual orientation. In fact, he noted, former colleagues had testified that it was her dismissal that proved disruptive of the aeromedical unit's mission, not her homosexuality.
*
Witt and her attorneys heralded the ruling as a victory for the armed forces and the soldiers and sailors serving their country.
*
"Many people forget that the U.S. military is the most diverse workforce in the world — we are extremely versed in adaptation," said Witt, adding that she looked forward to rejoining her unit at McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma. "Thousands of men and women who are gay and lesbian honorably serve this country in our military."
*
Leighton observed at the conclusion of the trial on Witt's lawsuit seeking reinstatement that he was bound by a 2008 ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that said gays couldn't be fired from the military unless their discharge was necessary to further important military objectives.
*
During the trial that concluded this week, Witt reiterated that she had never disclosed her sexual orientation to Air Force colleagues, nor had she ever engaged in homosexual relations on duty or on military grounds. She had been in a committed relationship for six years with a civilian woman with whom she shared a home in Spokane, Wash., 250 miles away from the base.
*
DADT needs to end. Despite John McCain's untethered claims, witch hunts are going on constantly and I have had clients discharged who never knew for sure who even was their accuser(s).

Friday Male Beauty

Gay Parenting - The Pain, the Joy and the Pride

I know that a number of my readers were married like I was and that the coming out and divorce process is horrific in many cases to say the least. One of the most painful aspects emotionally is the distance that can develop with one's children and the all too easily embraced feeling that one has failed them as a parent. I certainly experienced much of this myself.

*

The good news is that time is on the side of the gay parent. My therapist and others stated this repeatedly to me during some of my darkest days and it turned out to be true. I have a wonderful relationship now with my youngest daughter - pictured here giving a wedding toast - and I am also back in communication and better terms with my other two children. I view the three of them as the most successful aspect of my entire life. I sincerely hope that others who are currently experiencing very dark times will hang onto the knowledge that it does get better. Perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but again, time is on your side. I urge each of you currently feeling lost and thinking that all is over to take a deep breath, step back, and try to be patient.

LGBT Donations to Democrats Plunge

New data out shows that many in the LGBT community have signed on to "Don't Ask, Don't Give" - donations to Democratic Party organizations are down some 60% from last year and down even more when compared to the year prior to that. The big question will be whether or not the suppression of the LGBT vote on November 2, 2010 parallels the drop in monetary donations. I'm sure that worthless DNC chair Tim Kaine will blame the recession, but given the fact that LGBT travel spending has remained steady, that excuse would seem lame to me. Open Secrets Blog looks at this phenomenon which I personally hope will intensify. Here are some highlights:
*
[I]n an election cycle full of controversy over hot button issues such as adoption, “don’t ask, don’t tell” and California’s Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage, donations to federal candidates from gay and lesbian interest groups are lagging. So far during the 2010 election cycle, people and political action committees associated with this special interest area have donated $744,040 to federal candidates, with 96 percent of funds going to Democrats. That’s compared to more than $2 million contributed to federal candidates during the 2006 congressional elections and $1.8 million contributed during the 2008 presidential election cycle.
*
The Human Rights Campaign has donated a huge majority of the industry’s funds going to federal candidates this cycle, contributing $625,272 to primarily Democratic candidates.

*

Why am I not surprised to see that HRC continues its shameless groveling and ass kissing of Democrats no matter how little the Democrats deliver on their campaign promises. HRC has become little more that an enabler and tool of disingenuous Democrats - one of the reasons I stopped giving a dime to HRC years ago. As for Obama administration calls for continued LGBT support, Pam Spaulding aptly describes the situation as follows:
*
Yep Axelrod goes right to the "just sacrifice for us, look at the big picture" which roughly translates into "Lie down here in the gutter -- neatly please. I need to back over you slowly before Barry and Rahm hop in and I can gun it."

*

Note: Image above from Pam's House Blend.

Is Obama Backing Up the Bus to Run Over Us Yet Again?

It sounds like our faux "fierce advocate" in the White House is backing up the bus so that he and his administration can run over LGBT Americans and gays service members yet again. I guess the thinking is that Tuesday's fiasco might not have been resounding enough to guarantee that LGBT voters will stay home on November 2, 2010. Hence the decision to throw some more gas on an already raging fire so to speak. As The Advocate is reporting, Obama's Department of Justice has filed a brief in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States opposing the entry of an injunction that would ban the enforcement of DADT. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Gates - who I view as a veritable snake in the grass - as also issued a statement on the enforcement of DADT. Here's Gates' bullshit filled statement:
*
Today, the Department of Justice made a filing in a legal challenge to the Don’t Ask, Don’t tell (DADT) policy, as it traditionally does when acts of Congress are challenged. This filing in no way diminishes the President’s firm commitment to achieve a legislative repeal of DADT – indeed, it clearly shows why Congress must act to end this misguided policy. The President was disappointed earlier this week when a majority of the Senate was willing to proceed with National Defense Authorization Act, but political posturing created a 60 vote threshold. The President spoke out against DADT in his first State of the Union Address, and the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs have both testified in support of repeal. And the Department of Defense continues to work on a plan on how to implement repeal. The President, along with his Administration, will continue to work with the Senate Leadership to achieve a legislative repeal of DADT as outlined in the NDAA this fall.
*

The statement is particularly ironic in that Obama did not do crap in terms of pushing for a yes vote this past Tuesday. Apparently, we in the LGBT community are viewed as utter cretins who lack the brains to recognize when we are being screwed over - again. Here are highlights from the Advocate story:
*
The Department of Justice asked a federal judge Thursday to continue enforcing the military's ban on gay and lesbian service members, despite a ruling earlier this month that struck down "don't ask, don't tell" as unconstitutional.
*
In a 14-page filing, Justice Department attorneys argued that an immediate, permanent injunction against enforcing the law —one supported by Log Cabin Republicans, which successfully challenged DADT in court and has argued for a halt to all discharges of gay service members — would be "untenable."
*
DADT repeal advocates and attorneys representing Log Cabin Republicans immediately slammed the Justice Department's filing. Dan Woods, lead attorney for the national gay Republican group, called the arguments "ridiculous" and said his team would file a response as soon as Friday.

"It’s our view that the objections fail to recognize the implications of the government's defeat at this trial," Woods told The Advocate. "This case was never limited to only Log Cabin members. And the request for a stay ignores the harm that would be suffered by current and potential service members during a period of the stay."
*
But Servicemembers United executive director Alex Nicholson said the Obama administration "had a choice to take several different routes [with the injunction], from the moderate and reasonable to the extremely ridiculous. It appears that they decided to go with the latter end of the spectrum."
*
Woods criticized that argument as a been-there, done-that tactic. "It's the same argument they made before the trial. 'Let us have time to study it. Congress is considering repealing it.' Judge Phillips has rejected it before."
*
In my view, the only thing that's untenable is that anyone in the LGBT community can still believe that Obama isn't a cynical, lying bastard when it comes to LGBT issues. Personally, I no longer believe a thing the man has to say. I'm done with supporting him.

More Thursday Male Beauty

Catholic Archbishop: Civil Marriage and Church Marriage Are the Same - But Only When Conveninent

The bullshit and verbal diarrhea emanating from the Roman Catholic Church continues to be mind boggling. For non-Catholics, to understand what follows you need to know that the Catholic Church does NOT recognize civil marriages that go against Church dogma on divorce. Indeed, divorced Catholics and those who marry divorced Catholics cannot be married in the Church and their marriages are not recognized by the Church. Yet now, as part of its ongoing theocratic anti-gay marriage agenda, the Church - or at least the Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minneapolis(pictured at right) - is trying to blow a smoke screen and conflate civil marriage with Church/religious marriage. The Church's real goal? To put civil rights up for popular vote and in the process force the Church's religious dogma into the civil laws. And if one is not Catholic and/or doesn't subscribe to the Church's view? Archbishop Nienstedt's response id basically go f**K yourself. Meanwhile, of course, the Church continues to protect sexual predators who rape children and youths. Here are highlights from Minnesota Public Radio:
*
Nienstedt: . . . And I wrote an op/ed piece in the Star Tribune in April calling for a constitutional amendment on marriage to protect marriage as defined as a relationship between one man and one woman. Last year, in the Catholic Spirit, I wrote a column on the reality.
*
Crann: In the DVD, you call same-sex marriage a 'dangerous risk to society.' Those are your words. Why is that?
*
Nienstedt: Because it confuses the very notion of marriage and the complementarity which marriage has always been founded upon between the two sexes, the man and the woman, the husband and the wife. And by expanding the definition of marriage, I mean where do you begin to stop?
*
Nienstedt: There is no difference between the civil and the religious definition of marriage because marriage comes to us by virtue of creation and our creator. And so the state does not establish marriage. Marriage came long before there was any government. And so this is a natural reality, and it's defined by the natural law, what we call the natural law. And so it precedes any government.
*
The archdiocese believes that the time has come for voters to be presented directly with an amendment to our state constitution to preserve our historic understanding of marriage. In fact, this is the only way to put the one man, one woman definition of marriage beyond the reach of the courts and politicians.
*
I left the Catholic Church because I found it to be a corrupt and hypocritical institution. If Archbishop Nienstedt has his way, I will nonetheless have a significant part of my life controlled by Catholic dogma. So much for the U.S. Constitution and my constitutional freedoms.

Einstein on Insanity - Did He Have a Foreboding of Gay, Inc.?

Across the LGBT blogosphere one can find all kinds of Monday morning quarterbacking going on in the wake of the DADT repeal disaster on Tuesday. In addition to those who are outraged with the Democrats there are the usual apologists for Obama, the Democrats, and Gay,Inc. itself. These folks are working in overdrive trying to throw cold water on those of us who have said "enough is enough" in terms of mindlessly giving the Democrats our votes and money election cycle after election cycle no matter how badly we in the LGBT community are mistreated or how many times we are thrown under the bus. Albert Einstein is reported to have defined insanity as follows:
*
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

*
Obviously, this concept is lost on HRC and other members of Gay, Inc. It's also lost on far too many in the LGBT community who are poised to continuing to give money to Democrats and go out and vote for Democrats on November 2, 2010. Pam Spaulding has a timely post that quotes from Andrew Sullivan in part. Andrew has described the problem as follows: "Gays, The Battered Wife Of The Democratic Party." It's a great slogan, and as Pam goes on to document, it's all too true. Why can't more see this reality? Are "access" and the hope of being invited to some nice cocktail parties so powerful that they induce lobotomies? Here are highlights from Pam's post:
*
Non-performance, a lack of transparency, and broken promises cause depressed turnout. The Get Equal video stings because it tells the truth. We are in this predicament because of spinelessness, a disease we thought would be eradicated with "hope," "change," and "leadership." What a concept.
*
Andrew Sullivan, who was also an Obama booster at one time, says it all with "Gays, The Battered Wife Of The Democratic Party: Dissents" as he takes on mail disagreeing with his position that we just keep coming back for more letdowns, begging for cash, and the legislative beatdowns and lying cover stories for abandoning promises.
*
Pam then goes on to offer this analysis of just what Obama and the current Democrat controlled Congress have done for LGBT Americans:
*
Blender QueerInSoCal broke down the list of 35 items that DNC treasurer Andrew Tobias considers accomplishments by this administration:
*
It's not 35 items, particularly if you discount the one blatant lie:
Dispatched the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to call on the Senate to repeal Don't Ask / Don't Tell, in the meantime dialing back on discharges
Actively agitated against successful repeal of DADT, substituting a compromise bill with no definitive end, and no provision for interim reduction/elimination of discharges under DADT.
*
Categorizing the balance of the "items"...
Substantial impact, easily reversed:
Instructed HHS to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds to allow LGBT visitation rights. *
Adopted transgender recommendations on the issuance of gender-appropriate passports
Extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover employees taking unpaid leave to care for the children of same-sex partners
*
Broad but minimal impact, easily reversed:
Committed to ensuring that HUD's core housing programs are open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity
*
Narrowly targeted and minimal impact:
Conceived a National Resource Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Elders funded by a three-year HHS grant to SAGE
Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees in 2009 and, further, in 2010
Lifted the HIV Entry Ban effective January 2010
Issued diplomatic passports, and provided other benefits, to the partners of same-sex foreign service employees
*
Substantial impact on a tiny portion of LGBTs (sometimes as little as one person):
Appointed the first ever transgender DNC member
Sworn in Ambassador David Huebner
Named open transgender appointees
Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government
Extended domestic violence protections to LGBT victims
*
Nothing more than lifting a pen - Congress did the actual work:
Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act
Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
*
How is this related to LGBT?
Appointed Sonia Sotomayor and nominated Elena Kagan
Appointed long-time equality champion Chai Feldblum one of the four Commissioners of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Appointed Retired Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, an early public champion of open service in the military, to the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services**
Required all grant applicants seeking HUD funding to comply with state and local anti-discrimination laws that protect LGBT individuals.
Finally we get to the biggest category...

Window dressing with no measurable impact:
Reversed an inexcusable US position by signing the UN Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Endorsed the Baldwin-Lieberman bill, The Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, to provide FULL partnership benefits to federal employees
Released the first Presidential PRIDE proclamations since 2000
Hosted the first LGBT Pride Month Celebration in White House history
Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King
Testified in favor of ENDA, the first time any official of any administration has testified in the Senate on ENDA
Changed the culture of government everywhere from - among others - HUD and HHS to the Export-Import Bank, the State Department, and the Department of Education ("changed the culture? Really? How about that DOJ filing on DOMA?)
Emphasized LGBT inclusion in everything from [yada, yada, yada]
Recommitted, in a televised address, to passing ENDA . . . repealing Don't Ask/Don't Tell . . . repealing the so-called Defense of Marriage Act
Spoken out against discrimination at the National Prayer Breakfast
Launched a website to gather public comment on first-ever federal LGBT housing discrimination study
Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept our relationships from being counted
Produced U.S. Census Bureau PSAs featuring gay, lesbian, and transgender spokespersons.
Publicly invited shunned MIssissippi high school prom student to the White House
*
- I expect to see a flurry of lawsuits after hospitals deny visitation anyway.
*
** - Wouldn't it have made more sense - not to mention been more productive - to have named her to the commission studying the end of DADT? Since, you know, that's what she's known for.
*
This administration has been big on empty promises, and short on action.

*

Given this track record, please remind me as to why I should run out and vote for Democrats on November 2, 2010. And please, do not merely tell me that the Democrats are as bad as the other guys.

The Broken Promise Revue

GetEqual has put together a video that shares some of the promises put forth over the past three years from elected officials, including President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Representative Barney Frank, as well as statements by Rae Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Joe Solmonese from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). All of the promises have been broken. Watch the video and either weep or allow your blood to boil depending upon your inclination. Me, I'm in the blood boiling camp.

Thursday Male Beauty

Do Not Fall For the DNC's Ploy

John Aravosis has a good summary of what Democrats want LGBT Americans to do, apparently believing that all of us are utter fools and morons. I say DO NOT DO FALL FOR IT. Lies and broken promises MUST have consequences. Here's John's summation:
*
At this point, anyone who tells you that they're going to pass the DADT compromise during the lame duck session (i.e., after the November election but before the new Congress gets seated in January), is either naive or simply lying to you.
*
All three of Barack Obama's most important promises to the LGBT community - DADT, DOMA, ENDA - are now dead in the water, in large part due the White House's own malfeasance and neglect. And you're expected to wipe the tears, open your wallets, and once again go to polls and vote for the same people who weren't competent enough - who didn't care enough - to keep their promises to you the first time around.
*
A similar sentiment can be found on Andrew Sullivan's blog:
*
"The Democrats have been against 'don't ask don't tell' for more than a decade. Why we allowed this law to remain in effect for another two years is beyond me," - a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, whom the WaPo, for no apparent reason, gave anonymity.
*
The answer is not that compex: Rahm Emanuel, Joe Solmonese, head of the Human Rights Campaign, and Barack Obama. If the Dems do not pass this in a lame duck session, or if Obama does not execute a stop-loss order to suspend the ban under his executive authority, we simply have to stop throwing money down the HRC drain, withhold all financial contributions to the DNC, and go back to the streets.
*

I agree with these views 100%.

NT Tmes to Obama: Do Not Appeal DADT Court Ruling

In its main editorial, the New York Times has opined that it's time for the Obama administration to decline an appeal of the ruling in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States that ruled that DADT is unconstitutional. An new Palm Center report concludes that Obama DOES have the discretion to simply not appeal the decision. Such action would then leave the controversy focused on the scope of any injunction against enforcement of the DADT entered by the federal district court. Obviously, IF Obama actually gave a a flying f*** about LGBT Americans, he'd follow this course of action. Sadly, I doubt he will do so. Instead, I predict that he will put the religious bigotry of a minority of Americans over the U.S. Constitution. If this happens, LGBT citizens need to focus on funding the appeal as opposed to giving a dime to the DNC or other Democrat organizations. The Palm Center report can be found here. Here are highlights from the New York Times editorial:
*
The best chance this year to repeal the irrational ban on openly gay members of the military slipped away Tuesday, thanks to the buildup of acrimony and mistrust in the United States Senate.
*
This is, in fact, an election year, but the debate over the military’s discrimination policy has gone on for years, and the looming balloting does not absolve Congress of the duty to address this denial of a fundamental American right.
*
No evidence has been found that open service by gay and lesbian soldiers would harm the military; in fact, a federal judge recently found the opposite. The policy has led to critical troop shortages by forcing out more than 13,000 qualified service members over the last 16 years, according to the judge, Virginia Phillips.
*
President Obama, the House and a majority of senators clearly support an end to “don’t ask, don’t tell,” but that, of course, is insufficient in the upside-down world of today’s Senate, where 40 members can block anything.
*
If the military’s unjust policy is not repealed in the lame-duck session, there is another way out. The Obama administration can choose not to appeal Judge Phillips’s ruling that the policy is unconstitutional, and simply stop ejecting soldiers.
*
But that would simply enable lawmakers who want to shirk their responsibility. History will hold to account every member of Congress who refused to end this blatant injustice.

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Irish President Says "No" to NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade Due to Gay Ban

The reality is that many nations are moving ahead of the USA in terms of granting ALL of their citizens full equality and are leaving religious based anti-gay discrimination on the trash heap of history. Increasingly, bigotry carries a real price. This fact is frequently lost on self-righteous and self-congratulatory religious bigots until they have someone give them the equivalent of a hard smack across the face. The latest bigots to receive such a slap are the organizers of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade down 5th Avenue in New York City. Next year will be the parade's 250th anniversary and I'm sure they wanted to do something special. Thus, Irish president Mary McAleese (pictured at left) was invited to be Grand Marshal of the 250th St.Patrick’s Day parade in New York. I'm sure much to the shock of the parade organizers - who ban LGBT Irish groups from the parade - Ms. McAleese said no. It seems that she does not countenance discrimination and has no desire to be a part of the parade's exclusionary practices. Irish Central has details of the story. Here are some highlights:
*
Irish President Mary McAleese has turned down an invitation to be grand marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2011, the historic 250th anniversary of the event. The turn down is said to be connected to the issue of gays being refused the right to march in the parade under their own banners, and McAleese’s strong relationship with gay and lesbian organizations in Ireland.
*
McAleese’s refusal to accept the grand marshal invite will come as major blow to parade officials who were intent on making the day an historic showcase.
*
Despite a reputation as a conservative Catholic when she took office, McAleese has become a firm advocate for marginalized groups in Irish societies including gay groups. She is very popular with such groups and was risking putting one of the signature accomplishments of her presidency at risk if she accepted the New York invite to lead the parade.
*
The parade committee has been way out of step with modern Irish sensibility on this issue and this is now reflected in the McAleese decision which came as no shock to those who know her.

Appellate Court: Florida Ban on Gay Adoption Is Unconstitutional; Crist Halts Enforcement

A Florida appellate court has affirmed a lower court ruling that found bans on gay adoption to be unconstitutional. Florida Governor Charlie Crists has confirmed that in the wake of the appellate court's ruling, the state will cease enforcement of the Florida law. As readers may recall, at the lower court level, one of the prime witnesses for the state was anti-gay George "Rent Boy" Rekers. Thankfully, now the best interest of children will be in the forefront of placement decisions as opposed to cow towing to Christianist anti-gay religious based prejudice. Once again, it is the courts - where REAL objective evidence and rules concerning burdens of proof are controlling - are where LGBT equality is finding advancement. As I stated in an earlier blog post, it seems to me that all the money wasted on lobbying and HRC would be far better utilized recruiting top notch legal teams to challenge anti-gay laws whenever and wherever possible. Here are some highlights from the Miami Herald (Note: the noxious, Christianist Liberty Counsel crowd is NOT happy with the ruling):
*
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Wednesday afternoon he will cease enforcing the state's 33-year-old gay adoption law, which was declared unconstitutional by a Miami appeals court Wednesday morning. Crist lauded the court ruling as ``great'' and told reporters at a 2:30 news conference he would immediately stop enforcing the ban. Crist said he wanted to confer with the adoptive father at the center of the case before deciding whether to appeal. He said, however, that he believes the state Supreme Court wouldn't overturn the court rulings.
*
Crist once supported the ban. But the U.S. Senate candidate reversed himself after he left the Republican Party and began courting the liberal vote. A Miami appeals court ruled Wednesday that Florida's ban on gays adopting is unconstitutional and affirmed the controversial adoption of two foster children by a gay North Miami couple.
*
The unanimous 3-0 decision deals a critical blow to Florida's 33-year-old law banning adoption by gay men and lesbians, and most likely sends the case to Florida's highest court for resolution.
*
The opinion was agreed upon by the three judges who reviewed the case, Gerald B. Cope Jr., Frank A. Shepherd and Vance E. Salter, who wrote a concurring opinion. The 35-page ruling was written by Cope, who also reviewed a similar case this summer involving a lesbian Broward couple.
*
``Finally, a piece of 30-year-old prejudice has been struck from the law books in Florida,'' said Howard Simon, who heads the American Civil Liberties Union in Florida and represented Gill. ``This is good news for the advancement of human rights and the children in Florida's troubled foster-care system.''
*
Mathew Staver, founder of Orlando-based Liberty Counsel, who has fought adoption by gay men and women for many years, said ``I would imagine the state will appeal this decision to the Florida Supreme Court, which is where it needs to go.'' . . . ``We're going to be in this for the long haul,'' Staver added.
*

Personally, I would love to see a psychological studied done on Staver. In my opinion, either he's a total parasite who is riding homophobia as far as possible in order to keep shaking down the ignorant and bigoted for money or he's an utter nutcase with severe issues of his own. No one is this militant and anti-gay unless they are overcompensating for something. I have heard from former Lynchburg residents that the Liberty University crowd makes heavy use of gay.com for clandestine hook ups. Perhaps Staver is one of them.

Vatican Bank Under Investigation for Money Laundering

You have got to love it. The Nazi Pope has just ended his controversial trip to the United Kingdom and he's greeted home by Italian authorities freezing accounts in the Vatican Bank on suspicions of money laundering. Just maybe there is a God. Numerous media outlets around the globe are covering the story which involves the equivalent of $30 Million being frozen with the head of the Vatican Bank (pictured at left) likewise under investigation. The sex abuse scandal has demonstrated that the Vatican believes that the Church is above the law, so financial improprieties and possible money laundering are small potatoes compared the world wide molestation of tens of thousands of children and youths. In my view, the sooner the institutional Catholic Church dies (and denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention), the better off the Christian Gospel will be. Here are highlights from the Guardian (CNN and the Washington Post also have coverage):
*
The head of the Vatican bank has formally been placed under investigation in an inquiry into a suspected violation of Italy's money-laundering laws, judicial sources said today.
*
At the same time, a judge in Rome ordered a freeze on €23m (£19.5m) held in an account opened by the Vatican bank, the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), at another financial institution in the Italian capital. It was thought to be the first time such action had been authorised against the IOR in Italy.
*
Of the €28m deposited, €23m was destined for transfer to JP Morgan in Frankfurt and another €3m to another Italian bank. But in neither case, it is alleged, had the Vatican's bankers supplied details of the individual or corporation for whom they were acting, as required by a 2007 legislative decree.
*
The sources said the president of the IOR, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and another senior executive were under investigation. It was not immediately clear whether there was any connection between this inquiry and another in which the Vatican bank has been named, which concerns suspect property dealings.
*
The Vatican has a long history of withholding co-operation from Italian investigators seeking access to its bank's books. The IOR was involved in a major scandal in 1982 arising from the fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano, then Italy's largest private bank.
*
One possibility, of course, is that the Vatican was trying to secretly move money to deal with sex abuse claims - either to settle suits or bribe the silence of victims.

The Bigoty of John McCain and Those Like Him

Wednesday Male Beauty

The Glenn Nye Campaign - A Study in Arrogance

Admittedly, a candidate cannot be everywhere and react to every constituent concern but, the candidate IS responsible for the conduct and demeanor of his/her staffers. Campaign staff become critical and they can make or break a candidate's election chances. When a candidate is too remote and unresponsive, the arrogance of campaign staffers becomes even more potentially fatal - a phenomenon that seems to be the hallmark of Congressman Glenn Nye's re-election campaign. I've been involved in politics and around campaigns for longer than many of the youngest staffers have been alive. So have a number of my friends. And we are all beyond unhappy with unresponsive Mr. Nye and his arrogant staffers.

*

For example, it seems that Mr. Nye and/or his minions are to busy to even respond to one good friend who helped launch his campaign two years ago. No one it seems can even be bothered to respond to a letter sent to Nye. Another friend is similarly outraged by Team Nye. And personally, when speaking to Nye's campaign yesterday about the now cancelled event that was to be hosted at our home, the staffer involved was arrogant and all pissy to me. The result: our yard sign is down, the bumper stickers have been stripped off the cars, and we're not lifting another finger for Nye. His team seems to think they are too good for would be supporters.

*

Nye is in a tough race and literally needs every vote he can get - a fact apparently lost on Nye's staffers. While I cannot stand the man or his politics, I suspect that Scott Rigell will be the next Congressman for the 2nd District of Virginia. And the fault will lie with Nye, his staff, and the none existent leadership in the White House. Even my elderly aunt is asking hard questions of Nye as shown in today's Virginian Pilot:
*
Ninety-five-year old Katie Kalina scowled as she raised her hand after hearing U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye talk about his work in Congress. "Do they have any idea whose money they're spending or do they care?" Kalina asked. Nye paused. "That is a very tough question to answer," he said. The Virginia Beach Democrat went on to say during the campaign stop last week that he shared Kalina's frustration.

Anti-Gay Mega Church Pastor Accused of Sexual Coersion

UPDATED: CNN has coverage of yet a third law suit beingfiled against Pastor Long:

*

Another civil suit has been filed against Atlanta-based megachurch pastor Eddie Long, alleging coercion, negligence and fraud that involved a sexual relationship with a third young male. Wednesday's lawsuit, filed in DeKalb County, Georgia, State Court, was brought on behalf of Jamal Parris, now 23, who was a teenager at the time he joined Long's church. The suit, which claims Long encouraged Parris to call him "Daddy," also names the church and a youth academy as defendants.

*

Obviously, it will be a while before the truth is known, but if the allegations against Atlanta mega church pastor Eddie Long contained in two lawsuits filed in DeKalb County prove true, Long will be another in a long line of homophobes that indulge in the very sex acts they condemn from the pulpit while shaking their sheeple down for money. Increasingly, there seems to be a correlation between one's outward homophobia and anti-gay hysteria and those secretly engaging in gay sex and/or predatory sex. Ted Haggard and numerous outed GOP politicians spring readily to mind. Here are highlights from the Atlanta Constitution on the allegations against Long:
*
Two Georgia men have filed a lawsuit claiming that prominent Atlanta, Georgia, pastor Eddie Long coerced them into sex. The suits, filed Tuesday in DeKalb County, Georgia, allege that Long used his position as a spiritual authority and bishop to coerce young male members and employees of his New Birth Missionary Baptist Church into sex.
*
"Defendant Long has a pattern and practice of singling out a select group of young male church members and using his authority as Bishop over them to ultimately bring them to a point of engaging in a sexual relationship," the suits allege. Long is considered one of the nation's top black preachers. His church has more 25,000 members, . . .
*
The pastor took one plaintiff, Anthony Flagg, 21, on overnight trips to a half-dozen American cities in recent years, Flagg's suit alleges. "Long shared a bedroom and engaged in intimate sexual contact with plaintiff Flagg including kissing, massaging, masturbating of plaintiff Flagg by defendant Long and oral sexual contact," the suit says.
*
Long took the other plaintiff, Maurice Murray Robinson, 20, to Auckland, New Zealand, in October 2008 for his 18th birthday and engaged in oral sex with him, Robinson's suit alleges. "Following the New Zealand Trip, Defendant Long regularly engaged in sexual touching, and other sexual acts with Plaintiff Robinson," Robinson's suit alleges.
*
Long frequently denounces homosexual behavior. A 2007 article in the Southern Poverty Law Center's magazine called him "one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement."
*
Both plaintiffs said the pastor, his church and church employees gave them cash and lavish gifts that ranged from cars to college tuition. The suits also said that Long framed the sexual relationships as religious in nature.
*
The suits allege that various staff members working for Long, his church and the Longfellows Academy -- which the suit describes as an offshoot ministry of New Birth -- "knew of Defendant Long's sexually inappropriate conduct and did nothing to warn or protect [the plaintiffs]."

A Pox on Both Political Parties - So Where Do We Go From Here?

In the wake of today's debacle on the Defense Spending Authorization bill which included DADT repeal and the DREAM Act as amendments, like many others, I feel like vomiting. The Democrats, naturally are saying it's all the GOP's fault. One Democratic blogger and paid cheerleader sent me a message that said in part "The problem is the GOP, end of story." That is certainly the message the Democratic Party establishment wants the LGBT and Hispanic communities to lap up like sheep or trained circus dogs. And if one looks solely at today's roll call, that ploy makes initial sense. The cynic in me, however, tells me otherwise. BOTH political parties are all too happy keeping the status quo - regardless of the lip service the powers that be in the Democratic Party may say to the contrary. Perhaps a better depiction of the situation would be to take the picture above and insert LGBT Americans on the receiving end under the Democratic Party donkey. Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin reflects some of my feelings on the matter:
*
This was never a serious attempt to pass legislation in the best interests of the American people. It was nothing but political theater, and everyone on both sides were eager actors in the drama. All the Senators had a role to play, and everyone played to the audience. Even the White House had a bit part. They issued a statement calling for an end to the fillibuster, but according to SLDN’s Trevor Thomas, there was no lobbying behind the scenes.
*
And now that the vote was taken, the play moves on to its second act: everyone now gets to go home and use it on the campaign trail. Republicans, even those who support DADT’s repeal, will be able to brag that they stood up to the evil Democratic machine. Democrats will be able to blame the evil Republican machine for blocking legislation that three-fourths of the American population agree on.

*

Yes, that's right. Today played out exactly how the Congressional Democrats and the White House wanted it to. Now, they can use this vote to depict the GOP as the bogey man and try to wring votes - and more importantly, money - from LGBT citizens and Hispanic voters. They killed two birds with one stone if you will.

*

So where does the LGBT community go from here? As one well know blogger queried earlier today, do we have any long term plan as a community? I suspect the true answer is no, we do not. I likewise suspect that the Democratic Party establishment hopes that we're as dumb as they hope/think we are and that as a community we continue doing exactly what we've been doing: sending votes and money to Democrats and buying the story line that they are our champions. The problem is that the approach that the Democrats hope we resume clearly has gotten us nowhere. If there was any doubt of this reality, the last 18 months have demonstrated that the Democrats really have no desire to repeal DADT, repeal DOMA (even the new DNC website seems to confirm this) or pass ENDA. With 60 votes in the Senate for much of 2009, a majority in the House of Representatives, control of the White House, and polls showing around 75% of Americans supporting DADT repeal, nothing was accomplished. Nothing!

*

Frankly, given the desire of the Democrat establishment to keep the LGBT community as the party's serfs for the foreseeable future, I believe that as a community we may be far better off diverting moneys now going to the Democrats and groups like HRC - which time and time again has given political cover to the White House - to groups that are willing to litigate for our rights. Sadly, it's in the courts where there are rules of evidence and set burdens of proof where we prevail. Among the Congressional Democrats - and I include Barack Obama in this category as well - they simply don't give a damn whether or not LGBT Americans ever see full legal equality under the nation's laws. Oh, they will make pretty speeches and pretend to be sincere, but it's really all about keeping gays subservient to the Democratic Party and keeping the money flowing.

*

P.S. My Glenn Nye yard sign is now in the trash can, the event the boyfriend and I were to host on Sunday is canceled, and I am debating resigning as a LGBT liaison to the Democratic Party of Virginia.

DADT Fails in the U. S. Senate

To my amazement, Jim Webb voted for cloture today. Nonetheless, the vote to end the filibuster of the Defense Authorization Bill failed minutes ago by a vote of 43 - 56. Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln (both from Arkansas) both betrayed LGBT Americans and those who would have benefited under the DREAM Act and voted no, joining every member of the GOP in a vote for bigotry. Harry Reid - who in my view utterly mismanaged the affair - switched his vote to "NO" for procedural reasons so that he could later re-introduce the bill.

*

I continue to believe that the outcome could have been different had we had some leadership from the White House. I also find myself really beginning to think that BOTH parties want to keep LGBT Americans hostage – both uses us for fundraising purposes from their respective party bases. Even more cynically, I believe the Democrats realize that if we ever win full equality under the laws, then we will not feel beholden to the Democrats who will then potentially lose a cash cow in terms of fundraising.

*

I will have further thoughts and reflections later. Needless to say, I am VERY unhappy.

Tuesday Male Beauty

English cricketer Jimmy Anderson in Attitude

The Angry Rich - Greed and Hypocrisy Unleashed

Paul Krugman has a timely column in the New York Times that looks at the bizarre mindset of many of America's wealthiest citizens who, while income disparages are rising to new heights, average families are struggling to survive financially, feel that they are victims because of potential increases in taxation levels. Besides making me ask myself, "God, where is a lighting bolt when you need one," these rich folk demonstrate a level of self-absorption that is mind boggling. I guess they rather see people homeless, children starving and the nation's infrastructure collapse rather than have to cut back on the purchase of expensive baubles or delay another updating of their already fabulous homes. Here are highlights from the column:
*
These are terrible times for many people in this country. Poverty, especially acute poverty, has soared in the economic slump; millions of people have lost their homes. Young people can’t find jobs; laid-off 50-somethings fear that they’ll never work again.
*
Yet if you want to find real political rage — the kind of rage that makes people compare President Obama to Hitler, or accuse him of treason — you won’t find it among these suffering Americans. You’ll find it instead among the very privileged, people who don’t have to worry about losing their jobs, their homes, or their health insurance, but who are outraged, outraged, at the thought of paying modestly higher taxes.
*
[S]elf-pity among the privileged has become acceptable, even fashionable. Tax-cut advocates used to pretend that they were mainly concerned about helping typical American families. Even tax breaks for the rich were justified in terms of trickle-down economics, the claim that lower taxes at the top would make the economy stronger for everyone. These days, however, tax-cutters are hardly even trying to make the trickle-down case.
*
And among the undeniably rich, a belligerent sense of entitlement has taken hold: it’s their money, and they have the right to keep it. “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society,” said Oliver Wendell Holmes — but that was a long time ago. The spectacle of high-income Americans, the world’s luckiest people, wallowing in self-pity and self-righteousness would be funny, except for one thing: they may well get their way.
*
You see, the rich are different from you and me: they have more influence. It’s partly a matter of campaign contributions, but it’s also a matter of social pressure, since politicians spend a lot of time hanging out with the wealthy. So when the rich face the prospect of paying an extra 3 or 4 percent of their income in taxes, politicians feel their pain — feel it much more acutely, it’s clear, than they feel the pain of families who are losing their jobs, their houses, and their hopes.
*
[W]hen they say “we,” they mean “you.” Sacrifice is for the little people.