Family of Anti-Gay Senate Candidate Takes Out Ad Against Him

It is pretty bad when a candidate's own family members take out a newspaper ad denouncing his anti-gay bigotry.  But that is precisely what nine members of GOP douche bag and U.S. Senate candidate  Josh Mandel (pictured at right) in Ohio have done.  And that's not even getting into the findings of scientific studies that have shown that the loudest homophobes are usually the self-loathing closet cases themselves. The Cleveland Leader looks at this strange and telling circumstance.  Here are highlights:

What does it say about the character of a candidate when he can't even garner the support of his own relatives? This is a question that many Ohioans should be left to ponder, as it has been revealed that Mandel's own family does not support his anti-gay views. In an advertisement taken out in the Cleveland Jewish News, Mandel's wife's cousins published an open letter in which they publicly lambasted him for his stance on same-sex marriages, gays and lesbians serving in the military, and general anti-inclusive beliefs.

The letter read:

Open Letter to Josh Mandel,
Republican 
Candidate for U.S. Senator from Ohio



Dear Josh,

Four years ago you came into our family. We still remember the excitement surrounding your wedding, and how happy our family members were as they described it afterwards. So we were deeply saddened when you announced during your October 18th debate with Senator Sherrod Brown that you believe only some people should share this right to marry the person they love, while others should not.



Your cousins, Ellen Ratner and Cholene Espinoza, are among the many wonderful couples whose rights you do not recognize. They were married almost eight years ago in Massachusetts, at a time when it was the only state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage. Their wedding, like yours, was a beautiful and happy occasion for all of us in our family. It hurts us that you would embrace discrimination against them and countless other loving couples in Ohio and around the country.



We are equally distressed by your belief that gay men and women should not be allowed to serve openly in the military. Like you, Cholene spent many years in the armed forces. A graduate of the Air Force Academy and an accomplished pilot, she became the second woman in history to fly the U-2 reconnaissance plane. And yet, you have argued that she, like many gay and lesbian soldiers, should be forced to live a life of secrecy and lies.



Your discriminatory stance violates these core values of our family. Nevertheless we hope that over time, as you advance in years and wisdom, you will come to embrace the values of inclusiveness and equality as well.



Your cousins,

.

Michael Ratner, Bruce Ratner, Karen Ranucci, Pamela Lipkin, Rebecca 
Ratner, Elizabeth Ratner, Patrick Markee, Jacob Ratner, Ana Ratner

Sadly, like Eric cantor here in Virginia, Mandel seems only too willing to sell out friends and family members in order to prostitute himself to the Christofascists  -  Christofascists who in their hearts hate and detest those of Jewish descent and see individuals like Cantor and Mandel as as means towards Armageddon and the death of most members of the Jewish faith.  With "friends" like these Christiofascists, who needs an enemy?