RNC Delegate Offended By "Mexican" Employee At Disney’s Epcot Center

Click image to enlarge

The racism of today's Republican Party is becoming increasingly obvious despite attempts to do damage control when the true nastiness of party members and candidates is revealed.  A recent GOP convention related racism eruption involved Pennsylvania GOP convention delegate Mark Harris who visited Epcot Center during the convention.  While visiting the United States pavilion, Harris was incensed to find a "Mexican" working in the pavilion (see his blog screen shot above).  He felt that only "Americans" should be working at the the United States pavilion.  The incident underscores the sad fact that in the minds of far too many in today's GOP that if one isn't white, one isn't an American.  The irony, of course, is that Hispanics in parts of the United States are  descendants of those who were residents of those areas long before they were annexed to the United States - e.g., Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona - and long before Harris' ancestors arrived in America.  Think Progress has more and here are highlights:

During a trip to Epcot at Disneyworld, Pennsylvania delegate Mark Harris and his wife were shocked and offended to find a Mexican employee working at the amusement park’s American pavilion, which showcases the different cultures in the United States. According to the couple’s blog, Harris complained to staff that he was “highly offended” that a “person from Mexico” was working in the American pavilion when other nations’ pavilions were staffed by people from each respective country.

According to their website, “Mark and Irene are both pro‐life, believe marriage is between one man and one woman, are for open records and transparency, believe in very conservative principles and the Republican platform.”

The RNC has been marred by racist incidents this week; on Tuesday, two delegates had to be escorted out after throwing peanuts at a black camerawoman and called her an “animal.” Harris told the AP at the beginning of the convention that he liked how Romney was “hitting all the conservative bells” and “has the potential to be a great president if he keeps going in that direction.”

It would seem that Harris has been taking lessons from George "Macaca" Allen, the GOP candidate for U.S. Senator here in Virginia.  I was in law school with Mr. Allen and I'm supporting his opponent Tim Kaine - we need a grown up and non-bigot in the U.S. Senate.

Saturday Morning Male Beauty

The G.O.P. Fact Vacuum

As a former Republican from a family of Republicans (all have pretty much left the GOP at this point) I often bemoan what has happened to the party in which I was a city committee member for 8 years.  One of the worse changes - putting aside the fact that the GOP is now a religious party in most senses - is the utter disregard for the truth that permeates all levels of the party, particularly in the form of the top of the ticket: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.  The irony is that both men (and the party as a whole) say they are devoutly religious yet they lie with an impunity that is nothing less than shocking. If nothing else, the hypocrisy of it all is stunning.  They apparently learned much from the Christofascist party base that ignores most of the Gospel message on a daily basis.  At least towards those who are poor, non-white, non-heterosexual, non-Christian and non-native born.  A column in the New York Times looks at the death of truth and honesty in the Republican party.  Here are highlights:

Honesty is a lost art. Facts are for losers. The truth is dead.Pick one. Whatever the term of art, they all signal a dark turn, and, this week, the Republican Party took that turn with reckless abandon. 

Lying is certainly nothing new in politics. One could even argue that it’s fundamental to politics. Saying incredible things in a credible way is the art; using math of vapors to sell dreams of smoke is the craft.

But Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech on Wednesday took things up a notch. 

Sally Kohn, a contributor to Fox News, said:

“Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold.”

So much was written about this and other Republican attempts to distort and deny the truth this week. But I’m beginning to worry that many Americans are growing weary of isolating the lies, coming as they did in torrents. 

The Romney campaign seems to be banking on this fatigue and counting on The Fourth Estate being reduced to little more than a fifth wheel in the political zeitgeist. One of its pollsters said this week that the campaign would not be dictated by fact-checkers.

Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher looked at the fact-checking site PolitiFact’s tallies on Aug. 10 and found that: 

“Mitt Romney’s statements have been judged Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire 46 percent of the time, versus only 29 percent for President Obama. In the Pants on Fire category alone, Romney is more than four times as likely to suffer trouser immolation than the president. Nearly 1 in 10 statements by Romney earned flaming slacks, versus 1 out of every 50 for Obama.” 

On Friday, PolitiFact still had Romney’s statements as Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire 42 percent of the time, compared with 27 percent of the time for Obama. 

[T]he extent to which Republicans have embraced ignobility in this campaign is astounding. They have used their convention podium to unleash a whole lot of half-truths, so many that fact-checkers have been working overtime. But trying to chase down every lie is like trying to catch every bug in a log. It’s almost impossible. 

Yet the candidates are virtually tied in most polls. What does this portend for the republic? I worry deeply about this, not simply because I work at a newspaper, but because I am an American. 

And how can a party that incessantly repeats the mantra that our rights were granted by God repeatedly violate a basic tenet of almost every religion: truth-telling? What does it mean when a party that trafficks in American greatness trades in human horridness? 

Romney long ago demonstrated that he was willing to do anything and take any position — even if they contradicted previous ones — to make it to the White House. And while that may be fine for him, it shouldn’t be fine with us.  We deserve better and should demand better.

Global Warming: Cope with Flooding From Storms, Tides, and Sea Level Rise

Even though Republicans at both the national and state level here in Virginia pretend that global warming is just a myth, those of us who aren't drinking Kool-Aid and are observing objective facts easily know that something is happening.  And it's not something good for our future and life they way that we know it.  This week Hampton Roads got a good dose of reality check when severe storms with heavy moved through in coordination with a full moon (which increases tide levels) and high tide.  Many of the local cities experienced significant flooding in areas with parts of Norfolk, Newport News, and Hampton perhaps hardest hit.  The image above is from about 6 blocks from my office in the Ghent area of Norfolk. As the Virginian Pilot reports, Norfolk - despite its lack of forward thinking on many fronts - is at at least trying to come up with a plan to contend with the reality of global warming and its consequences.  Here are some article excerpts:

Plentiful rainfall in a short period of time, combined with the 7 p.m. high tide, left standing water throughout the city, according to Alice Kelly, assistant director of public works. .  .  .  .  This has become the weather du jour in Norfolk, and some experts say it is more than a passing trend. Either way, the city is planning for the worst.

Pinpointing what causes flooding in Norfolk is tricky, with factors varying from storm to storm. High tides, the phase of the moon, the gradual sinking of Norfolk, intense storms and sea level rise all contribute. In 2008, the EPA ranked Norfolk second only to New Orleans among East and Gulf Coast cities most threatened by flooding.

The city has proposed large-scale flood-mitigation projects, focusing on areas such as Pretty Lake, the Hague, Ohio Creek and Mason's Creek. The U.S. Senate recently authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to undertake a $100,000 feasibility and environmental impact study of the plans. The work will build on a study that the city has already commissioned.

The city acknowledges it won't be an easy or inexpensive fix. Norfolk can't move any higher above sea level, so it must find a way to keep out water or pump it elsewhere. Preliminary studies indicate that it could cost $58.6 million to build a flood wall and pump station at the Hague and $46.4 million for a similar project at Pretty Lake. A pump station and dredging at Mason's Creek could cost as much as $30 million.

Paige Rose, president of the Ghent Neighborhood League, said she left the City Council meeting Tuesday to find herself in the middle of the storm. Then, she said, she parked four blocks away from her home to protect her vehicle, which meant wading shoeless through 2 feet of water.

While the article focuses on Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News likewise have serious problems.  On my way home from work one of the major through fares I typically drive was under water.  Back in Norfolk, my daughter (who lives in my house there) said that the entire street in front of the house was covered in water although the house was high and dry - and that's in one of the higher parts of the city.  Will the GOP wake up to reality or keep drinking the Kool-Aid?

Drunk Anti-Gay Archbishop Had Male College Student In Car at Arrest

Things seem to be getting a bit curious about what exactly was really going in the early morning hours when new appointed Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone (pictured at right) - called by some the "father of Proposition 8" was arrested for DUI in San Diego.  Cordileone had said that he had been at dinner with friends and was driving his elderly mother home before he was to head home himself.  As Fr. Geoff Fallows (who got booted from his parish for refusing to support Prop 8) has picked up, that may not be the entire story: Cordileone had a young male in the car as well -something not mentioned if Cordileone's story line.  Obviously, a number of questions become relevant, including why Cordileone not mention this other passenger.  Here are some details from Fr. Geoff's blog:

Listen very carefully to the announcer of a local San Diego news station:

“According to police, 56 year old bishop Salvatore Cordileone was driving along the edge of SDSU when he entered a sobriety checkpoint he appeared drunk and was arrested shortly after midnight. He was in the car with his elderly mother and a foreign exchange student, a young male adult.”

If San Francisco Archbishop-elect Cordileone were just the simple priest that he claimed to be to at his arrest, his superior would have demanded explanations.

What were you doing driving drunk?

What was a college student doing in your passenger seat at that time of night?

After you dropped off your mother, where did you intend to go, and what were you going to do when you arrived?

Have you ever spent time with, or socialized, with this young man prior to your arrest? If so in what context and what is the nature of your relationship?

The matter would be brought to the attention of the bishop, and it would most probably affect his career and, of course, it would be handled discreetly.

The fact that Cordileone’s mother was present in the car with Cordileone and the young student would not clear the concerns or suspicions from the mind of a superior. Consider the statements of the police:

“Cordileone's mother, who was a passenger, was allowed to drive the mid-size black car home following her son's arrest after officers made sure she had not been drinking and had a valid license, McCullough [the arresting police officer] said.”

and:

"He was a driver that was obviously impaired,” Officer Mark McCullough also stated.

These two statements from police clearly indicate that Cordileone’s mother was sober and capable of driving the car that night. The second statement by officer McCullogugh that “he [Cordileone] was…obviously impaired” raises some serious questions about both the judgment and the laxity of Cordileone’s mother, with respect to her son. She can’t tell, or is unwilling to protest, that he is obviously drunk and poses a threat to human life behind the wheel of an automobile. How objective and outspoken would she be about a possible inappropriate relationship with a young student?

A superior/pastor/bishop would ask all of these questions of Salvatore Cordileone and so, it surprises me that the press does not. Then again, the Catholic hierarchy has much experience in managing the press. This is not a story they want pursued, it would be highly inconvenient in an election year. Especially on the same week that the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), New York Archbishop cardinal Dolan blesses the Republican National Convention and Mitt Romney’s bid to replace Obama as President. If Romney wins, the USCCB’s social conservativism will become national policy and this increases both USCCB [Vatican] power and prestige. 

Cordileone is not a simple priest. He is:  “Known as "the architect of Proposition 8," the 56-year-old played a pivotal role in convincing many Catholic organizations in California to help bankroll the 2008 campaign to overturn the state's same-sex marriage law. With his help, Prop 8 supporters raised some $1.5 million, which went a long way toward helping get the measure passed.”

It all may be an innocent situation.  However, the fact that Cordileone apparently deliberately never mentioned the young man raises the old question of "if you have nothing to hide, then why hide something."  People deserve an answer to the questions Fr. Geoff raises and I hope the full story comes out.  Obviously, it would be deliciously ironic if Cordileone is exposed as a closet case who got caught. It would be in keeping with the pattern of loudest homophobes actually being gay themselves. :) 

Lindsay Graham: "Not Enough Angry White Guys"

The above image reflects a reality that many in today's Republican party don't seem to grasp: the party base is dying off and by driving away minorities and non-Christianists, the GOP is committing suicide.  Even if the Romney/Ryan ticket somehow wins, it may be a Pyrrhic victory in the long run.  The fact that GOP convention attendees were reportedly 98% white ought to send a message.

New York Times: Romney Reinvents History

Last night Mitt Romney capped off what may go down as one of the most dishonest political conventions ever - a fact that even Clint Eastwood's bizarre appearance cannot deflect.  Like his VP nominee, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney rewrote history to fit his needs regardless of how shockingly untrue it was to anyone had not been drinking the GOP's Kool-Aid by the bucket full. This reality hasn't been lost on many in the media.  The New York Times has a great slap down of Romney's dishonesty.  Here are highlights:

Mitt Romney wrapped the most important speech of his life, for Thursday night’s session of his convention, around an extraordinary reinvention of history — that his party rallied behind President Obama when he won in 2008, hoping that he would succeed. 

The truth, rarely heard this week in Tampa, Fla., is that the Republicans charted a course of denial and obstruction from the day Mr. Obama was inaugurated, determined to deny him a second term by denying him any achievement, no matter the cost to the economy or American security — even if it meant holding the nation’s credit rating hostage to a narrow partisan agenda.

[N]o subjects have received less attention, or been treated with less honesty, than foreign affairs and national security — and Mr. Romney’s banal speech was no exception.  It’s easy to understand why the Republicans have steered clear of these areas. While President Obama is vulnerable on some domestic issues, the Republicans have no purchase on foreign and security policy.

Mitt Romney has tried to sound tough, but it’s hard to see how he would act differently from Mr. Obama except in ways that are scary — like attacking Iran, or overspending on defense in ways that would not provide extra safety but would hurt the economy. 

Read the rest of the editorial which details more of the disingenuous bull shit being spouted by Mr. Romney and the GOP.

Friday Morning Male Beauty

Colorado’s Personhood Initiative Fails

The Christofascists continue to push for "personhood" laws or state constitutional amendments aimed at outlawing all abortion under any circumstance and in the process also outlaw many forms of birth control and artificial insemination procedures.  It's all about imposing one extreme religious belief on all citizens in the state in question.  Fortunately, in Colorado the effort to get a personhood initiative failed.  At least for now.  Nonetheless, it ought to be a message to all, but women in particular, that the Christofascists are still gunning to take away people's rights and control of their own bodies.  A piece in Religion Dispatches looks at the Colorado effort.  Here are highlights:

Colorado’s fetal personhood ballot initiative petition failed to get enough valid signatures, and so the measure will not appear on the ballot, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced this morning.

According to the Denver Post, some of the signatures were deemed invalid, so the petition was found to have only 85,800 valid signatures—305 signatures short of the required 86,105. Jennifer Mason, speaking for Personhood Colorado, said that the group has hired an election attorney and is confident the measure will still appear on the ballot. (Ms. Mason is also the Communications Director for Personhood USA, the Colorado-based umbrella group coordinating the state personhood efforts.)

The amendment’s text would make it illegal to intentionally kill “any innocent person”—with “person” defined as “every human being regardless of the method of creation,” and “human being” defined as “a member of the species homo sapien at any stage of development.”

But the proposed text doesn’t define what to my theological ears is the more provocative term: “innocent.”
Presumably, its use here is meant to do several things: (1) portray the fetus as an agent with moral standing, one in need of protection; (2) allow for the taking of guilty human life (since many social conservatives support the death penalty while also being opposed to abortion); and (3) contrast the innocence of the fetus with the guilt of the father. Indeed, on the last point, the amendment draws this contrast specifically: “No innocent child created through rape or incest shall be killed for the crime of his or her father.”

But notice, where rape and incest are concerned, it is only the fetus’ innocence that’s stipulated. 

See, if I were talking about the innocent people injured by rape, I would eventually consider the person who was raped.  .   .  .  .    So is that woman “innocent,” on the personhood movement’s terms?  .  .  .  .  Or, alternately, is she sorta innocent, but not to such a degree that she should be spared having to endure a pregnancy? 

What strikes me most about the conservative extremists who back bills such as this one are usually one and the same with those who want to slash funding for the poor, including children.  The worship the fetus in the womb, but once the fetus is born and becomes a child, they throw that child to the curb.  I simply do not get the mindset.

Pentagon Threatens Lawsuit Over Navy Seal Book about Bin Laden

Knowing a number of past and present Navy Seals, it has been disheartening to see some of that group rush to make money or - like local Scott Taylor, a failed GOP candidate who lost the nomination to hate group endorsed Scott Rigell - or shore up their bona fides with far right elements of the Republican Party.  Worse yet is the fact that the truth seems to lose out to whatever best fits the author's or spokesman's personal agenda be it cash or political advantage.  Thankfully, the Pentagon appears to have perhaps had enough of the partisanship and greed and is threatening legal action against at least one of these, in my opinion, less than honorable individuals. Politico has coverage on the development.  Here are excerpts:

The Defense Department is threatening to go after an ex-SEAL author and his publisher over a new book that challenges the administration’s official account of last year’s raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

The Pentagon late Thursday released a letter from its top lawyer, Jeh Johnson, to publishing giant Penguin and “Mark Owen,” the pseudonym of an ex-SEAL special operator who has been identified as Matt Bissonnette. In the letter, Johnson said Bissonnette had breached non-disclosure agreements he signed while on active duty in 2007.

According to official Navy records obtained Thursday by POLITICO, Bissonnette served in the Navy from 1998 until April of this year. Johnson wrote that the NDA he’d signed remained in effect “even after you left the active duty Navy.”

“In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed,” Johnson wrote to “Owen,” in keeping with DOD’s policy not to identify some special operators. “Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements.”

Johnson closed by informing “Owen” and Penguin that the Defense Department “is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation.”

The Pentagon could ask the Justice Department to try to prosecute Bissonnette or seize the royalties raised by the book, which is officially due out Monday but has already gone on sale in some places.

These opportunists truly need to be shut down and I'm glad the Pentagon seems to be prepared to take action

Chick Fil-A's Allies in Funding Anti-Gay Efforts

Chick Fil-A has deservedly received a great deal of condemnation on the funding provided to anti-gay organizations by the company's controlling family.  But the company is not alone in providing lots of money to those who would like to see LGBT citizens re-criminalized or worse.  Huffington Post has a piece that identifies some of our other enemies.  Here's a run down:

The Knights Of Columbus:

According to RightsEqualRights.com, The Knights of Columbus donated $1,425,000 in 2008 to support Proposition 8.

Jim Walton:

Jim Walton is the youngest son of Sam Walton and an heir to the WalMart fortune. He also serves as CEO of Arvest Bank, which operates in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Kansas.  In 2008 Jim Walton donated $75,000 to Family Council Action Committee's campaign to keep gay couples from adopting in Arkansas.

 

The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: 

According to an interview with the New York Times, a strategist for Protect Marriage, an anti-gay organization working to keep same-sex marriage illegal, claimed that nearly one-half of the $40 million raised to support Proposition 8 was donated by Mormons. Another Protect Marriage member "estimated that Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door [to gain Prop 8 support] in election precincts."

 

Thomas S. Monaghan, Domino's Founder:

The famously pro-life and anti-gay rights Domino's Pizza founder financed a ballot initiative in 2001 aimed at removing sexual orientation from a Michigan city's nondiscrimination ordinance.  Still, the company has managed to stay out of the public fray. "We're not a religious company. We're not a political company. We're a pizza company," a Domino's spokesman told USA Today earlier this month.

 

Terry Caster, CEO Of A-1 Self Storage:

A-1 Self Storage CEO Terry Caster and his family donated $693,000 to support Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative banning gay marriage, according to San Diego City Beat.

 

Alan Ashton, Co-Founder Of WordPerfect:

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ashton, who made his fortune as one of the founders of the WordPerfect Corporation, donated $1,000,000 to support Proposition 8.

 

It is important to know one's enemies and act accordingly.  Why give your hard earned cash to a business or organization that hates you?   Of course, I find the hypocrisy of the Knights of Columbus especially sickening.  They are an organization founded to protect families and children yet to date have NEVER condemned the Catholic Church hierarchy for  its conspiracy to protect child rapists on a global basis.  Instead, the Knights of Columbus has its nose so far up the ass of the hierarchy it is truly a miracle that the leaders and members have not suffocated.

 

More Thursday Male Beauty

Catholic Priest: It’s The Kids’ Fault They Were Molested

If one wants a glimpse into the utterly f8cked up world  and alternate universe of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, one need only the statements of Fr. Benedict Groeschel (pictured above), who in comments during an interview with the National Catholic Register basically blamed children and youths for their own molestation at the hands of Catholic priests.  In Groeschel's bizarre world, the victims seduced their molesters.  It's beyond sick, but in my view is representative of the Church hierarchy's mentally disturbed mindset.  How anyone moral and honorable can still give any deference or respect to these foul individuals is mind boggling.  Box Turtle Bulletin has a good analysis of Groeschel's batshitery.  Here are excerpts:

Fr. Benedict Groeschel, the 79-year-old founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, is not just a curmudgeonly New Jersey-born and -accented Capuchin monk. He is also a long-time television personality on the Catholic television network EWTN and popular speaker among American Catholicism’s conservative set. But he’s not just a Franciscan priest, he’s also Dr. Benedict Groeschel, having earned a Ph.D in Psychology from Columbia University back in 1971, when homosexuality was still considered a mental illness by the APA.

As one of the Church’s acknowledged “experts” on sexuality, Groeschel was called upon by east coast dioceses, including the Boston Archdiocese, to perform psychological screenings to candidates for the priesthood. He has also been called upon to counsel Catholic priests who were accused of sexual improprieties — including those who had sex with minors – with disasterous results. Nevertheless, he was honored in 2011 by the Catholic Psychotherapy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

I think it’s important to understand all of that before reading what Groeschel told the National Catholic Register this week:

People have this picture in their minds of a person planning to — a psychopath. But that’s not the case. Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer.

Moments ago, the Register’s editor placed the following note at the URL where the interview was originally posted:

Child sexual abuse is never excusable. The editors of the National Catholic Register apologize for publishing without clarification or challenge Father Benedict Groeschel’s comments that seem to suggest that the child is somehow responsible for abuse. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our publication of that comment was an editorial mistake, for which we sincerely apologize. Given Father Benedict’s stellar history over many years, we released his interview without our usual screening and oversight. We have removed the story.

The story may have now been removed, but while it was online, it gave a glimpse of the real mindset and unbelievably sick psyche that, in my opinion, predominates the Church hierarchy.

Quote of the Day: Andrew Sullivan on Romney's Speech:

Mitt Romney is proving that he's the perfect ideological fit with Paul Ryan - both are total liars and think the rest of us are fools.  They are the political figure equivalents to faux historian David Barton who rewrites history to have it fit his Christofascist agenda.  It's both mind numbing and frightening that this duo might land in the White House.  They might be better fit to be part of Adolph Hitler's propaganda machine.  They are not more dishonest.  Andrew Sullivan is appalled:

What we have been allowed to see is so spectacularly vacuous, I really don't know what to say. There is also a huge lie to start with:

Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous people who are united by so much more than divides us.

In the middle of the worst recession since the 1930s, in his first weeks in office, the GOP monolithically voted against his stimulus, including the third of it which was tax cuts. They even opposed tax cuts because Obama proposed them! Mitch McConnell said the following out loud:

"The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

Americans did not come together. One party, Mitt's, set out from the get-go to destroy Obama's presidency, regardless of the impact of the recession, which they helped intensify by slashing public sector jobs across the country and blocking any new stimulus after 2010. Then this lie about the situation in early 2009:

Every small business wanted these to be their best years ever, when they could hire more, do more for those who had stuck with them through the hard times, open a new store or sponsor that Little League team. Every new college graduate thought they'd have a good job by now, a place of their own, and that they could start paying back some of their loans and build for the future. This is when our nation was supposed to start paying down the national debt and rolling back those massive deficits.

Again, this is surreal. As the country was losing jobs at a rate of what can only be called free-fall, did everyone expect a sudden immediate boom, the best years of their lives? Was that the time when we should have suddenly started cutting spending? Romney knows this line of argument is premised on a fantasy. It's as if Romney cannot address the actual reality and propose solutions, but chooses to invent an entire alternative universe in which he can invent dreams no one in February 2009 had, listening to an Inaugural Address that told them that affairs were grim and foreboding and difficult.

Candidly, the tawdriest whore has move integrity than Mitt Romney.  The man's dishonesty is unbelievable and scary!   Let's be clear: I despise the man and think he and his reverse Robin Hood policies that would steal from the working poor and middle class and give to the rich are a danger to the country.

The Lies of Paul Ryan and the GOP

I never finished watching the coverage of the GOP convention last night because I feared I would either vomit or throw something and break the TV during Paul Ryan's lie filled speech.   I guess the next thing we know, Ryan with be attributing his pathological lying to his Catholic faith.  It would be par for the course with the man.  And Mitt Romney.  Watching coverage tonight I could not get over the audacity of the lies.  Romney and his campaign literally must think all Americans are cretins and simpletons who are too stupid to figure that they've been lied to indiscriminately (OK, his/their assumption is correct in respect to the GOP base where a lobotomy seems to be the new prerequisite for party membership outside the millionaire crowd).  Personally, I think it is part and parcel with Romney's overall arrogance and belief that he is entitled to whatever he wants.  But back to Paul Ryan.  You know you've crossed the line when even Fox News basically calls a knuckle dragging Republican a liar.  Daily Kos has a nice and convenient compilation of all of the news outlets that have called Ryan out on his lies.  Here's the summary with links (readers truly should check out the cited news stories):

Dave Weigel, Slate.com:
"incredible string of false or misleading statements"
http://www.slate.com/...

Joan Walsh, Salon.com:
"His Republican National Convention speech was stunning for its dishonesty"
http://www.salon.com/...

Jonathan Cohn, the New Republic:
The Most Dishonest Convention Speech ... Ever?
http://www.tnr.com/...

TPM:
Top 5 Fibs In Paul Ryan’s Convention Speech
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/...

Michael Tomasky, the Daily Beast:
"Paul Ryan pushed American politics into new territory with his convention speech, effectively daring Democrats and the media to call him out on his string of blatant falsehoods"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/...

Jonathan Bernstein, the Washington Post:
Paul Ryan fails -- the truth
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

AP:
FACT CHECK: Convention speakers stray from reality
http://www.google.com/...

Dan Amira, NY Magazine:
Paul Ryan Bets on the Ignorance of America
http://nymag.com/...

Fox News contributor, Sally Kohn:
“Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/...

Steve Benen, Maddowblog:
Paul Ryan stands on a foundation of lies
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/...

Huffington Post:
PAUL TALES: RYAN MISLEADS, AGAIN AND AGAIN
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Politicsusa:
5 Biggest lies in Romney’s speech:
http://www.politicususa.com/...

Bob Cesca:
Paul Ryan’s Speech: Lies, Lies and More Lies
http://bobcesca.com/...

Washington Post Editorial Board:
Mr. Ryan’s misleading speech
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

Factcheck.org
“Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements.”
http://factcheck.org/...

Andrew Sullivan, the Daily Beast:
The lies and lies of Paul Ryan
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/...

Ryan Lizza, the New Yorker:
The Paul Ryan Speech: Five Hypocrisies
http://www.newyorker.com/...

Jonathan Chait, NY magazine:
Paul Ryan’s large lies and one big truth
http://nymag.com/...

James Downie, Washington Post:
Paul Ryan’s breathtakingly dishonest speech
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

James Fallow, Atlantic
Paul Ryan and the post truth convention
http://www.theatlantic.com/...

Robert Schlesinger, US News
http://www.usnews.com/...


Juan Cole:
Top Ten Repeated Paul Ryan Lies
http://www.juancole.com/...

The Guardian:
Paul Ryan's speech: a round-up of his most audacious untruths
http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

Charles Pierce, Esquire:
Paul Ryan Is the Newest New Nixon, a Moocher Belied
http://www.esquire.com/...

Huffington Post
Busted! Ryan's speech fools no one
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

David Firestone, NYT
Beyond Factual Dishonesty
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/...

Josh Barro, Bloomberg
Paul Ryan’s Hypocritical Attack on Barack Obama
http://www.bloomberg.com/...

Lindy West, Jezebel.com
Why lying is bad, a primer for confused republicans
http://jezebel.com/...

And yet people question me as to why I left the GOP!   I will admit that I do not like being called a Christian because I do not want to be associated in anyway with the hate merchants and hypocrites of the conservative Christianist circles, but I DO acknowledge that the Ten Commandments include a Commandment that Prohibits lying.  Yet the Christianist and their Republican puppets/co-conspirators act as if there are only nine Commandments. They indeed make the Biblical Pharisees look like nice, honest, straight up people.  I would literally feel dirty to be affiliated with today's GOP.

Thursday Morning Male Beauty

Washington State:Catholic Churches Can’t Collect Donations to Overturn Gay Marriage Law

I noted recently that the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, was directing all churches in the diocese to have a special collection effort in September to raise money to help overturn Washington State's marriage equality law enacted earlier in the year.  Now, the state has stepped in and told the Catholic Church that it cannot proceed with its plan without violating the state's campaign finance laws (I still believe the IRS needs to step in as well).    It's yet another example of the "godly Christian" folk believing that they are above the laws that govern the rest of us.  I hope the state goes after NOM as well.  The Boston Edge has details on the smack down received by the Catholic Church.  Here are highlights:

OLYMPIA - Washington’s campaign finance watchdog says the state’s Catholic churches can’t collect donations from parishioners for the campaign seeking to overturn the state’s gay marriage law.

Last week, Yakima Bishop Joseph Tyson sent a letter to pastors in 41 parishes of the Yakima Diocese asking them to announce a special collection that would go to Preserve Marriage Washington, which is fighting the same-sex marriage law that was passed earlier this year. The diocese’s chief of staff, Monsignor Robert Siler, said Tuesday that the expected collection date was Sept. 8-9.

But Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state’s Public Disclosure Commission, says no organization can be an intermediary for a contribution. She says the church can hand out envelopes, but either a member of Preserve Washington has to be on hand to collect them or parishioners must send them in individually.  Anderson said the restrictions stem from Initiative 134, which voters passed in 1992 to regulate political contributions and campaign spending.

Siler said the diocese coordinated its efforts with the Washington state Catholic Conference.

Anderson said that even so, what the church is proposing to do is what federal laws refer to as "bundling," and that isn’t allowed under state law. Anderson said PDC officials would be reaching out to church officials in the coming days.  "We just want to make sure they understand what they can and can’t do," she said.

"Under state law, no one can be an intermediary for a contribution," Anderson said. "It doesn’t matter if it’s a loose pile of money or if each is in a little envelope."

I hope the state holds tough against the Church and shuts down their effort.

California Bans "Repartive Therapy" For Minors

Over the screams and shouts of the Christianist snake oil merchants who make a living preying on the parents of LGBT youth who are willing to pay big bucks to "cure" their gay child, the California legislature has enacted a ban therapist using the debunked "reparative therapy" on those under the age of 18 years.  Frankly, the ban should have banned the use of the fraudulent and down right dangerous practice for everyone, but at least this action is a start in the right direction.  No doubt the Christofascists will now be terrified that other states may summon the nerve to likewise protect minors from charlatans. Should that happen, PFOX and NARTH might go out of business. The Chicago Tribune has details. Here are excerpts:

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California's state Assembly approved a bill on Tuesday to prohibit children and teenagers from undergoing a controversial therapy that aims to reverse homosexuality, moving the state closer to becoming the first to impose such a ban.

The 51-21 vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly marked a major victory for gay rights advocates who say the so-called conversion therapy has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder.

Opponents of the practice say such attempts to change sexual orientation can cause depression and lead to substance abuse and suicide.

Several openly gay legislators championed the bill in emotional speeches during the floor debate, citing their own childhood experiences.

If [Governor Jerry] Brown signs the bill into law, California would become the first state in the nation to outlaw such therapy for minors.

Republican opponents of the measure said politicians should not step in and regulate what they consider to be a matter for medical boards to decide. They also said the bill encroaches on the rights of parents to make choices for their children.

"That's why parents have children -- to hand down their legacies, their belief systems, the way they want their children raised," Assembly member Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield, said during the floor debate.

Using Grove's theory, I guess it's also fine for parents to teach their children to be racists and anti-Semites too.  Having a child does not give one the right to submit that child to harmful beliefs and/or treatments

The GOP False Claim of Inclusiveness

While the Romney/Ryan campaign and the GOP at large labor to give the false appearance that the Party is inclusive and that Mitt's "just like you and me," a series of mishaps reflect the true story.  First we have big GOP donors being feted on a huge yacht flying the Cayman Island Flag to racist episodes at the convention itself.  Anyone who falls for the GOP propaganda machine is clearly an easy mark for the next flim flam man or con artist that comes along.  First, these highlights from ABC News on the donor party expose:

Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign toasted its top donors Wednesday aboard a 150-foot yacht flying the flag of the Cayman Islands.

The floating party, hosted by a Florida developer on his yacht "Cracker Bay," was one of a dozen exclusive events meant to nurture those who have raised more than $1 million for Romney's bid.

"I think it's ironic they do this aboard a yacht that doesn't even pay its taxes," said a woman who lives aboard a much smaller boat moored at the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina.

Romney's Cayman-based investments have come under fire during the campaign.

The event, attended by no more than 50 people, along with Romney relatives, including older brother Scott, appeared on no public calendars. ABC News obtained a schedule of the Romney campaign's "Victory Council" and waited dockside to speak with members.  "It was a really nice event. These are good supporters," said billionaire Wilbur Ross, an energy industry executive.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was scheduled to speak.   Registered in the Caymans, and flying a version of the Caymans' "civil ensign" or merchant flag, the Cracker Bay has an impressive art collection and can seat 30 for dinner.

If that doesn't send a message, then the racial incidents at the convention ought to do so and the public should not be duped by the appearance of a few cherry picked black faces in the speaker line up.  The Washington Post looks at these incidents.  Here are excerpts:

From the convention stage here, the Republican Party has tried to highlight its diversity, giving prime speaking slots to Latinos and blacks who have emphasized their party’s economic appeal to all Americans.

But they have delivered those speeches to a convention hall filled overwhelmingly with white faces, an awkward contrast that has been made more uncomfortable this week by a series of racial headaches that have intruded on the party’s efforts to project a new level of inclusiveness.

On Tuesday, convention organizers ejected two attendees after they reportedly threw peanuts at a black CNN camerawoman and told her, “This is how we feed animals.” Organizers called the conduct “inexcusable and unacceptable.”

And on Wednesday, Yahoo News fired Washington bureau chief David Chalian after a live microphone caught him telling a colleague, before an online event, that Romney and his wife, Ann, were “happy to have a party with black people drowning,” a reference to the RNC’s decision to go ahead with the convention while Hurricane Isaac lashed New Orleans. Chalian later apologized.

Exit polls from 2008 showed that 90 percent of GOP voters were white, a homogeneity that has been consistent for more than 30 years, even as the percentage of the electorate that is white has fallen.  Nonwhite voters favored Obama over Romney by better than three to one in a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll from early August; 74 percent of Latino voters and 90 percent of African Americans backed Obama.

And despite a speaker lineup in Tampa  .  .  .  .  just 2 percent of convention delegates are black.

Raynard Jackson, a black GOP political consultant, wrote Tuesday on the RootDC Live blog that he is “embarrassed by the lack of diversity” at the convention and frustrated by his party’s empty promises.  “The Republican line is that the overwhelming majority of blacks will vote for Obama because he is African American,” Jackson wrote. “I find this thinking extremely insulting as a black Republican. The reason the majority of blacks will vote for Obama is because Republicans have not given African Americans a reason to vote for Republicans or Romney.”

More Wednesday Male Beauty

Fighting Back: Motives of Gay Couple Suing United Airlines

When I wrote my post over the weekend on this blog and posted a largely identical post on The Bilerico Project on Monday, I seriously never dreamed that the story would go nearly viral and that I'd be contacted from everyone from local media outlets to The Daily Mail in London, England   But, the story does seem to have taken on a life of its own.  Even the far right blog Free Republic has picked up the story, where much to my surprise, some of the comments - especially from women - have been supportive of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.  Sadly, some of the comments on the numerous blog posts and news stories, including some on my Bilerico post have been not so nice.  Comments have ranged from thinking the situation is a hoax, to demeaning the plaintiffs for calling friends to come to their assistance, to saying that the lawsuit is all about money. 

Having been involved in this story from almost its inception - I received a call from the plaintiffs at about 1:00 AM after their experience at the Norfolk airport and,  since I am a member of the State Bar of Texas, I wrote the initial demand latter to United Continental and received the airline's, in my view, pathetic response - I feel that some of the comments need to be addressed in no particular order. Not only for the sake of the plaintiffs, but also for my own credibility as an LGBT blogger and as a contributor to The Bilerico Project.

As to the comments that the whole thing is a hoax, I have a couple of responses.  First, having talked to the plaintiffs who are long time friends right after their return to Norfolk on May of last year, I seriously doubt that anything was made up or invented.  I'm the one, in fact who told them to take plenty of photos of the desecrated luggage before they extricated their things.  In addition, the friends who they called to the airport to assist them and drive them home are both highly regarded individuals, both of whom are straight and one of whom holds top security clearances.  They will prove to be highly credible witnesses and one's position will certainly turn some of the statements of some of the Free Republic crowd on their head.

As for those who say the entire lawsuit is about money, I likewise have several responses.  The first is to admit that yes, the suit does seek money damages, especially exemplary damages (also called punitive damages in some states).   Why the damage request?  I can tell you why.  As a former in-house attorney for a Fortune 50 company coincidentally based in Houston, I know first hand that in this nation's business world there are two things that keep large corporations and, indirectly their employees in line: strictly enforced regulations and the avoidance of paying out damage settlements.   If  one wants to get corporate CEO's to do the right thing, threaten the corporation's bank account and upset the shareholders.

The other aspect of this story is that this type of outrage could  happen to anyone, gay or straight.  When one has paid to have their checked baggage transported by a common carrier such as Continental Airlines, one should not have to worry that the luggage will be vandalized with the goal of humiliating the owner of the luggage.  In this instance, there is little doubt that the intent of perpetrator(s) was to inflict deliberate emotional harm.  In this case, the zipper on the checked bag was not damaged whatsoever.  There was no need to apply tape to the bag even if it had somehow come open.  Worse yet, there was no need to apply a foul smelling substance smeared with brown particulate matter to give the appearance that the sex toy had been used.  These actions were not inadvertently done.

I'm sure that whoever desecrated my friends' luggage had a good laugh at the thought of the luggage's owner's reaction upon viewing the sabotaged bag in the midst of a crowd at the luggage carousel.  Dharun Ravi likely laughed his ass off when he secretly broadcast video of Rutgers University student, Tyler Clementi.  We all know the tragic results of that prank - Tyler Clementi's suicide by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge.  Whoever was behind this sick stunt had no way of knowing how the bag's owner might respond.  Thankfully, this situation did not lead to a tragedy.  But it could have.  The plaintiffs are from Norfolk, Virginia, after all.  I assure you, this is not New York City or Los Angeles.  LGBT Virginians live under daily, state sponsored discrimination.  I personally have suffered harassment from certain members of the Norfolk Police Department and members of the Virginia judiciary simply because I am gay.  That is the climate in which the plaintiffs had to collect their bag in front of likely well over 100+ passengers and those meeting them. 

My last response involves a point that I've made many times both on this blog and on Bilerico: bad things happen because good people do nothing and allow hateful things to happen.  It's what I sometimes call the "good German" or "good Christian" phenomenon.   In this case, the plaintiffs could have done nothing and perhaps someone else would at some point find themselves subjected to some form similar of vile humiliation.  And just maybe that person might not hold themselves together and do something drastic.  By doing nothing one can become part of the problem.

For additional images and thoughts visit:  http://www.plight2171.com/

Who Is Really to Blame for the Nation's Debt

The Republicans and the Romney/Ryan campaign like to depict Barack Obama as a big spending liberal.  What has truly gotten the country is the big spending Republicans.  The chart above speaks volumes.  As I've noted before, the self-styled party of religious values does nothing but lie - a trait that must have come from its Christianist base.

Wednesday Morning Male Beauty

Mitt Romney - Still Inhuman

Candidly, I did not watch Ann "Marie Antoinette" Romney's speech last night.  I'd had a late dinner after a local political event and frankly did not want to end up hurling it up with her disingenuous and self-serving act.   But, from what I'm reading, many found her effort to humanize her robot husband unsuccessful.  It's not surprising given Mitt Romney's cluelessness about ordinary Americans' lives, his obsession with money (and avoid taxes) and his sense of entitlement that seeps through constantly.  Even her story about their lives during his student days underscored the alternate reality that Mitt and Marie Antoinette live in.  Here's part of the analysis from a Washington Post column:

Ann Romney gamely attempted to humanize her husband, Mitt, at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night, and you could tell. She provided the sorts of details about their early marriage that politicians and their spouses often have on hand to make themselves seem relatable — their dining-room table was an ironing board, on which they ate a lot of tuna fish and pasta — right after explaining that Mitt’s father ran an auto company. And she kept insisting — too much — that Mitt makes her laugh.

In fact, Ann Romney’s most powerful lines were not about how Mitt Romney is just like the rest of us — but how he has shown himself to be very different.  .   .   .   .  Mitt Romney’s most impressive and consistently manifest attribute is his inhuman work ethic. That also points to one of Mitt Romney’s greatest weaknesses — it remains utterly mysterious to what end, beyond his own advancement, he wants to apply all that talent and drive.

A piece in Mother Jones had a similar reaction.  Here's the relevant quote:

[D]id anyone else notice that even Ann Romney was almost entirely unable to humanize Mitt? She talked about the things he had done, but hardly at all about the kind of person he is. There was a brief reference to Mitt being "warm and loving and patient" — and helpful to friends in trouble — but after that it was all about Mitt being hardworking and successful. In other words, pretty much the corporate drone we all think he is. I doubt very much that this really helped the Republican cause with women much.

And then there's this quote from from The Atlantic:

Ann Romney talked about living in a basement apartment while Mitt Romney was in grad school, but as David Shuster notes, they were living off stock options. Christie just mentioned moving into a "studio apartment" with his wife when they were first married. I hope one day I can look back on my young person's middle class real estate experience as stark poverty. 

 

Ron Paul: I’m An "Undecided" Voter

Despite the GOP's carefully orchestrated effort to present Mitt Romney yesterday as something less than a money loving, tax avoiding robot, things haven't sailed as smoothly in La La Land as hoped by the PR packaging team.  One of the big headaches?  Ron Paul and some of his delegates at the GOP convention.  Among the symptoms that not all is as well as some would pretend is Paul's own statement that (1) he won't endorse Romney/Ryan and (2) he's an undecided voter who just might not personally vote for the GOP ticket.  Then, there's the fight that broke out on the convention floor involving some of Paul's delegates.  First, here are highlights from Politico on Paul's statements:

Rep. Ron Paul said Tuesday he’s not planning to endorse the GOP ticket at the Republican National Convention and that right now, he’s an “undecided” voter.

The Texas Republican told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto that he expects to leave the convention without endorsing Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, but that he “will probably vote” this November. Cavuto asked Paul if he leans more toward supporting Romney and the former presidential candidate said that “on certain issues,” he does.

Paul, who held a rally over the weekend for his supporters, told Cavuto he thinks the Republican ticket is “anxious; I think they’re really anxious to have our votes.” And although both Ryan and Romney have said recently they expect Paul supporters to come around to the Republican ticket, the Texas congressman said “they might be jumping the gun a bit.”

“I don’t own my delegates,” he said.  His supporters “are going to do what they want to do” and “when they ask me what to do, I say, ‘Do what you want to do.’”

And yes, his delegates are indeed showing their independence and unwillingness to nominate Mr. Etch A Sketch. .  Here are excerpts from a Washington Post column:

As the new rules disenfranchising the Paul delegates came to a vote, shouts of “no!” and a cascade of boos poured from Paul supporters across the hall. Maine delegates at one end of the arena and Texas delegates at the other began chanting, “Point of order!” Demonstrators shouted down the next speaker, a Republican National Committee member from Puerto Rico, and party chairman Reince Priebus hammered his gavel, pleading for quiet. A Nevada delegate raised his middle finger at Priebus and called him an “[expletive] tyrant.”

Convention officials evicted some of the loudest demonstrators, who filled the hallways with shouts of “fraud!” and “farce!” and “sheep!” Paul supporters inside the hall resumed their booing and cries of “no!” — this time directed at House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who had taken the gavel.

The outcome of the dispute, in Romney’s favor, was never in doubt. But the episode illustrated a recurrent tension for the Republican nominee: the orderliness of his world colliding with chaotic reality. Romney is by many accounts a control freak, a stickler for rules and order. His campaign, following his instincts, runs the same way — and it has struggled mightily to stick to its script this week even as Hurricane Isaac zeroed in on New Orleans. 

In that sense, the convention may be a valuable lesson in Romney’s leadership style. The presidency is one storm after another, some natural and others man-made. Can Romney adapt when a crisis causes a script change? So far, the indication is he expects the crisis to adapt to him.

Romney is an arrogant, out of touch from reality individual and it's frightening to think of him dealing with foreign leaders if he attains the White House.  His disastrous trip to the U.K. for the Olympics may well have been a glimpse of a Romney presidency.  People and other nations are not his corporate flunkies who can be forced to follow his dictates.

City of Norfolk Makes $200,000 Gift to Chick Fil-A

Despite much controversy and out cry from the Ghent neighborhood in Norfolk in particular, the Norfolk City Council voted to sell a parcel of land on Monticello Avenue to Chick Fil-A - that's right the controversial anti-gay company that has funded millions of dollars to hate groups - for $200,000 less than it's current forth and $300,000 less than a local developer had offered.  Frankly, it's all too typical of  homophobic Mayor Paul Fraim and some of his gang that couldn't shoot straight fellow council members.  The LGBT community should take note of where Fraim's loyalties lie.  Here are excerpts from the Virginian Pilot's coverage:

Chick-Fil-A has acquired a 1.2-acre parcel on Monticello Avenue, but the Atlanta-based company still must woo the city's planning officials.

The City Council voted Tuesday to sell the property to Chick-Fil-A. The proposed terms of the land transaction were the source of controversy earlier this year when the council gave city staffers the unofficial go-ahead to sell the property for less than Norfolk purchased it in 2007.

The city purchased the property from the Union Mission Ministries for about $2.1 million. The property, now assessed at $1 million, was sold to Chick-Fil-A for $800,000.

Matthew Stellmaker, a development manager for Chick-Fil-A, said this week that the company is modifying the building based on feedback from the design and planning boards, and expects to present its new plans next month.

City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the sale would be voided if the company does not get city approval for its building design.

What's next?  Will the city cut a deal with a KKK or neo-Nazi backed company?  I for one will never set foot in the facility if it is built and I hope that the design and planning boards put Chick Fil-A through the wringer.

More Tuesday Male Beauty

Washington State Diocese to Take Up Special Collection to Fund Anti-Gay Legislation

Once again I find myself on the verge of pulling my hair our and screaming out "WTF is the IRS doing about this?"  Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code very clearly states that non-profit charitable organizations with tax exempt status CANNOT back political candidates or specific legislation. This clear wording is clearly lost on the Diocese of Yakima which will be shaking down parishioners in the pews for money donations to support the ballot initiative to overturn Washington State's marriage equality law.  Here are highlights from what's what the Diocese is saying on its website:

Dear Pastor,  

Labor Day Weekend marks the beginning of Preserve Marriage Month, the official start to our educational program to inform parishioners about Catholic teaching on marriage and Referendum 74 (R‐74), which would redefine marriage. R‐74 will appear on the ballot in November.

I am asking you to announce a special parishioner financial appeal at each Mass on the weekend of August 25/26 or September 1/2 – whichever one you choose – to promote the September 8/9 in‐pew collection for the Preserve Marriage Washington campaign. This important appeal will benefit the campaign to reject R‐74.
 

1.  Next week you will receive from Catholic Printery, whether they publish your bulletin or not, special envelopes and informational flyers for inclusion in your bulletin on the weekend you choose.
2.  A security envelope addressed to Preserve Marriage Washington will also be included with the mailing. Please use it to return your donation envelopes.

In addition to informing ourselves and others about R‐74, we can contribute to the campaign by using the envelope in this week’s bulletin to make a generous donation to Preserve Marriage Washington.

These donations are not tax deductible.

Each individual donor must provide the requested information on the envelope, including your name, and address. You may drop the envelope into the regular collection today or September 8/9, or mail it to Preserve Marriage Washington as indicated on the envelope.

Fraternally in Christ,
Most Reverend Joseph J. Tyson
Bishop of Yakima

Given the nation's budget deficit, what better way to address it than taking away the tax exempt status of partisan organizations like the Roman Catholic Church.  Non-Catholics, atheists and certainly LGBT Americas should not be forced to indirectly underwrite the Church's bigotry and efforts to interfere with the civil laws. Oh, and did I mention underwriting the Church hierarchy's world wide conspiracy to protect child rapists?