GOP Continues Its Descent to a Party of Infamy

While initial focus group polls are showing that Barack Obama won the third presidential debate and McCain has denied that his Party is engaging in racist and thug like conduct, the stories of GOP outrages and politics of hate continue to come in. The first comes from Sacramento, California, where the Sacramento GOP web site calls for the torture of Barack Obama. This isn't a case of some lone nutcase. This is the official party website for a large county unit. Obviously, McCain's statements that he abhors such conduct are lies. Even his smirking and condescending behavior during tonight's debate showed his contempt for Obama. I and I suspect many others are coming to be ashamed that we were ever Republican given the current face of the Party. Here are some highlights from the Sacramento Bee:

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Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to "Waterboard Barack Obama" – material that offended even state GOP leaders. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has pushed the party to try to broaden its appeal, took issue with the site. "In the governor's view, it's completely and totally inappropriate," said Julie Soderlund, a Schwarzenegger spokeswoman.

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Taking credit for the site (sacramentorepublicans.org) and its content was county party chairman Craig MacGlashan – husband of Sacramento County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan. The Bee asked MacGlashan about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence at Fair Oaks Boulevard and Garfield Avenue.

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But he defended his Web site. "I'm aware of the content," he said. "Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things." MacGlashan said he would "consider people's complaints" before taking any action. By Tuesday night, much of the questionable material – which ranged from depicting Obama in a turban to attacking Michelle Obama – had been removed, replaced with political cartoons attacking Obama.

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The second example of behavior beyond the pale involves the circulation of "jokes" by a top Tampa, Florida, Republican. I am truly starting to believe that some in the GOP are secretly hoping their unconscionable behavior may prompt some nut job to try to actually harm or kill Obama. The behavior looks like something one would expect in a banana republic, not the USA. Here are highlights from the Tampa Tribune:

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Al Austin, a longtime, high-level Republican fundraiser from Tampa, today sent to his list of political contacts an e-mail containing a joke that refers to the assassination of Barack Obama.

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The joke concerns a group of schoolchildren discussing the definition of “tragedy” as opposed to “great loss” or “accident.” The punch line comes when one child says that if an airplane carrying Obama and his wife, Michelle, “was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens,” the event might be a tragedy “because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss, and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”

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Austin, a prominent real estate developer long known as one of the state’s leading Republican campaign fundraisers, has served in recent years as finance chairman for both the national and state Republican parties.

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In my view, it is crucial that McCain/Palin go down to a diastrous defeat so that this type of politics can be repudiated once and for all. People like Craig MacGaslan, John McCain, Sarah Palin and Al Austin are disgusting and utterly unfit to hold political positions.

Fire and Brimstone

A church in Columbus, Ohio, is displaying a sign which no doubt would be well received by Sarah Palin and her fellow churchgoers as aell as a good percentage of the attendees of the Republican Party Convention. Especially now that the GOP has become an unofficial religion based party. The sign was posted in reaction to Katy Perry's pop song lyrics "I kissed a girl and I liked it" which flirts with same-sex attraction. To me, the sign is illustrative of the Christianist mind set on display in St. Paul at the GOP Convention: condemn those who are different and subconsciously endorse the concept that these "others" can be mistreated with impunity. It's hardly the message of the Gospels, but it is the core of the Christianist religious beliefs. Here are some highlights from the Columbus Dispatch:

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I kissed a girl and I liked it. Those lyrics have made Katy Perry's pop song a big hit on the radio.
But when a local church put the song lyrics on its marquee -- followed by the words then I went to hell -- some people got angry. People driving by Havens Corners Church in Blacklick yesterday morning noticed the sign, aimed to warn people about what the church says is the sin of homosexuality.

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[Rev. Dave Allison] said "We meant that as a loving warning to teens. … The Scriptures tell us that you should not do what the song tells you to do. The Scriptures are not ambiguous on this issue."

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Lynne Bowman, director of Equality Ohio, a gay and transgender advocacy group, said every church has a right to its beliefs. Havens Corners has made it clear to everyone who drives by that it is not a welcoming place that accepts all people, she said. She noted that the church's vision, stated on its Web site, is to grow in membership. "Obviously they're making a statement as to how they don't want to do that," she said.

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She said Equality Ohio has identified at least 300 churches in Ohio that welcome gay people looking for a church home. "That sign just tells them where they cannot go to find the love and faith in Christ," she said.

Anti-Marriage Dishonor Roll

I have often said that I believe that LGBT Americans need to do a much better job of targeting their huge collective purchasing power to shun companies and products directly or indirectly affiliated with anti-gay positions. For example, unless I'm in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no other option, I NEVER buy gas at Exxon-Mobil stations due to Exxon's refusal to grant employment non-discrimination protections to its employees (and worse yet elimination of those that Mobil Oil had had in place prior to its take over by Exxon).

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Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Californians Against Hate will be publishing a "Dishonor Roll" that list of individual and corporate donors who give $5,000 or more to groups campaigning on behalf of Proposition 8. The list will include the donor's name, employer and the corporate logo of that employer -- even if the company itself didn't donate to the Proposition 8 fight. Needless to say there will be many anti-gay bigots who shriek and whine about being identified since they prefer to quietly work to deprive LGBT citizens of equality under the law. My feeling is that if one is afraid to have the entire world know what you are doing to harm others, then perhaps you should not be doing it in the first place. Oh, and note how the anti-family Knights of Columbus which has done NOTHING to hold bishops and cardinals accountable for sexual abuse cover ups has donated $1 million to write bigotry into the California Constitution. Here are some story highlights:

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When William Bolthouse, a California philanthropist, donated $100,000 in March to support a proposition to ban gay marriage in California, calls and emails poured in -- not to Mr. Bolthouse, but to the corporate offices of a company that bears his name -- even though he sold it three years earlier.

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"Mr. Bolthouse has said, 'I'm not connected to Bolthouse Farms at all.' But we don't accept that," says Fred Karger, who runs Californians Against Hate, a new gay-rights group that is leading the charge to identify and publicize corporate connections to significant donors. He notes that Mr. Bolthouse's son-in-law is chairman of the company and that Bolthouse Farms markets itself as a fourth-generation company.

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Next week, Californians Against Hate is planning to push its tactic further by publishing a "Dishonor Roll," a list of individual and corporate donors who give $5,000 or more to groups campaigning on behalf of Proposition 8. The list will include the donor's name, employer and the corporate logo of that employer -- even if the company itself didn't donate to the Proposition 8 fight.

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Mr. Karger said the tactic isn't intended to keep individuals or companies from donating, but is meant to educate the public so consumers can make informed choices. He said including corporate logos of businesses whose employees donate is fair game, since that information is publicly available on government Web sites that track donors. "Our larger message is to other business people," Mr. Karger says. "It's a free country, you can give as much money to this campaign, but we are going to publicize that and people can make a decision on whether or not they want to support those businesses."

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Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for ProtectMarriage.com, the largest fund-raiser for the Yes on Prop 8 campaign, says she expects it will become more difficult to entice corporations to contribute to her cause. "The moment [Mr. Manchester] wrote the check, he found himself to be the target of numerous boycotts and protests," she said. "Our side has a significant challenge in that." Ms. Kerns noted that the greater chunk of her group's funding will likely come from individuals and religious groups, such as the national Catholic organization Knights of Columbus, which recently contributed $1 million to the campaign.