Anti-Gay Republican Called to Resign Over Sexually Explicit Video of Himself

As I have noted so often before, with a few exceptions, it is ALWAYS conservative Republicans - typically the most anti-LGBT and homophobic - who get caught up in sex scandals.   To the list we can now add GOP State Senator Kintner of Nebraska who an investigation found had a sexually explicit video on his state owned computer which starred himself.  Given Kintner's photo above, it must have been beyond grotesque!!  And true to form, Kintner in typical GOP style wore his feigned religiosity on his sleeve.  The Lincoln Journal-Star has details:

Gov. Pete Ricketts has urged state Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion to resign if allegations are proven true that Kintner exchanged sexually explicit video of himself using his state computer.

Kintner, who was attending an American Legislative Exchange Council meeting in Indianapolis, didn't return calls to his cellphone Friday afternoon.  He told The Associated Press he wouldn't comment "until there is some finding, if any," by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission, which handles ethics complaints against public officials.

The patrol says it turned over its investigation to the commission in November after consulting with the state attorney general's office. Accountability and Disclosure Commission Director Frank Daley declined to comment Friday, but the commission is expected to weigh in during a meeting Aug. 5.

In a statement issued Friday, Ricketts said he had phoned Kintner last summer and urged him to resign "if the allegations were true." "Due to the ongoing investigation of this issue, I have been unable to say anything publicly," Ricketts said Friday. "If the allegations are true, Senator Kintner needs to resign.”

Nebraska law forbids public officials from using their state computers for nonessential personal activity.

Democrats quickly chided the Republican governor for his handling of the situation.  "It is not enough for Sen. Kintner to resign in shame. Anyone that knew this information and continued to let him sit in office must also resign," said Jane Kleeb, chairwoman-elect of the Nebraska Democratic Party, in a text message. "Did Gov. Ricketts or his staff look the other way so they had (Kintner's) vote in the Unicameral?" 

Investigators haven't described the video or said whether a permanent copy or other evidence was ever obtained.

But another senator said he contacted the State Patrol last fall after a woman offered to sell what she called a sexually explicit video of Kintner.

Considered one of the Legislature's most conservative senators, Bill Kintner once told the Journal Star that his parents "taught me the moral absolutes of Christianity, and I just applied those to everything."

Hypocrisy is one of the most enduring traits of today's Republicans.

Nebraska Woman Files Suit Against all Homosexuals

In what is in some ways a logical progression - assuming that the word logic and Christofascist are not a complete oxymoron - a woman in Nebraska who describes herself as "an ambassador for God and his son, Jesus Christ"  has filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking a ruling that all gays are sinners and an abomination and that "God is not a liar."  (She sounds perfect for the position of campaign director for Ted Cruz or Mike Huckabee doesn't she?).  It goes without saying that the woman, Sylvia Driskell, age 66, is not represented by counsel.    But her insane action demonstrates just how extreme and untethered from reality the "godly Christian" crowd/GOP base has become.  The Omaha World Herald looks at the insanity (it would be hard to make up stuff this crazy if one tried).  Here are highlights:

An Auburn woman claiming to be an ambassador for God and his son, Jesus Christ, is suing all homosexuals.

Sylvia Driskell, 66, asked an Omaha federal judge to decide whether homosexuality is a sin.

Citing Bible verses, Driskell contends “that homosexuality is a sin and that they the homosexuals know it is a sin to live a life of homosexuality. Why else would they have been hiding in the closet(?)”

Driskell wrote in a seven-page petition to the court that God has said homosexuality is an abomination. She challenged the court to not call God a liar.

“I never thought that I would see a day in which our great nation or our own great state of Nebraska would become so compliant to the complicity of some people(’s) lewd behavior.”

Driskell could not be reached by phone. She is representing herself in the lawsuit. 

I truly ponder how individuals like Ms. Driskell have become this mentally unhinged.   That said, two things spring to mind: (i) this is the type of person that folks to today's Republican Party and (ii) her pastor/priest is probably applauding her insanity.  A third things also comes to mind: religious belief/affiliation is a choice while sexual orientation is not. 

 

Christofascists and Republicans Continue to Claim to Be Above the Law

One of the mantras of the Christofascists and their pandering whores in the Republican Party is that gays want "special rights."  In truth, we only want EQUAL rights.  It is the Christofascists who want special rights.  Specifically, they want a license to simply disregard any law that they do not like, citing as always "deeply held religious beliefs."   This Christofascist mindset is bad enough, but when one hears legislators who have sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States engage in such batshitery, they make a de facto case that they are unfit to hold elected office.  The most recent example is Ben Sasse (pictured above), a Nebraska Republican who won his party’s nomination to the United States Senate on Tuesday (those undermining the Constitution seem to ALWAYS be Republicans).  According to Sasse’s website, “[g]overnment cannot force citizens to violate their religious beliefs under any circumstances.”  That's right.  If you don't like a law, just ignore it.  Think Progress looks at Sasse's arguably seditious views.  Here are excerpts:

“[O]ur right to the free exercise of religion is co-equal to our right to life,” according to the campaign website of Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican who won his party’s nomination to the United States Senate on Tuesday. Nebraska is a solid red state that preferred Romney to Obama by a massive 21 point margin in 2012, so Sasse is now all but certain to succeed retiring Sen. Mike Johanns (R) this November. If he does, Sasse promises to promote an almost anarchistic vision of religious liberty as a member of the Senate. According to Sasse’s website, “[g]overnment cannot force citizens to violate their religious beliefs under any circumstances.”

The question of when religious belief exempts believers from following the law is at the forefront of our national debate right now, with the Supreme Court poised to decide whether religious business owners can refuse to offer birth control coverage as part of their employer-provided health plans, even when doing so would violate federal law.  Yet, even the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court acknowledge that religious liberty is not an absolute right to violate any law at any time.

His proposed rule — that government cannot require someone to act counter to their religious beliefs “under any circumstances” — would mean that literally any law could be ignored by someone who held a religious belief counter to that law. . . . .  Under Sasse’s formulation of religious liberty, a person who killed his own sister because he believed he was under a religious obligation to do so would be immune from prosecution for murder.

Similarly, religious beliefs have been used to justify discrimination against racial minorities, women, and LGBT Americans at different points in American history. In an opinion upholding Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage, a state judge wrote that “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages.

The conservative Bob Jones University drew a similar connection between religion and racism to justify excluding African Americans entirely until the early 1970s, and then to justify a ban on interracial dating and marriage among its students.

Under Sasse’s preferred rule, where “government cannot force citizens to violate their religious beliefs under any circumstances,” racists, sexists and homophobes who claim a religious justification for bigotry would be immune from anti-discrimination law.

ThinkProgress contacted the Sasse campaign to offer them an opportunity to clarify whether the candidate truly believes that any practice, including “stoning adulterers or putting to death those who work on the Sabbath” should be allowed if it is justified by a religious belief. As of this writing, we have not received a response.

By his own words, Sasse is unfit to hold a seat in the U.S. Senate.  He symbolizes the growing sickness of religious extremist.  It is hard to be a bigger political whore to the Christofascists than Sasse. I find him frightening.

Nebraska GOP Lt. Governor Resigns - Over Adultry?

While details remain murky, Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy (pictured at left) abruptly his post today.  Indications are that Sheehy may have been having affairs.  His wife had filed for divorce in July, 2012stating that her marriage of 28 years was “irretrievably broken.”  A piece in the World Herald indicates that Sheehy had used his state issued cell phone during the past four years to make about 2,000 late-night telephone calls to women other than his wife.  Once again, one has to wonder why 8 times out of 10 that its the "family values" Republicans that have such a hard time avoiding adultery or seeking man on man restroom trysts like former Senator Larry "Wide Stance " Craig?  The supposedly godless Democrats seem to have nowhere near the difficulty keeping the their marital vows and their zippers up.  Here are article highlights:

LINCOLN — Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy resigned his post abruptly Saturday after questions were raised by The World-Herald about improper cell phone calls to four women, other than his wife, during the past four years.

An investigation by The World-Herald discovered that Sheehy made about 2,000 late-night telephone calls to the women on his state-issued cell phone, many of them long conversations held in the wee hours of the night.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced the resignation at a 10 a.m. press conference.

"I've got a knot in my stomach. I'm deeply disappointed. He's done a lot of good things for the state, but that trust was broken, and he's resigned," Heineman said.

Until now, Sheehy, 53, has been considered the leading candidate to succeed Heineman in 2015.

The governor, asked about Sheehy's candidacy, said: "I doubt he will continue his campaign for governor, and no, I would not support him under the circumstances."
 

Heineman declined to discuss the details of why Sheehy was stepping down, other than to say it involved "personal decisions" made by his lieutenant governor.

 I feel sorry for Sheehy's wife and his children who will now have to face humiliation and public scrutiny.