Meet The Press 6/30/13 - The Disingenuous Lies of Gay Marriage Opponents

Watching Meet the Press this morning where a discussion of this week's SCOTUS rulings on gay marriage took place, there were times when I wanted to throw something at the television as Ralph Reed (who I met years ago at a political event and who candidly sent my Gaydar into overdrive), Jim DeMint and other Christofascist puppets spouted the usually anti-gay lies and untruths.  They likewise made it clear that they believe that minorities should have no rights unless and until the majority deems to allow them to have them.   

The irony, of course, is filled with examples of where the majority was wrong, especially morally, in the way that minorities have been persecuted and deprived of rights: slavery, segregation, the treatment of women as chattel, hatred towards Jews,, etc.  The list is too long to enumerate, although I will point out two things.  First, in 1938, despite knowledge that atrocities against and the persecution of Jews was occurring in Germany, a Fortune poll found that two-thirds of the American public favored barring Jewish refugees from coming to America.  And when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Loving v. Virgina, interracial marriage had a lower approval level with the American public than gay marriage enjoys today.  Rather than being right, the majority is all too often wrong.  Dead wrong in the case of opposing entrance of Jewish refugees in the 1930;s.

The other thing that became abundantly clear from the interviews is that religious based animus towards gays and our families is the primary motivation of the "godly Christian" crowd.  Ralph Reed tried to float the canard that gay couples make inferior parents and without naming it by name relied on the fraudulent Christian Right funded Regnerus "study."  When confronted by David Gregory with he fact that the study only had relevance on broken homes, Reed refused to answer.  The same thing happened when Rachel Madow asked Jim DeMint to explain how same sex marriage harmed heterosexual marriage.  He could not give one concrete response and only reverted back to the usual blather about children needing a mother and father.

The sad reality is that these "godly folks" truly care nothing about the lives they damage or ruin.  When it comes to divorce, no one has a higher divorce rate than Evangelical Christians in the Bible Belt.   And banning gay marriage does nothing to (i) reduce the heterosexual divorce rate, or (ii) make gay and lesbian headed families miraculously disappear.  All it does is harm our children and deprive us of rights and benefits so that assholes like DeMint and Reed can feel superior.  It's sickening and it is diametrically opposed to the Gospel message.

Michele Bachman BFF Bradlee Dean Sues NBC, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, The Minnesota Independent Newspaper

Michele Bachmann BFF and "preacher" friend Bradlee Dean - a certifiable lunatic, in my opinion who has definitely blimped out big time compared to his younger and cuter days - has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against NBC, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, The Minnesota Independent Newspaper. Apparently, the in my view mentally challenged Dean has taken offense with news coverage that has stated that Dean supports the execution of gays. His case is based on the equivalent of a debate over the number of angels that can stand in the tip of a needle. Dean is on record as lauding Islamic extremists who apply Islamic law to execute gays, but somehow in Dean's small and simple mind, lauding those who execute gays isn't the same as supporting the execution of gays. Both MSNBC and the Minnesota Independent are standing by their stories and blowing off Deans possibly attention getting lawsuit. The down side of the lawsuit, of course, is that it will underscore the unsavory elements of Bachmann's religious extremist supporters. It's one thing to be a Bible beater and something far different to be an extremist endorsing murder and violence, especially in the wake of the horrors in Norway a week ago. Fellow Bilerico contributor, Jillian Weiss looks at this batshitery from the untethered Dean. Here are highlights:
*
Bradlee Dean, the controversial heavy metal minister of the anti-gay organization "You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International," filed a lawsuit yesterday in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. The suit alleges defamation and false light invasion of privacy against NBC, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, The Minnesota Independent Newspaper and its reporter, Andy Birkey. The suit seeks $50 million in damages.
*
According to the suit, Dean is upset about this article from May, 2010 in the Minnesota Independent:GOP-Linked Punk Rock Ministries Says Executing Gays Is 'Moral'. The article quotes Dean as saying the following on his radio show:
*
Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America." This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.
*
If America won't enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that, that is what you are seeing in America."
*
The bottom line is this... they [homosexuals] play the victim when they are, in fact, the predator. On average, they molest 117 people before they're found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?"
*
In the lawsuit, Dean does not deny making these statements, but says he told the Independent's reporter that he does not advocate execution of gays. He also says Rachel Maddow repeated the Independent's allegations. Although he admits that she noted that Dean had said that he doesn't advocate execution of gays, the lawsuit says that she was insufficiently sincere in making this disclaimer.
*
The rambling complaint also alleges that the defendants, by broadcasting Dean's statements, "sought to significntly harm the 'big political prize' which they loathe, Christian conservative presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who they sought to link to Plaintiffs. Congresswoman Michelle Backmann [sic] is regularly and maliciously disparaged, defamed and held in a false light on many other NBC and MSNBC cable shows, including but not limited to the broadcasts of television hosts Chris Mathews, Ed Schultz, and Lawrence O'Donnell. In sum, by destroying Plaintiffs, Defendants Maddow, MSNBC and NBC sought to destroy Bachmann, a Christian conservative presidential candidate who they despise and hate for her religious and political beliefs."
*
Dean's lawsuit has a very tough row to hoe. If Dean is, as he seems to be, a public figure by virtue of his relentless public relations campaign to tout his anti-gay ministry and his success in his attempts to achieve media coverage, then the law will require him not only to prove negligence by NBC, MSNBC, Rachel Maddow, The Minnesota Independent and its reporter, but also "actual malice," meaning that they knew the statements to be false and defamatory and intended to harm him. Since the evidence seems to point to the fact that Dean did, in fact, say what he is alleged to have said on his radio program, and he did not deny it in his suit, then he cannot prove an essential element of his claims -- that the media coverage was false.
*
I would imagine that the Bachmann camp is livid over this lawsuit. It's just not what she needs right now, to be lumped together with a rabid anti-gay publicity hound who is claiming that everyone is out to get him because he is "Michelle Backmann's" number one fan.
*
In my view, Bradlee Dean has long been in need of a serious mental health intervention. But, then, the same is true for Michele Bachmann and her husband "Marcia" Bachmann.

MSNBC Presses Obama on Campaign Promises

The New York Times has a story on the way that some of the MSNBC news show hosts are calling out President Obama on the disconnect between his campaign rhetoric and his actions now that he's in office. I believe that many people - be they liberals, independents or moderates - are increasingly discussed that instead of being a LEADER, Obama is being a follower and seeking to force Congress to take a leadership role instead. Over dinner last night, in fact, we got on this topic and one of our friends noted that Obama has utterly failed to lead in the manner of FDR, Truman, Lincoln and other presidents who LEAD Congress to enact change rather than sit on their hands or give meaningless nice sounding speeches followed by no action. Personally, I am disgusted with Obama's failure to deliver on campaign promises and I know more and more people who say they will either vote against him in 2012 or stay home - unless the GOP candidate was some type of lunatic like Sarah Palin. Here are some story highlights:

*
If President Obama happened to glance at “The Rachel Maddow Show” last Monday, he might have winced. Ms. Maddow pretended to celebrate the passage of a health care overhaul bill in the House, calling it “potentially a huge generational win for the Democratic Party” — but then halted the triumphant music and called it an “electoral defeat.” The Stupak amendment, she said, was “the biggest restriction on abortion rights in a generation.” Then she wondered aloud about the consequences for Democrats “if they don’t get women or anybody who’s pro-choice to ever vote for them again.” She returned to the subject the next four evenings in a row.
*
The spectacle of Democrats sniping at one another is not new, but having a TV home for it is. MSNBC — sometimes critically called the “home team” for supporters of Mr. Obama — has even hit upon the theme with a promotional tagline, “pushing back on the president,” in commercials for “Hardball,” Chris Matthews’s political hour.
*
“Our job is not to echo the president’s talking points,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC. Our job is to hold whoever’s in power’s feet to the fire.” . . . But is it good business? MSNBC is projected to take in $365 million in revenue this year, roughly the same amount as last year, when the presidential election bolstered its bottom line. Three years ago, before making a left turn, it had revenue of about $270 million a year.
*
It is certainly reaching the White House. Anita Dunn, the departing White House communications director, calls Mr. Olbermann and Ms. Maddow “progressive but not partisan,” and in doing so, distinguishes them from Fox News, which she considers a political opponent. The MSNBC hosts, she said in an e-mail message last month, “often take issues with the administration’s positions or tactics and are never shy about letting their viewers know when they disagree.”
*
Ms. Maddow said that apart from an off-the-record meeting between Mr. Obama and commentators that she attended last month, she has heard little from the White House. Mr. Griffin said, “We heard a whole lot more from the Bush White House.” . . . Sitting down to a midnight dinner in the East Village after her program on a recent Thursday, Ms. Maddow had shed her suit for a T-shirt. Four minutes in, a fan asked for an autograph. “You’re doing great work,” he said while she signed her name.
*
MSNBC’s political tilt — and Ms. Maddow’s ascension to one of the most influential positions in progressive America — are still starkly new phenomena. A Rhodes scholar with liberal radio roots, Ms. Maddow started to host MSNBC’s 9 p.m. hour on the eve of last year’s presidential election, at a time when MSNBC was wrestling with its political identity. New viewers materialized overnight, peaking at nearly two million a night in October 2008. Without an election to drive viewership, her program averaged 880,000 viewers last month.
*
Topics often tackled on Ms. Maddow’s program include the relationship between the United States military and politics (something she is writing a book about) and the repeal of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays in the military. Two gay members of the military, Dan Choi and Victor Fehrenbach, approached Ms. Maddow’s producers about coming out on her show, in March and May respectively. Introducing Mr. Fehrenbach, Ms. Maddow intoned that he was about to be fired “in the shadow of these political promises left unfulfilled.”
*

I think Rachel (and Keith too) are wonderful. I am so over news anchors and alleged commentators merely parroting the administrations talking points without ever asking if the statements are true or consistent with past promises. And Rachel is no easier on the far right. I particularly love it when she finds former video footage of some GOP demagogue making statements utterly the opposite of their current rant. Hypocrites need to be exposed for the liars that they are and MSNBC is doing a great service to the country. For readers who have not watched the network's evening shows, you need to do so.

What Has Obama Done as 'Fierce Advocate in Chief' for Gays?

I posted yesterday about the Obama administration's arguments to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to turn down a challenge to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Well, last night, Rachel Madow did a wonderful job of highlighting Obama's total failure to deliver to date on any of his campaign promises to LGBT Americans. Here are some highlights via You Tube:

*

I love Rachel's show and in particular her willingness to call it like it is without the ass kissing that is so prevalent through out most of the main stream media. As for Obama, I am still waiting to be proven wrong and that he's not a cynical liar when it comes to LGBT issues.

Fear the Rainbow!

A perusal of the morning news seems to indicate that the Christianists fear campaign against LGBT equality may be backfiring at least to some extent. From Rachel Madow playing the audition tapes on her show last night for the actors in the incredibly untruthful National Organization for Marriage video, to sharp questioning on talk shows, to scathing editorials one can only hope that average Americans will begin to get the message that our enemies are paranoid liars and not necessarily dealing with full decks in terms of mental stability. With all the many severe problems in the world and children literally starving to death and dying of treatable illnesses every day, gay marriage is the most pressing disaster facing the nation and the world? I think not. Mark Morford has a great column in the San Francisco Chronicle that takes the Christianists to task with his usual great satire. Here are some highlights:

*

My favorite part has got to be the lightning. The fake lightning, that is, flashing just off to the side, a cheap 'n' cheesy special effect that momentarily lights up the actors' faces in the most sweetly melodramatic way as they stand there against the dark 'n' stormy backdrop like devout Christian zombies, delivering delightfully weird and wooden lines about being openly terrified of those openly terrifying gay married people.

*

Yes, it's merely another series of strange, alarmist, deeply homophobic ads from yet another seething anti-gay group you've never heard of (the National Organization for Marriage, or NOM), ads which are running right now in five states in response to two stunning, watershed gay marriage upheavals in Iowa and Vermont, AKA two more states now shamelessly roaring down the highway to hell.

*

You just gotta see these strange, hateful little ads (as of this writing, the unintentionally hilarious audition reels of the terrible actors reciting the fake lines have been, alas, taken down). The ads emphasize how the gays are moving closer to Christian homes, businesses, schools and genitalia, and many terrified citizens with souls the size of marbles clearly don't know what to do or how to protect their children -- or their crotches -- from the onslaught because, oh my God, I think I just saw two men kissing on the mouth! Help me, Jesus!

*

What's most striking, what sets these ads apart from most homophobic campaigns of the past, is the palpable tone of desperation. It's a feeling that these groups are, more and more, clutching at straws, scraping bottom, leaning on the most absurd, least tenable arguments imaginable, each one more shrill and desperate than the last in a losing effort to appeal to an ever-shrinking audience of increasingly indifferent, bored homophobes.