British Columbia Lawyers Vote to Deny Accreditation to Christianist Law School

In a move that ought to be replicated in America, lawyers in British Columbia have voted to deny accreditation - which usually is a prerequisite for graduates to be able to sit for the bar exam - to a proposed law school that imposes a Christofascist statement of faith on students and faculty.  Here in Virginia, both Regent University and Liberty University impose statements of faith on faculty and students.  It goes without saying, one cannot engage in rigorous academics and legal analysis when everything must be viewed within the myopia of religious dogma and myths.  Yes, many students sign the statement of faith with a wink and a nod with no intention of truly following it, but it remains a cloud over one's head throughout enrollment.   The Vancouver Sun reports on the move to withdraw accreditation from a proposed law school at Trinity Western University.

Nearly 6,000 B.C. lawyers — about half the profession — have voted to have the provincial law society withdraw accreditation from a proposed law school at Trinity Western University.

In a historic provincewide poll conducted this month, 5,951 lawyers (about 75 per cent) voted to withdraw accreditation from the school, compared with 2,088 who wanted to maintain the society’s earlier approval of the new law faculty.

The Langley-based university’s spokesman, Guy Saffold, said it was disappointed with the vote.

“Trinity Western believes in diversity and the rights of all Canadians to their personal beliefs and values,” he said, noting gay and lesbian students attend and graduate from the institution.

The benchers originally endorsed the school April 11 but thousands of lawyers rose up in revolt and at a special general meeting June 10 demanded their governors reconsider.  At that passionate gathering, an overwhelming number of the lawyers — 3,210 to 968 — demanded the benchers reverse their decision.

They objected to the Evangelical institution’s practice of having staff, faculty and students sign a Community Covenant that among other tenets restricts sex to traditional marriage between a man and woman.

“The large return and clear result sends an important message about the core values of the legal profession that include upholding the legal rights of all persons. The clear message to TWU is this: if you wish approval from the legal profession in B.C. you will need to cease your discriminatory practices. The discipline or expulsion of students and staff for private sexual activity is unacceptable.”

Law societies in Ontario and Nova Scotia already have taken a stand against the proposed law school over its covenant, triggering litigation.

It is expected the Supreme Court of Canada will be the final arbiter of the dispute that brings under scrutiny the scope of religious freedom.

No one is attacking the school's religious freedom.  They are free to do whatever they want.  But that does not mean that others - in this case the legal profession - is required to endorse and/or approve of their batshitery.  If you want to be a legitimate university with degrees recognized across the profession, then be one and throw out the statement of faith requirement.  It is far past time the special rights and deference be given to self-anointed Christians.

Newt Gingrich Declares That He Wants to Pack the Courts with Christianist Judges

The utter batshitery of thrice married serial adulterer and GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is getting more bizarre and insane by the day. While Gingrich's insanity may be playing well amongst some in the Christianist/Tea Party base of the GOP, it ought to be scaring the Hell out of rational sentient citizens. Especially, Gingrich's new pledge to pack the courts with judges from Law Schools like Pat Robertson's Regent Law School and the dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University Law School. It's be the Christianist equivalent of putting an mullah on the bench. Right Wing Watch looks at this frightening declaration. Here are highlights:

Newt Gingrich appeared on Monday’s program of WallBuilders Live with David Barton and Rick Green, where Gingrich once again praised Barton’s right-wing pseudo-history and activism. In fact, Gingrich gave Barton credit for helping him develop his plan to assault the “judicial dictatorship” if elected president. He told Barton and Green that his plan is sending shockwaves through the “the secular left, which has been using the courts to replace the America we grew up in” by legalizing abortion, “driving God out of public life” and making same-sex marriages become “legitimized as if they were the same between traditional marriage between a man and a woman.”

Gingrich added that he would appoint judges in the mold of Robert George, the chairman of the National Organization for Marriage and a drafter of the Manhattan Declaration who has called people to defy Supreme Court decisions on issues like marriage that they disagree with, and graduates of Regent University and Liberty University, the schools founded by the far-right televangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, respectively. . . . . Liberty University School of Law even pressured students to disobey U.S. law if it conflicts with what they believe is “God’s law” in situations such as the Lisa Miller kidnapping case.

GINGRICH: What you have is, the secular left, which has been using the courts to replace the America we grew up in, the secular left which is desperately committed to Roe v. Wade and abortion, desperately committed to marriage between same-sex couples becoming legitimized as if they were the same between traditional marriage between a man and a woman, desperately committed to driving God out of public life, and they are suddenly faced with the possibility that we the people are going to take back our authority, that we are going to take back our rights, that we are going to redress the balance. The level of hysteria, I predict, will grow as they come to realize at the American Bar Association and elsewhere that this really is an effort to limit the power of lawyers to redesign America.

GINGRICH: You start looking at people of the caliber of Robbie George of Princeton, you look at Regent University, you look at Liberty University, you start looking around and realizing there is a whole crop - Vince Haley of University of Virginia graduate who is a deeply, deeply committed Christian who clearly understands these kinds of issues - I think people would be surprised that the Federalist Society has many members who agree that we need a balance of power between the three, not a judicial dictatorship.

Justice Alito Attends Confab at Regent University - Media Barred From Event

As readers may have noted, I have a real problem with the partisanship behavior of some of the United States Supreme Court justices who seem to have a penchant for attending extreme right wing gatherings which bar access to the media. Yes, the justices have private lives, but when one attends a function and speaks in the capacity of a Supreme Court Justice, the event ought to be open to the media - or at least the portion that includes the statements made by the sitting justice. Unfortunately, the far right members of the Court do not seem to grasp the need for transparency and the avoidance of the appearance of bias and/or impropriety. The latest episode of a justice's failure to avoid the appearance of bias/impropriety is Justice Samuel Alito who was the keynote speaker for a banquet at noted Christianist Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School - the Alma Mater of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, the current governor of Virginia. As the Virginian Pilot reports, members of the media were barred from Alito's speech. Here are highlights:

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito addressed about 600 people in Virginia Beach at a private event at Regent University School of Law.

Regent University is a Christian school founded by religious broadcaster and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson. The university is celebrating the law school's 25th anniversary.

Alito was the keynote speaker on Saturday night at an anniversary banquet. The school did not allow news outlets to observe Alito's speech. School spokeswoman Mindy Hughes said Alito spoke about the importance of choosing the profession of law as a public service.

Alito is a former federal prosecutor who was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush. He was seated on the Supreme Court in 2006.

If the topic of Alito's speech was as advertised, why bar the media from hearing it? I subscribe to the rule that if one has nothing to hide, then they do not act as if they are hiding something. I suspect that it's safe to assume that Alito's remarks would have had a negative reaction if reported by the press and hence the media blackout.

Son of Regent University Law Dean Makes CNBC's "American Greed'"

I've said it may times in the past: in the business world, when someone works their Christian religiosity into an unrelated business discussion, you'd best watch your wallet and check book. A case in point is Troy A. Titus, son of Regent University Law School's founding dean, Herbert W. Titus. While most Christian televangelists basically rob and defraud their sheep like viewers who send them donations, Troy Titus was even more direct in his fraud and robbery of the gullible who were all too often lulled by his claims of his Christian beliefs. Having worked as a consultant with the FBI during the build up of the case against Titus, I found it beyond disgusting how he would even stoop to go to church with and/or pray with his victims. The Virginian Pilot has coverage on Titus' television debut on the CNBC roster. Here are some highlights:
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The CNBC television program “American Greed” will premier a one-hour episode Wednesday night on Troy A. Titus, the debarred lawyer from Virginia Beach convicted of a multi-million-dollar real estate scheme.
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A Norfolk federal jury convicted Titus of 33 felonies, finding that he had operated a Ponzi scheme that cost investors around $8 million in losses. The government later said the total fraud amounted to nearly $12 million. Titus is appealing. Titus came from an upper-middle-class, devout Christian family. He studied at Liberty University and the College of William and Mary, and received a law degree from Regent University.
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CNBC has been putting together the show for about a year. Producers have interviewed victims and others related to the case. A preview can be found at the web site www.cnbc.com. (Follow the CNBC TV link to “American Greed.")

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Lest readers feel sympathy for Titus senior, they need to realize that, in my opinion, he's just as disturbed as his son - just in a different manner. Despite promising credentials Herb Titus went to the dark side years ago and has been and remains in bed with some of the most extreme religious nutcases to be found. Wikipedia has these details on Titus senior:
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Along with Roy Moore, Titus was an original drafter of the Constitution Restoration Act which sought to take out of federal court jurisdiction cases that involved public officials that acknowledged God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government, and provided for the impeachment of federal judges who disregarded the act. The act did not pass either time it was introduced.
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Writings:*
Judicial Tyranny: The New Kings of America?
God, Man and Law: The Biblical Principles

Son of Regent Law School Dean Sentenced to 30 Years

I have touched on this story before along the long slow path of justice catching up with Troy Titus, son of the founding dean of Pat Robertson's Regent Law School who time and time again wore his supposed Christian faith on his sleeve in order to dupe clients and investors into trusting him with their money and assets. Authorities believe he stole at least 12 million dollars that victims will never see again and in the process turned many lives upside down. The moral in my view is that when someone constantly talks about religion in a business context, cover your wallet and run. Especially run from attorneys who talk about being Christian or belonging to "Christian" law firms. Sadly, too many people do not seem to get that message. NOTE: He attended BOTH Falwell's Liberty University and Robertson's Regent University. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:
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Disbarred and disgraced attorney Troy A. Titus was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison for defrauding clients and friends out of more than $8 million, money a judge said the victims will never see again.
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The 44-year-old father of six wept as he tried to explain himself before U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson and a courtroom filled with family and friends. O ther than blaming his swelled pride, Titus was at a loss.
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A federal jury in December convicted Titus of 33 felonies, finding that he had operated a Ponzi scheme that cost his victims around $8 million in losses. The government now says the total fraud amounted to nearly $12 million.*
Calling Titus "an economic sociopath," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Moore asked the judge to put Titus behind bars for the rest of his life. While the judge did not do that, Titus will be well past retirement age when he is released, unless he wins his appeal.
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Titus, whose father is a lawyer, came from an upper-middle-class, devout Christian family. He studied at Liberty University and the College of William and Mary, and received a law degree from Regent University.
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He owned a successful law practice for around 15 years and held real estate investment seminars across the country before the Virginia State Bar revoked his license in 2005 amid allegations of wide-spread fraud. The FBI began investigating, taking about three years to put together a massive case that led to a 49-count indictment. The jury convicted him on 33 of those counts.

Former Regent Law Dean's Son Convicted on 33 Counts

It has taken years for justice to prevail, but yesterday a federal jury convicted Troy Titus (at left) - son of the founding dean of Pat Robertson's Regent Law School (Taliban Bob McDonnell's alma mater) - guilty on 33 counts of wire fraud and ponzi scheme that preyed on real estate investors that included the elderly who were seeking to make higher investment returns to support family members in nursing homes. Besides holding a Law degree from Regent Law School, Titus is a graduate of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. The case was interesting to me because behind the scenes, I have worked as an unofficial expert with the FBI and given what might be described as "Real Estate 101" instructions to both FBI investigators and one all morning session with assistant U.S. attorneys so that they would understand how legitimate transactions should have been closed and documented as opposed to the fraudulent transactions that Titus and accomplices utilized. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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A federal jury on Friday found Troy A. Titus guilty of 33 felony counts of mail and wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy in what prosecutors said was a $7 million real estate Ponzi scam. Titus, 43, of Virginia Beach, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the most serious mail and wire fraud charges. His total prison time could add up to hundreds of years. U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson set sentencing for April 15. After a one-month trial and four days of deliberations, the jury returned around 11:30 a.m. Friday, finding Titus guilty of 33 of the 49 counts he faced.
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U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride said in a statement that this case show s the determination among federal authorities to tackle complicated financial fraud cases: "Especially in the light of the recent economic crisis, we are even more determined to work together to aggressively fight financial fraud in this district."
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When Titus was arrested, officials pegged the losses at $2 million, but at trial, prosecutors said they had since discovered an additional $5 million in losses for victims. The most egregious allegation against Titus was that he swindled from elderly or incapacitated clients who entrusted him to pay for their basic medical and housing expenses. Some were forced out of their homes as a result.
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Titus obtained mortgages on the properties even though they were already encumbered in debt. He then obtained loans from investors based on his interest in those properties but then stopped paying the mortgages. Banks foreclosed on each property, which Riley and Hannibal did not learn about until much later.
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An honors graduate of Liberty University and Regent University Law School, Titus operated a successful law firm and real estate investment program for many years. His real estate program became so profitable that he began writing books, holding seminars and putting out DVDs showing others how to do the same.

Federal Fraud Case Against Son of Regent Law School's Founding Dean Goes to Jury

Over my 30+ years in the legal profession, I have found some of the most dishonest and amoral attorneys to be those who intermix religious posturing with business transactions or who hold positions on church boards and councils yet have the amorality of Gestapo officers. I will not name names in general, but the list is fairly long. One that I will mention is Troy Titus, son of the founding dean of Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School. Titus the younger graduated from Regent Law himself after attending Jerry Falwell's Liberty University as an undergraduate. As his trial on multimillion dollar fraud charges shows, these "Christian" institutions of learning surely did not do too good of job in instill morality in Titus. Here are some highlights from today's Virginian Pilot:

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Federal prosecutors allege that Titus defrauded dozens of clients - including R&B star Teddy Riley and his one-time Blackstreet partner Chauncey Hannibal, both of whom testified - of about $2 million. Titus is charged in a 49-count indictment with conspiracy, mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
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After four weeks of testimony, the jury heard closing arguments Monday and will deliberate today. Prosecutors presented dozens of witnesses, including investors, former office workers and law enforcement agents, who outlined a series of investment frauds involving real estate transactions and trust funds.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said Titus operated a classic Ponzi scheme. Titus would collect money or property from investors and use the money, or mortgages from the properties, for his own purposes and send small amounts to earlier investors to placate them. But as the scheme grew, Moore said, Titus ran out of money to pay anyone. "He just thought he could find new victims," Moore said.
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Titus, 43, an honors graduate of Liberty University and Regent University School of Law, for years operated what appeared to be a successful law firm and real estate investment program. His real estate program became so profitable that he began writing books, holding seminars and putting out DVDs showing others how to do the same.
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Prosecutors allege that Titus was scamming clients since the day he opened his law firm in 1989. His escrow accounts - bank accounts by law meant to hold money from real estate closings - were consistently running short of money. By 2005, the Virginia State Bar had investigated Titus and forced him to surrender his law license. The bar later revoked it permanently.

Judge Rejects Plea Deal for Wife of Ex-Assistant Regent Dean

Some time back I did posts here and here about the sexual abuse verdicts (one was a plea deal) against a former assistant dean at Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School - Virginia governor elect, Bob McDonnell's alma mater - and his wife. The "godly couple" had been taking sexual liberties with minors in their foster care. At the time of my last post on the issue, the wife (pictured above) had copped a plea deal where she would only serve 40 days in jail. Readers were shocked at the lenient treatment given her given the disgusting nature of her crimes. It turns out that we were not the only one's disgusted by the prosecutor's plea arrangement. Now, Virginia Beach Circuit Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr.- who I know and have done legal work for - rejected the plea deal, calling it “a travesty of justice.” As a result, Melina McPherson will hopefully stand trial and get a sentence more in keeping with her depraved deeds. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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A judge today rejected a plea agreement that called for the wife of a former Regent University assistant dean to serve 40 days in jail in exchange for pleading guilty to a child molestation charge. Circuit Judge A. Joseph Canada Jr. described the plea agreement for Melina McPherson as “a travesty of justice.”
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He described the sentence for her husband, Stephen McPherson, who received a total of 19 years in prison, after being convicted in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, as adequate. The couple were house parents at Hope Haven Children’s Home in Virginia Beach during the late 1990s,
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Melina McPherson’s attorney, Franklin Swartz, asked the judge to reconsider. The judge refused. The judge also refused Commonwealth Attorney Harvey Bryant’s request that Melina McPherson’s victim, who had traveled from out of state, be permitted to read a statement to the court. . . . the judge said the plea agreement sent the wrong message to the public and gave the “appearance of impropriety.” He noted Bryant and Swartz once worked together, but said he did not think that influenced the plea deal. Melina McPherson was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.
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The judge’s rejection of the plea agreement means the case could go to trial. A new judge would have to hear the case.

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It is noteworthy that weak sister prosecutor, Harvey Bryant, was one of Bob McDonnell's cheerleaders during the recent election campaign. McDonnell's campaign story was that he'd be hard on crime - unless, perhaps, the criminals are former Regent University personnel.

A Delusional Cristianist Attacks the Washington Post for Exposing Bob McDonnell

Over the last 6 or more years I have crossed swords with Uber-Christian and hysterical self-hating closet case (that's my assessment) Robert Knight on a number of cases and we have had some battles royal via e-mail. For example, in one exchange where Knight claimed that the Roman Empire fell because of its acceptance of homosexuality when pressed with the real historical facts behind Rome's fall, Knight recanted and admitted that his heated rhetoric was not correct. Yet literally within days he was again making the same false statements to history ignorant audiences. Personally, I believe that Knight, being a self-hating closet case, just cannot handle the thought of gays accepting their God given sexual orientation and having happy, normal lives. The envy just drives him over the top.

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Knight's latest rant over at OneNewsNow - the alleged "news" arm of American Family Association - involves the Washington Post's August 30, 2009, story that brought to light Bob McDonnell's 1989 Christianist thesis written when McDonnell was a 34 year old graduate student. Knight is so over the top and factually off base that one might nearly expect him to wet himself in the midst of his spittle flying frenzy. As is the norm for Knight, he never lets facts and reality get in the way of his demagoguery. Indeed, goes so berserk that he alleges every possible conspiracy other than claiming it was gay rights activists responsible for the thesis coming to light. In truth, it was McDonnell's own remark to the Post reporter that lead her to review the thesis. But then, facts and the truth have never held much sway with Mr. Knight. Here are some highlights of his foaming at the mouth:

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The Washington Post's behavior lately goes so far beyond mere bias that it looks like a caricature cooked up by a comedian or saboteur. The paper's bid to fix the Virginia gubernatorial election is right out of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.

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The Post has launched a bald-faced attempt to "freeze" GOP candidate Robert McDonnell. It would be funny if it were not such a serious breach of journalistic ethics. The campaign began on August 30, with a top of the page, single column headline, "'89 Thesis a Different Side of McDonnell: Va. GOP candidate Wrote on Women, Marriage and Gays."

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As a grad student at what became Regent University, McDonnell penned a paper in 1989 that focuses a biblical lens on public policy. A Post reporter doing opposition research turned it up. Perhaps the most egregious assertion in the Post's eyes is McDonnell's use of the term "fornicators" to describe people who engage in, well, fornication. He didn't think the law should give those folks the same marital rights as those of folks who take a marriage vow.

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Now, it's not bad per se to be a culture warrior. It's okay if you want to redefine marriage, teach children that "safe" fornication and sodomy are fun and inevitable, oppose partial-birth abortion bans, ensure an onslaught of pornography and illegal immigration, expand government and redistribute income as fast as possible. But if you believe that God's plan for natural marriage should be reflected in the law, that sex outside marriage should be discouraged for everyone's benefit, especially children's, then you are a "culture warrior" of a different sort.

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Unless McDonnell wants to go down Allen's trail, he might consider giving a bold defense of the importance of Judeo-Christian values to the founding and continued success of our free republic.

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As I have suggested before, Knight needs to get himself a cute rent boy, satisfy his inner most secret longings, and stop trying to force his extreme religious views on the rest of the citizenry. He might also do well - as would Bob McDonnell - to read the preamble to Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Virginian Statute for Religious Freedom and then look in a mirror and understand that Jefferson was condemning people exactly like Knight and his Christianist allies.

Bob McDonnell's Blue Print to Take Virginia Backwards

Creigh Deeds seems to have finally awakened to the need to really pound on the issue of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's extreme far right record - something I have been screaming about for months now. Yes, Deeds still needs to have solid proposals for transportation, education and a number of other pressing issues in Virginia, but he needs to convince moderates and independents that McDonnell's entire campaign depicting Taliban Bob as a moderate has been one huge carefully scripted lie. But for McDonnell's own loose lips in an interview, the infamous 1989 thesis might never have surfaced. Now that it has, Deeds must use this perfect entree to go after McDonnell. A new ad campaign appears to be headed in the right direction. In a nutshell it tracts McDonnell's legislative record with the 1989 thesis and clearly demonstrates that throughout his career, McDonnell has in fact consistently followed the outline contained in his Christian Broadcasting University thesis. Here are highlights from a Washington Post story that looks at the relevancy of McDonnell's thesis:

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Republican Robert F. McDonnell's 20-year-old master's thesis is a relevant topic for discussion in the Virginia governor's campaign because it helps shed light on his record, Democratic opponent R. Creigh Deeds said Wednesday. "The thesis explains the social agenda that has apparently driven his legislative agenda during the years," Deeds said in an interview. "If anything, this ensures people understand there are very clear differences between me and the other guy in terms of our record. Records are important."

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Deeds's campaign has been trying to keep public attention on the document, in which McDonnell wrote that working women were detrimental to the family and that federal child-care tax credits were harmful because they encouraged women to work outside the home.

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McDonnell spent the day traveling by RV to Northern Virginia, where he met with the Rappahannock Rotary Club in Fredericksburg and the editorial board of the Washington Examiner. He tried to quell talk of the thesis.

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Deeds said that as a delegate, McDonnell sponsored legislation to establish covenant marriage in Virginia four times, an idea in the thesis. He has also backed bills restricting access to abortions and voted in 2001 against a resolution that urged equal pay for men and women.
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Deeds, of course, is not the only one to recognize that McDonnell has carefully worked to implement the blue print laid out in his thesis over the years. A Daily Press column likewise notes the manner in which the thesis explains most of McDonnell's actions as a legislator and some of his behavior as attorney general:

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Bob McDonnell, the man who would be governor, is the man who just a few short years ago infamously couldn't recall if he ever violated Virginia anti-sodomy laws.I mention this not merely to be prurient, but to set the tone.
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Twenty years ago, we now know, the then-34-year- old Army veteran set out in a graduate thesis his vision for government-imposed morality to strengthen the "traditional family. "He essentially argued that government should dictate who to love, when to have sex, when to abstain, whether to use birth control, when to abort (never), and then punish those who don't obey. It's a vision so preoccupied with the sex lives of others, so unseemly in its implications, it's like Big Brother drilling a peephole into every bedroom in the country. This is a broad characterization of McDonnell's arguments, but not by much.

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As state delegate, he pushed covenant marriage bills and abortion restriction. In 2001, he voted against a resolution for equal pay for women. Shortly after that, he helped oust a Newport News judge — the first black female circuit judge in the state. The objections to her continuing as a judge were varied, but they were colored by a suggestion that she might be a lesbian. On that point, McDonnell said that anyone who violated the state's crimes-against-nature law shouldn't be a judge.That was when a cheeky Daily Press reporter asked McDonnell if he had ever violated that law — which criminalizes oral or anal sex even between husband and wife — and McDonnell replied, "Not that I can recall."Really, Bob?

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I honestly don't care about McDonnell's sex life, except to wish him a rich and happy one. The specifics are none of my business. Just as the sex lives of anyone outside his own immediate family — gay or straight, married or not — are none of his.

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Now McDonnell is busy dodging questions about his thesis and no doubt wishing it would burn up like a Sinai bush, while his opponent, Democrat Creigh Deeds, is beating it like a rented mule. Voters will have to read it and decide for themselves if McDonnell still has a prayer in this race, or if this is his macaca moment — the self-inflicted wound that dooms an election front-runner.

The Macaca Thesis - And What Does McDonnell Believe

EDITORS NOTE: Some readers may not appreciate why I am giving so much coverage to the Bob McDonnell thesis debacle. If you have read prior posts that have detailed McDonnell's anti-gay agenda over the last six to nine years, then you know that McDonnell has played a significant role in making Virginia one of the most anti-gay states in the nation. To see McDonnell hopefully spiral down to defeat is a potential huge step in turning Virginia around on discrimination against LGBT citizens. The thought of McDonnell in the Governor's mansion is indeed frightening.

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The Washington Post - which launched McDonnell's nightmare on Sunday - has a good column today that looks at why Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's 1989 thesis is important and why it needs to remain under high scrutiny and a major part of the campaign for Governor. It highlights everything that I have wanted brought out about McDonnell and his extremism and devotion to the agenda of Pat Robertson and The Family Foundation, the Virginia affiliate of James Dobson's foul Focus on the Family. Here are some column highlights:

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Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, didn't really mean it when he equated homosexuality with drug abuse and pornography as evils that "the government must restrain, punish, and deter."

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Or when he urged that "every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators," adding, "The cost of sin should fall on the sinner, not the taxpayer."

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McDonnell's thesis is a 93-page, 170-footnote "macaca" moment -- and, like that moment, self-inflicted. Had McDonnell not mentioned the thesis to Post reporter Amy Gardner -- he misleadingly described it as an essay on "welfare policy" -- it might never have surfaced. There are so many delicious aspects to the McDonnell uproar:

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The irony of watching a staunch social conservative complain that hot-button social issues are being deployed against him -- this after years of social conservatives revving up their base with this approach. Now that McDonnell needs votes from the bluest part of the state, it's suddenly foul play that Creigh Deeds, his Democratic opponent, "continues to focus on divisive issues."

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The irony of watching what-they-do, not-what-they-say politics flipped upside down as well. Just a few weeks ago, Republicans were focused on a single sentence from Justice Sonia Sotomayor about the "wise Latina." Then, it made sense to focus on Sotomayor's sentence, not her copious judicial record. Now, it's unfair to look at McDonnell's writings when his legislative history is open for all to see.

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[I]t seems just as likely that McDonnell's supposed restraint stems from pragmatic acceptance of political reality as from a marked change in views. There's every reason to think that McDonnell would govern as conservatively as the current politics of the state would allow. His professions of relative disinterest in social issues are unconvincing. As for his efforts to dismiss the thesis as the idle musings of a callow youth: Those are simply insulting to the voters of Virginia.

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The Roanoke Times likewise goes after McDonnell and ask questions that he needs to be forced to answer. If he refuses to answer, then I venture that it is a safe bet that McDonnell still holds the views laid out in his CBN thesis. That would speake volumes to Virginia voters:

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McDonnell, today, flees his earlier writing lest Virginians see through the carefully crafted mask of moderation he wears while campaigning for governor. We were heartened to hear him reject some of the views he once held.

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McDonnell points to his record in the General Assembly and during his partial term as attorney general as proof that he has changed That record is not as flattering as he seems to think, though. Those who have followed his political career found few surprises in his thesis. Several colleagues say he worked zealously to implement many of the proposals he espoused 20 years ago. He twice won the conservative Family Foundation's legislator of the year award.

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McDonnell owes Virginians a more detailed explanation. He might start by answering some lingering questions based on his thesis, explaining where his views have changed, when and why.

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Should abortion be illegal? In all cases, including rape and incest?

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Do political leaders and the Supreme Court still need to "correct the conventional folklore about the separation of church and state"?

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Will you oppose "special rights for homosexuals or single-parent unwed mothers"? Which rights are special? Which are not?

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Do your Democratic friends and colleagues "seek to shepherd a nation of powerless incompetents"?

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Do all your Republican friends and colleagues share a philosophy that "embraces the talents and worth of all people?" Do you?

Media Picking Up On Bob McDonnell's Extremist Writings

Yesterday's Washington Post did a story that I wrote about that may blow the lid off of Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell's carefully packaged campaign to dishonestly depict himself as a moderate. Now, more media outlets - including McDonnell's hometown news paper, are jumping on the story. Worse yet, the Washington Post now has McDonnell's thesis entitled "The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of the Decade" online. It looks like McDonnell's diatribe against working women, abortion in all cases and gays may be about to bite him right in the ass, and rightfully so. As I noted yesterday, McDonnell claims that his views have changed, but his actions speak otherwise. Moreover, his thesis is consistent with the mantra of the GOP base that are enthusiastically supporting him. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot that look at the spreading coverage of the real Bob McDonnell:

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Bob McDonnell isn't the first politician whose past writings have gotten him into hot water, but he is the latest now that a 20-year-old graduate thesis he penned has surfaced. The paper, submitted in 1989, shows McDonnell's thoughts at the time about the harmful social impact of working women, feminists and nontraditional families; the flaws of public education; and his disagreement with a federal court decision allowing the use of contraceptives by unmarried couples.

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What potential harm McDonnell's thesis will cause his campaign is unclear, according to observers who have long followed Virginia politics. "As with anything else in politics, it's a piece of the mosaic that is created prior to Election Day. The only question is how big a piece, and that's up to the candidates," said University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato.
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"If McDonnell handles it well and continues to talk it back, it could be a small piece," he added. "This is something Deeds can run with and it's necessary to an upset victory by him, but it's not sufficient for an upset victory. Unless Deeds makes this a major continuing issue, voters are not going to cast their ballots on the basis of this."

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The topics covered in the 93-page thesis raise questions that McDonnell will have to answer, said Mark Rozell, George Mason University political science professor. . . "It is now much more than a charge from Democrats that 'Hey, this guy is an extremist' when he had been so successful portraying himself as moderate."

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The thesis argues in support of a range of public policy changes aimed at supporting what McDonnell calls "traditional family values" by rewarding people who adhere to them and refusing government aid to those who don't. "Every level of government should statutorily and procedurally prefer married couples over cohabitators, homosexuals, or fornicators," McDonnell wrote in one passage. "The cost of sin should fall on the sinner not the taxpayer."
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"There'll be the usual dollop of hypocrisy on both sides. There always is," predicted Sabato, noting that the lesson from McDonnell's current troubles is "yet another reminder to people with ambitions to be very careful what they write and say."

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Kudos to the Washington Post for some great reporting that will hopefully keep the focus on McDonnell's extremism. Virginia does not need its future directed by Pat Robertson and The Family Foundation, Daddy Dobson's Virginia affiliate. Fortunately, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has also picked up the story.

More "Persecution of Christians" Whining From OneNewsNow

The American Family Association's faux news webpage, OneNewsNow, is running a story whining about Christians allegedly being persecuted because they cannot include Christian symbols on their marketing materials. The supposed victims are two Virginia realtors who believe their religious rights pre-empt both the federal and Virginia's fair housing laws that protect against businesses discriminating against would be home buyers or renters based on religion. Virtually ALL of the lending and real estate brokerage laws bar discrimination against such discrimination. Here's the spin put on the situation by the perpetual victims club at AFA's faux news:

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Two Virginia realtors have been taken to task by the state's Fair Housing Board for using the Ichthys, or "Jesus fish," and John 3:16 in their advertising. It would seem to be a perfectly legal expression of faith, but Dr. Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission tells OneNewsNow someone obviously felt differently.

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"Allegedly, the person that made the complaint believes that it was illegal because it seemed to indicate that they were only soliciting Christian clients and, therefore, was tantamount to some form of discrimination," he explains.

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However, Cass points out the realtors see their business as their ministry. "In fact, they are self-identified as Christian ministers who support Christian missions, and they felt that it was important to advertise that -- but they in no way discriminated against any potential client," he adds.
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The piece goes on to ask Christo-fascists to contact the Virginia Fair Housing Board and in effect voice their opposition to non-discrimination laws. Of course, from my experience over 30+ years is that those who mix their alleged religious piety with business are the ones who will rob you blind and swindle elderly widows. A local example of this phenomenon can be found here. This superb Christian - the son of the founding dean of Regent University's law school - reportedly read the Bible and went to church with some of his victims in order to gain their confidence.

Pat Robertson: Gay Marriage Will Result in Polygamy, Bestiality, Child Molestation, and Pedophilia

UPDATED: Here's some of Pat's rant via Towleroad:

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"We haven’t taken this to its ultimate conclusion. You got polygamy out there. How can we rule that polygamy is illegal when you say that homosexual marriage is legal. What is it about polygamy that’s different? Well, polygamy was outlawed because it was considered immoral according to biblical standards. But if we take biblical standards away in homosexuality, what about the other? And what about bestiality and ultimately what about child molestation and pedophilia? How can we criminalize these things and at the same time have constitutional amendments allowing same-sex marriage among homosexuals. You mark my words, this is just the beginning in a long downward slide in relation to all the things that we consider to be abhorrent."

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Hmm, if we are talking about "Biblical standards" Pat, what happened to love of neighbor, not bearing false witness, not promoting hate, etc>?

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Pat Robertson, one of this area's most delusional Christianist fruitcakes and perennial embarrassments has shot gone off his mouth again. (The photo is the one that motivated to expel a student from third rate Regent Law School some time back when the student used the picture on his web page. Pat can dish it out but he can't take it himself.) In any event, this time brother Pat is spouting off about gay marriage and the parade of horrors that he says it portends. According to Mr. "I'd like to blow up the United Nations Robertson," if gay marriage is allowed, the gates will be thrown open for the legalization of polygamy, bestiality, child molestation, pedophilia.

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Why anyone one who is not certifiably deranged listens to this man who has made a fortune peddling snake oil to the gullible is baffling. For that matter, I find it equally baffling as to why the Norfolk Airport Authority allows Pat's Regent University to place large paid murals in the Norfolk airport concourse as if they are seeking to cause anyone progressive coming to the area to turn around and get right back on the plane that brought them to the area. But we digress. Media Matters has Pat in full homophobic rant here. This is the clip of his rant:
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Bob McDonnell Falsely Casts Himself As a Moderate

The eyes of the country will be on Virginia this coming November to see whether or not the Democrats can continue their march towards making Virginia a consistently blue state. The Republican Party standard bearer will be Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell who is now apparently attempting to depict himself as a moderate. I've known Bob McDonnell personally since 1994 and while I truly do not see him to be a bad person, a moderate he is not. Put another way, if Bob McDonnell is a moderate, then so are James Dobson and Benedict XVI. Back in 2003, McDonnell was a part of the lynch mob that barred Circuit Court Judge, Vebena Askew from reappointment to the bench based on rumors she might be - the horrors - a lesbian. Lambda Legal at the time reported as follows:

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"There is certain homosexual conduct that is in violation of the law," said Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican member of Virginia’s House of Delegates and chairman of the legislature’s House Courts of Justice Committee. “It certainly raises some questions about the qualifications to serve as a judge.” Virginia's sodomy law criminalizes oral and anal sex between straight and gay couples -- including private, consensual intimacy between adults -- but is almost exclusively used to discriminate against lesbians and gay men. McDonnell was referring to Newport News, Virginia, Circuit Judge Verbena Askew, whose reappointment is set for a hearing Friday.

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I doubt McDonnell's views have changed even in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas which struck down Virginia's sodomy statute. In the coming campaign, it will be crucial for Democrats to make sure the public knows just how much of an extremist McDonnell truly is. It will likewise be crucial that the three contenders for the Democrat nomination NOT so damage one another that they assist McDonnell in achieving a victory in November. Here are some highlights from a Washington Post column that looks at McDonnell's allege new found moderation:

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Democrats don't yet claim Virginia as their own, but they have won two straight governor's races, both U.S. Senate seats, two out of three House seats in the Washington suburbs and a majority in the state Senate. So who does the Republican Party choose to pry the door to the Washington suburbs back open?

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How about a hard-core social conservative who was groomed for politics at the Rev. Pat Robertson's Regent University law school, a man who has spent most of his adult life in Hampton Roads and Richmond, a clean-cut fellow with a military bearing and an unabashed conviction that he can become Virginia's next governor by pushing hard on many of the same issues that have sent his party to defeat again and again in recent years.

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McDonnell contends that he stands a far stronger chance of winning -- and capturing support in the Washington suburbs -- because he's focusing more on transportation and health care than on the guns, gays and God hot-button issues Republicans have tried to ride to Richmond in the past decade. . . . . Yet as he prepares to take on whoever emerges from June's Democratic primary, McDonnell is positioning himself as a moderate who shares the growing popular disenchantment with the GOP.

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With the governor's race turning into the nation's premier political contest this year, McDonnell is bringing in the big guns of his own party, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, "and a number of other rock stars," probably including Alaska's Sarah Palin.

Justice Department Rehires Attorney Fired Amid Gay Rumor

In April of last year I wrote about Leslie Hagen, a Justice Department attorney who was fired at the direction of incompetent and unqualified Regent University Law School grad/Christianist wingnut Monica Goodling (pictured at left) based on rumors that - Oh Heavens! - Hagen was a lesbian. Now, a small part of the destruction of the Justice Department under the Chimperator has been repaired and Hagen has been rehired. Of course, the task of weeding out all the incompetent individuals recruited into Justice is a job yet to be completed - I'd suggest that checking everyone with a Regent University (and similar Christianist institutions) degree might be a good way to start the winnowing process. Here are some highlights from NPR on Hagen's vindication:

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On Monday, the Justice Department undid a small part of the damage that top officials caused in a scandal of politicized hiring and firing during the Bush administration. The department rehired an attorney who was improperly removed from her job because she was rumored to be a lesbian.

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NPR first broke the story of Leslie Hagen's dismissal last April, and the Justice Department's inspector general later corroborated the report. Now, Hagen has returned to her post at the department's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

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As NPR reported in April, a top aide to the attorney general had heard a rumor that Hagen was a lesbian. Discrimination based on sexual orientation is against Justice Department rules. But Monica Goodling, senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, had Hagen removed from her job anyway. That was more than a year ago. The inspector general eventually confirmed the NPR report and added new details, saying Goodling not only ousted Hagen but also blocked Hagen from getting other Justice Department jobs she was qualified for.

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The paperwork makes it official as of Monday, Feb. 2. Hagen now has her old position back, but this time it's a little different. Her contract no longer comes up for renewal every year. Now, the job is permanent. It is not a perfectly happy ending for Hagen. Nobody official from the department ever apologized to her for what happened. She still owes thousands of dollars in attorney fees, and the Justice Department has refused to pay those bills.

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Hopefully, Goodling - who ultimately resigned - is barefoot and pregnant somewhere and being subservient to her man as preached by the Christianist loonies.