Are the Walls Closing on Bernie Sanders?

I will be honest, and state for the record that I do not want Bernie Sanders, a Democrat only when convenient for himself, to mount a 2020 presidential campaign.  I'm not alone in this opinion.  Indeed, recently, the Barrie-Montpelier, Vermont Times Argus ran a main editorial begging Bernie Sanders NOT to run for the White House in 2020.  Here are some highlights:

Bernie Sanders should not run for president. In fact, we beg him not to. That is an unfavorable opinion, especially among most Vermonters and progressives who support the platform that has come to define him. But at this point, there are more things about another Sanders run at the White House that concern us than excite us.

We fear a Sanders run risks dividing the well-fractured Democratic Party, and could lead to another split in the 2020 presidential vote. There is too much at stake to take that gamble. If we are going to maintain a two-party system, the mandate needs to be a clear one. There is strength in numbers, and if anything has been shown in recent years, it is that unless tallies are overwhelming, there can always be questions or challenges raised over what “vote totals” really mean: popular vote vs. Electoral College results.

For us, this comes down to principle over ego. It is one thing to start a revolution, but at a certain point you need to know when to step out of the way and let others carry the water for you.

[T]here have been progressive candidates, many of whom have been running under Sanders’ “revolution” banner (and with his endorsement) who are spreading the tenets of Sanders’ decades-old agenda: Rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure; reversing climate change; creating worker co-ops; growing the trade-union movement; raising the minimum wage; pay equity for women workers; trade policies that benefit American workers; making college affordable for all; taking on Wall Street; health care as a human right; protecting the most vulnerable Americans; and tax reform.

As a platform, it is massive. As a candidate, Sanders is exhausting.

[H]is personality is abrasive. He is known to be difficult to work with. The 77-year-old can be bombastic and prickly. He can be dismissive and rude in his arrogance. You are either with Bernie Sanders or you are not.

That no-nonsense approach and his politics are endearing to many. But it is as extreme, on the other end of the spectrum in its policy elbow-throwing and idealism, as what we face today from the right in their standard bearer, Donald Trump.

Taken together — ego, electoral math, a tired message and a prickly media darling — Sanders is convincing himself that he’s the person who can win the White House in 2020. We are not convinced he should.

Ouch!!  Then there are the swirling allegations of sexual improprieties  surrounding Sanders' 2016 campaign that could alienate women voters.  A piece in The Daily Beast looks at this other troubling aspect of a potential 2020 run.  Here are highlights:

As Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) weighs a possible second bid for the White House, his political standing has grown shakier amidst an account of alleged sexual assault and accounts of alleged misconduct by staffers on his 2016 campaign.

Some former aides to that campaign had already balked at joining another run. And while outside groups are actively drafting him again—with meetings scheduled across the country this weekend—Sanders remains notably behind some of his Senate colleagues in the process of launching or preparing to launch a presidential bid. Even some of his former aides acknowledge the worsening political conditions.

“I think he still runs and I do think it’s going to be a lot harder,” a former staffer, who had decided not to return to the campaign prior to the surfacing of any of the allegations, told The Daily Beast.

For weeks, former staffers had been having private conversations about allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted advances on female staffers by Robert Becker, the head of Sanders’ Iowa operation. Those conversations primarily centered around ways to ensure that another bid didn’t bring the same problems as the previous one, including naming the 2016 bad actors and establishing a better structure for dealing with any such claims in a 2020 campaign.

On Thursday, a Politico story aired some of those claims about Becker, who has denied them, including allegations of forcible kissing, ogling prospective hires and a $30,000 settlement stemming from a federal discrimination complaint.

Masha Mendieta, a member of Sanders’ 2016 Latino outreach team . . . . said she was upset that the women making accusations hadn’t yet heard directly from the senator or his team. Last month, she had penned a Medium post expressing outrage that another 2016 campaign alum, Arturo Carmona, had been photographed at a Sanders Institute gathering in Vermont. Mendieta had accused Carmona, who ran for Congress in a special election, of sexual harassment, an allegation that he has denied.

Mendieta and another staffer also said that they had concerns about Rich Pelletier, Sanders’ former national field director, remaining in the senator’s political orbit. The New York Times reported that Pelletier allegedly failed to act swiftly after Giulianna Di Lauro, a Latino outreach strategist on the ‘16 campaign, complained to him of harassment by a campaign surrogate in Nevada.

Additionally, Jeff Weaver, the former campaign manager, said this week that he will not reprise his role should Sanders run again in 2020. The decision had been previously in the works and was not in response to the surfacing of harassment and assault allegations, sources said. But Weaver did acknowledged that a future prospective campaign needed more diversity.

“Was it too male? Yes. Was it too white? Yes,” he told The New York Times. “Would this be a priority to remedy on any future campaign? Definitely, and we share deeply in the urgency for all of us to make change.”

I support many of the policies Sanders talks about, but I simply do not believe he can win in 2020.  Thus, the question is whether Sanders will put the best interests of the policies he espouses first or will he put his ego ahead of them?  I hope it is not the latter.  The Democrats MUST win in 2020.

Vermont Republican Traded overdue Rent for Sex

As I have asked before, why is it that for every sex scandal involving a Democrat, it seems as if there are ten to twenty involving Republicans.  Why is it that the members of the party of "family values" seem to find it nearly impossible to avoid sexual peccadilloes?  The latest example comes from Vermont where Vermont GOP  state senator, Norman McAllister, apparently allowed tenants behind in their rent to make up for rent delinquencies by offering sex acts.  The Raw Story looks at the sorid details.  Here are highlights:

A conservative lawmaker in Vermont was arrested for sexual assault, human trafficking, and other charges. The Vermont state senator, Norman McAllister, was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday at the Vermont Superior Court in St. Albans, the Burlington Free Press reports.

Police arrested McAllister, 63, of Highgate on Thursday evening after he spent the day at the Statehouse working on legislative issues. Allegations against McAllister include “that he either accepted or solicited sex from two women in exchange for overdue rent,” writes the Free Press.

McAllister made his money in dairy farming. He has advocated imposing mandatory drug testing on people who receive government benefits.

“We want to take care of our people, but we also don’t want to support a habit,” McAllister told WPTZ on his March of his championing of random drug testing for poor people in Vermont.

Hypocrisy seems to be a main attribute of today's Republicans.

Pastor Involved in Lesbian Kidnapping Case Sent to Jail for Contempt

Kenneth Miller, right, walks with his wife to federal court on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

In follow up to the last post and the pervasive mind set of Christianists that they are above the law that applies to everyone else, Kenneth Miller, the wingnut pastor who aided Lisa Miller kidnap her daughter in defiance of court orders (most likely with the help of religious extremists at Liberty University) has been ordered to jail for his contempt of court and refusal to answer questions in federal court.  Miller said that his religious beliefs trumped his duty to testify.  Sadly, Miller's attitude is symptomatic of a growing trend in Christofascist circles where they believe they can openly ignore the law.  Personally, I hope they leave Miller's sorry ass in jail indefinitely until he testifies.  I cannot help but suspect that Miller is protecting virulently anti-gay individuals like Matt Staver.  Here are story highlights on this continuing saga of Christianist contempt for the civil laws:

A pastor at the center of a dramatic and acrimonious custody and kidnapping case has been jailed for refusing to testify in court.

Kenneth Miller, a 47-year-old Mennonite pastor, told U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions on Thursday that he could not answer questions from a grand jury regarding the flight of Lisa Miller and her daughter to Nicaragua to avoid a custody transfer, reports the Associated Press. Lisa Miller (who is not related to Kenneth Miller) took the child overseas in 2009 so she would not have to comply with a court order allowing her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, to see their daughter, reports NBC News.

In August, Kenneth Miller was convicted of helping the mother flee the country. His sentencing begins in March, and he faces a maximum jail time of three years.

The pastor apologized to the court on Thursday and said his "religious beliefs" prevented him from testifying, according to the AP. Miller said that he, and possibly others who may or may not have helped Lisa Miller violate the custody order, were motivated by their conviction in "God's Law," the AP reports.

The reluctant judge replied that while he appreciated the pastor's "faithfulness to your religion and your moral beliefs," the criminal justice system could not function without the grand jury, according to the AP.

The battle between Lisa Miller and Janet Jenkins, as well as the trial of Kenneth Miller has snowballed into a widely publicized debate that pits religious conservatives against LGBT advocates. In August, conservative firebrand Bryan Fischer, who has grabbed headlines in the past for inflammatory comments about Newtown and the LGBT community, said Lisa Miller had a responsibility "to obey God rather than man" and kidnap her daughter, reports Right Wing Watch.

Jenkins has also filed a civil suit in which she alleges that Miller, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., and the Lynchburg-based Thomas Road Baptist Church all conspired to help conceal the whereabouts of her daughter. The suit is asking for unspecified monetary damages. 

As I have noted before, these folks are a threat to civil law authority and if they had their way would overthrow the U. S. Constitution.

Liberty University and Others Hit with RICO Lawsuit

Click on images to enlarge

In the wake of the conviction of Kenneth Miller for aiding and abetting in the felonious kidnapping of Lisa Miller's daughter, things look to be getting interesting. Janet Jenkins has filed a RICO lawsuit against Lisa Miller, Kenneth Miller, Liberty University, Thomas Road Baptist Church and others under the federal statute typically used to go after organized crime entities and their principals.  The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) provides for civil lawsuits against ongoing criminal enterprises involving multiple parties under a criminal conspiracy theory.  The facts certainly suggest that Lisa Miller had many more accomplices besides the newly convicted Kenneth Miller.  Here are highlights from Right Wing Watch which include excerpts from the lawsuit:

Yesterday Kenneth Miller was convicted of aiding an international parental kidnapping for the role he played in helping Lisa Miller (no relation) flee the country with her daughter rather than abide by a court order transferring custody to her former partner, Janet Jenkins.

But that was not the only interesting development in the case, as Jenkins has now filed a civil RICO lawsuit [PDF] against Kenneth Miller and several others who allegedly played a role in helping Lisa Miller kidnap her daughter and leave the country, including Liberty University Law School and Thomas Road Baptist Church:

 41. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff Janet Jenkins, in 2009 Victoria Zodhiates (now Hyden) was an employee of Response Unlimited, Inc., and also a "student worker" at Liberty University School of Law. On information and belief, Victoria Zodhiates sent an email during this time period to her co-workers at the law school requesting donations for supplies to send to Lisa Miller to enable her to remain outside the country. Lisa Miller's attorney, Matthew Staver was the Dean of the Law School and Ms. Zodhiates's boss. Matthew Staver and Philip Zodhiates were also personal acquaintances at this time. On September 20, 2009, both Philip Zodhiates and Victoria Hyden called Lisa Miller's father, Terry Miller in Tennessee to assist in arranging her and Isabella's transportation from a Walmart parking lot in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Waynesboro, Virginia, from whence they would depart for Canada and Nicaragua the next day.

42. In early November, 2009, elders of the Thomas Road Baptist Church packed up the personal belongings of Lisa Miller in two bags. These bags were picked up from Lynchburg, Virginia by Philip Zodhiates who arranged to have the bags transported to Nicaragua by sending them with his son's school teacher who was taking some children on a mission trip to Managua. Philip Zodhiates arranged for the teacher, John Collmus, to deliver the bags at the airport to Timothy Miller. The bags also contained some supplies for Lisa Miller, such as peanut butter.
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47. Lisa Miller's attorneys Mathew Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen also routinely instructed their Law School students that the correct course of action for a person in Lisa Miller's situation would be to engage in "civil disobedience" and defy court orders.

48. Also in 2009, TRBC Head Pastor Jonathan Falwell was among several religious leaders who made a call for "Christian civil disobedience" and published a public declaration, known as The Manhattan Declaration stating that they: "will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family."

49. Hence, Defendants TRBC and its related ministry Liberty University School of Law encouraged its agents to disregard state laws governing parental rights, particularly Vermont's law giving rights to members of same-sex families. The TRBC and Liberty University School of Law through its public declaration promoted, condoned and explicitly ratified its agent's tortious, racketeering activity. These agents and employees have followed this direction, making TRBC and Liberty University School of Law liable in respondeat superior for the consequences.

58. Lisa Miller's attorneys, Matthew Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen have at all times maintained that they did not know their client's location to various courts in Vermont (including in sworn testimony of Rena Lindevaldsen) and Virginia, and to the press that she simply stopped communicating with them and disappeared.

59. Meanwhile, Matthew Staver's acquaintance, Philip Zodhiates, and his daughter Victoria, an assistant in the Law School knew of Lisa Miller's whereabouts and solicited donations from other Law School employees for her aid. Upon information and belief, other law school employees who spoke to Victoria about Lisa Miller's whereabouts were too intimidated to come forward to law enforcement for fear of angering Dean Staver and losing their jobs. 

62. Based on the foregoing, all of the Defendants named herein, in both their individual capacities and as agents of TRBC, Liberty University Law School, Response Unlimited, Inc., and CAM are liable for conspiring with Lisa Miller and with each other to kidnap Isabella Miller-Jenkins, assure her continued detention outside the State of Vermont, and for conspiring with Kenneth Miller to participate in the affairs of the Beachy Amish-Mennonite Brotherhood through a pattern of racketeering activity .... Defendants are also liable for conspiring to violate Janet Jenkins' and Isabella Miller-Jenkins' rights to a parent-child relationship on account of Isabella having two mothers instead of a mother and a father, and Defendant Wright is liable under 42 U.S.C. 1986 for failing to prevent the violation of Plaintiffs' civil rights.

 I have long complained that Christianists see themselves as above the law.  I hope this lawsuit proves successful and perhaps reinforces the realty that far right extremist Christians do NOT get to ignore the laws or trample on the rights of others at will.  Of course seeing Matt Staver taken down would be ever so sweet.  Liberty University and Liberty Counsel continue to represent a foul stench here in Virginia.

Minister Found Guilty Of Aiding Kidnapping of Daughter Of "Ex-Lesbian"

The folks at Liberty University and Liberty Counsel - two nasty boils on Virginia's reputation - are going to be shrieking along with the rest of the professional Christian set over the conviction of Kenneth Miller (pictured at left) - a Mennonite pastor - for aiding and abetting Lisa Miller (no relation to Kenneth Miller) in the kidnapping of her daughter in contravention to numerous court rulings both here in Virginia and Vermont.  For newer readers, Lisa Miller is a lesbian who now claims to be "ex-gay" and who split from her former partner who was an adopted mother to Lisa Miller's daughter.  With the suspected but as yet unproven help of folks at Liberty University and the now convicted pastor, Lisa Miller abducted her daughter and fled to Central America and has been in hiding since 2009.  The Hartford Courant has details. Here are some highlights: 

A Mennonite minister was found guilty on Tuesday of aiding and abetting international kidnapping by helping a woman flee to Nicaragua with her daughter to evade court orders giving visitation rights to her former lesbian partner.

Federal prosecutors say Kenneth Miller of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, helped orchestrate Lisa Miller's flight to Canada and Nicaragua in 2009 with her daughter out of Christian solidarity with her decision to reject homosexuality and her former partner. The two Millers are not related.

The jury deliberated only a few hours before finding Kenneth Miller guilty. He faces the possibility of three years in prison. No sentencing date was set.  Miller showed no reaction as the verdict was announced. More than 80 other Mennonites filled the Vermont courtroom.

Lisa Miller took the girl to Central America after denouncing homosexuality and losing a series of family court battles in Vermont with her former partner, Janet Jenkins.  Jenkins and Miller were joined in a civil union in Vermont in 2000. After in vitro fertilization, Miller gave birth to Isabella two years later.  Miller filed to dissolve the union in 2003. She got custody of Isabella, but a Vermont court gave Jenkins visitation rights.

Joshua Autrey, a lawyer for Kenneth Miller, did not dispute evidence about his client's role in organizing Lisa Miller's secretive flight days before a court-ordered visitation with Jenkins.  Instead, the defense attorney offered a nuanced legal argument that his client did not know about her intent to violate Jenkins' visitation rights. 

Kenneth Miller contacted Mennonites to drive Lisa Miller and Isabella to an airport in Canada in 2009 and pick her up in Nicaragua where the group runs a mission, according to court documents.  Lisa Miller was indicted on international kidnapping charges in 2010, but federal agents have been unable to locate her or Isabella. Nicaragua does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
 

The conviction is welcome and hopefully will drive the message home to the Christofascists that they are not exempt from the constraints of the civil laws - even if they see themselves as exempt from the Commandment against lying and bearing false witness.  Personally, I would love to see some of the folks at Liberty University further implicated in this conspiracy to defy the various court orders.

Lisa Miller Kidnapping Accomplice Goes on Trial in Vermont

The trial of Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, is about to commence in Vermont.  Miller is on trial for helping and abetting Lisa Miller (who farcically claims to now be "ex-gay") in kidnapping her daughter, Isabella, and absconding to to Nicaragua in violation of Vermont custody orders.  The Virginia Supreme Court twice upheld the validity of the Vermont court orders.  Not indicted but believed by many to be involved in the kidnapping are staff members at Liberty University Law School.  Obviously, I would be  delighted to see evidence come out at trial that might lead to additional prosecutions against these gay-hating religious extremists.  NBC News has coverage.  Here are highlights:

The trial of an Amish-Mennonite minister accused of helping an American woman spirit the child she had with her former same-sex partner out of the country just before she lost custody is getting under way this week.

Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., is charged with aiding and abetting Lisa Miller in taking her child, Isabella, to Nicaragua with the intent to obstruct the parental rights of her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins, according to the court indictment. He is not related to Lisa Miller and could face a three-year sentence if convicted.

Federal agents haven’t been able to locate Isabella or Lisa Miller, who was indicted on international kidnapping charges in 2010.

The case has drawn attention in part because it involves an international custody dispute, but also because it touches upon two major issues in the public square: gay rights and religion. A jury was selected Tuesday in Burlington, Vt., and opening arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

Kenneth Miller allegedly helped arrange the pair’s exit from their home in Lynchburg, Va., to Canada, where they crossed the border from New York on Sept. 22, 2009. He then facilitated the purchase of plane tickets to Nicaragua and set up contacts for them in the Central American country, according to an affidavit filed by Deputy U.S. Marshal Max Galusha.

The court determined in November 2009 that Jenkins would have sole physical and legal custody of Isabella starting on Jan. 2010, ruling that Miller had willfully interfered with her visitation rights. But Miller had already fled her home in Lynchburg, Va., with her daughter in tow.

Hopefully, Kenneth Miller will be convicted and a message sent to Christianist extremists that they are not above the civil laws.

New Arrest in the Lisa Miller Kidnapping Case

There are new developments in the federal kidnapping case of Lisa Miller (pictured at far left in the photo) - the self-proclaimed "former" Lesbian, if you believe the truth and veracity challenged folks at Liberty Counsel - who fled the USA with her daughter in defiance of Vermont Court orders awarding custody to Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins. A Virginia man from Stuarts Draft, a small town not too far from Liberty Counsel's home base in Lynchburg, Virginia, has been arrested for his involvement in helping Miller flee the USA with her young daughter, Isabella. As noted before in prior posts, some administrative support staff at Liberty Counsel outwardly appear to have perhaps been involved in assisting Miller as well. The Rutland Herald has coverage on these new developments. Here are some highlights:

A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.

Kenneth Miller appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Tuesday and was released, said U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin, who would provide no further information about the case.

Earlier this year, prosecutors indicted an American Mennonite missionary living in Nicaragua, Timothy Miller, on charges of helping Lisa Miller reach Central America. In October, prosecutors dropped the charges against Timothy Miller in exchange for his cooperation.

None of the Millers involved in the case is related.

The affidavit made public Tuesday indicated that Timothy Miller had helped provide the information that led to the charges against Kenneth Miller.

The affidavit says Timothy Miller arranged passage for Lisa Miller and her daughter, paying for the tickets with his mother-in-law’s credit card, but Kenneth Miller had told him he would be reimbursed for the price of the tickets.

In the spring of 2010, Lisa Miller was indicted in Vermont on charges of international parental kidnapping.

The latest complaint alleges that Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite pastor, asked another Mennonite pastor from Ontario, whose name was redacted from the affidavit, to meet Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella, now 11, at a hotel in Niagara, Ontario. In Ontario, that pastor picked Lisa Miller and her daughter up at the hotel and took them to the airport in Toronto, where they flew to Mexico and then Central America.

If convicted of aiding in international parental kidnapping, Kenneth Miller could be sentenced to three years in prison.

Of course what many of us would like to see ultimately surface is involvement by Matt Staver or others on the legal staff of Liberty Counsel. The organization, which files lawsuits on behalf of right wing Christianist groups, in my opinion, needs to be shut down.

ABC News: Christian Network Involved in Lisa Miller Kidnapping

As more details emerge, it is increasingly obvious that Lisa Miller's flight from the USA in defiance of court orders was orchestrated and facilitated by a network of far right Christians, many with ties to Lynchburg, Virginia or nearby Waynesboro. Matt Staver and the folks at Liberty University continue to claim total ignorance of the plot, yet it looks more and more far fetched to believe the denials. ABC News looks at the story and finds an interconnecting web swirling around Liberty University which as reported earlier in the month received nearly a half billion dollars in federal funding via student loans. As Salon noted:

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Liberty University, the evangelical private Christian school founded by dead apartheid-supporting bigot Jerry Falwell, received $445 million in federal financial aid last year.
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That massive sum was thanks to the growth of Liberty's online program, which enrolled 52,000 students last year. The school is the No. 1 recipient of Pell grant money in the state of Virginia. While it may seem like the federal government is basically subsidizing this formerly financially challenged ultra-conservative religious private school, LU's executive director of financial aid sees it differently: For Ritz — a financial aid veteran who got his start at a small Bible college — Liberty’s use of federal financial aid does not run counter to the university’s conservative values. Liberty does not receive the federal money directly, Ritz said, but through students, who use it to pay for tuition, room and board and other expenses.

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“These funds are authorized by Congress and Congress is elected by voters. . . I’ve always been in the position where I believe I’m a steward of those federal funds. I’m a steward of tax-payer money.”
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And I'm sure ACORN, Planned Parenthood and NPR feel the same way. Liberty University -- where the biology department teaches Young Earth Creationism -- is, astoundingly, an accredited school of higher learning.
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But back to the Lisa Miller saga. While Matt Staver is feigning ignorance, it turns out Miller as on the pay roll of Lynchburg Christian Academy, an affiliate of Thomas Road Baptist Church of which Jonathan Falwell is the senior pastor. Falwell conveniently also serves as the executive vice president of Spiritual Affairs at Liberty University and over sees that institution's School of Religion and Liberty Theological Seminary. Seems pretty interconnected to me - and unlikely that Falwell wasn't aware of Miller being subsidized by his entities. ABC News reports in part as follows:
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Timothy Miller [the only individual arrested so far] appeared to work in conjunction with several groups. The plane tickets were purchased through Golden Rule Travel, a group focusing on "international adoption, humanitarian and missionary travel," according to court documents. When reached by phone, the manager of the Kansas office said that confidentiality rules prohibit them from disclosing whether they sold the tickets or not.
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Timothy Miller was a pastor for the Christian Aid Ministries (CAM) in Nicaragua, and in an email he wrote in March 2010 he fretted, "Another big thing right now is CAM higher ups say she may not even go to CAM any more for the protection of the organization." Christian Aid Ministries would not comment on the investigation.
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Bank records cited in the court documents state that Lisa Miller "received multiple payroll checks from the Lynchburg Christian Academy Payroll Account." Miller received the checks while she was teaching at the school between the fall of 2008 and the spring of 2009, said Mathew Staver, the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. Lynchburg Christian Academy, renamed Liberty Christian Academy, is linked to Liberty University and was founded by Jerry Falwell.
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In addition, Philip Zodhiates, the owner of a company specializing in source lists for Christian telemarketers and retailers, has a home in Nicaragua, according to court documents. Investigators allege that Lisa Miller and Isabella are staying at the home.
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Zodhiates' daughter, Victoria Hyden, works at Liberty University and investigators allege that her father asked her to disseminate a request for supplies to be sent to Lisa Miller and her daughter.

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Despite all of these interconnections, Staver says neither he, Liberty University or Liberty Counsel had any involvement in Miller's flight in defiance of court orders. Bob Felton at Civil Commotion sums up the situation well:

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If the Justice Department has the guts to do a thorough investigation with an election looming, I think we’re going to find that Lisa Miller’s whereabouts was an open secret in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is simply not believable that so many of the people implicated could be swarming around the same teensy anthill without knowledge of each others’ activities.

Doth Matt Staver Protest Too Much?

Speculation continues as to swirl what role the folks at Liberty University and/or Liberty Counsel played in aiding Lisa Miller in her kidnapping of and flight from the USA with her daughter Isabella - actions that resulted in warrants for Miller's arrest. Given that one likely accomplice was Matt Staver's secretary at Liberty Law School and given the extremism of some of Staver's past remarks, is Staver now protesting a bit too much that he/Liberty had no involvement? One can only hope that the FBI continues to investigate and, if personnel at Liberty University or Liberty Counsel were involved that indictments and arrests will follow. Lynchburg, Virginia based Liberty Counsel is an ongoing pestilence and embarrassment to reputable members of the legal community and rational residents of Virginia. I will admit, I'd love to see the organization found to have been implicated in violation of federal court orders. Here are highlights of Staver's denials via WDBJ 7:
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Before she disappeared, Miller lived in Bedford County and was getting legal help from Liberty Counsel. Some have suggested that organization was involved with hiding Miller, but that's a charge attorneys flatly deny. "It's absurd to try to suggest Liberty Counsel had anything to do with the whereabouts or the disappearance of Lisa Miller," Mathew Staver, Dean of Liberty University's School of Law and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.
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Staver served as Miller's attorney through 2009. During that period, Miller was living in Forest and attending services at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Staver says Miller was looking for a job and gave no indication she was planning to leave the Lynchburg area when she abruptly ended all contact with Liberty Counsel. "She simply stopped communicating by phone, by e-mail, by letter," said Staver. "We have no idea where she went." Staver says Miller's actions forced Liberty Counsel to drop her case.
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According to published reports, the FBI now believes Miller took her child from Lynchburg to El Salvador and later to Nicaragua. Investigators say Miller was trying to avoid giving custody of her daughter to her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins.
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[S]ome believe Liberty had another motive and took part in hiding Miller - a claim Staver says is 100-percent false. "None of us would be stupid enough to place our careers and our futures and our law licenses on the table to try to help someone violate the law," said Staver.
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News 7 talked by phone Monday afternoon with Janet Jenkins' attorney, Sarah Starr. Jenkins has done interviews in the past where she accused Liberty and Thomas Road Baptist Church of hiding her daughter. Starr wouldn't comment on that accusation, but said Jenkins is hopeful her child will be found soon.

Arrest Made in Lisa Miller Kidnapping Case - Christianists Appear to Have Assisted in Crime

An arrest t has been made in the Lisa "I'm No Longer Gay" Miller kidnapping case and not surprisingly it appears that Christianist whack jobs connected to Liberty University (see the screen shot above via the Advocate) and the late Jerry Falwell's Lynchburg church were likely involved in assisting Miller in fleeing the U.S. with her daughter, Isabella, after refusing to comply with numerous court orders. Miller and Isabella's whereabouts are still unknown, but hopefully as pressure is applied some of the loons will begin to talk. My gut reaction is that others besides the low level administrative assistant at Liberty University's law school were involved and it would be fabulous to learn that Matt Staver and/or anti-gay zealot Matt Barber were involved. In my view, Liberty is a major hub of the Christianist pestilence that haunts Virginia and the nation. It is disturbing that the "law school" ever received accreditation given the discrimination that goes on at Liberty and the fact that Staver and others in my opinion appear to have open contempt for the rule of law. In addition to the Advocate, Metro Weekly has coverage. An affidavit filed by the FBI describing the conspiracy to get Miller and Isabella out of the USA can be viewed here. First some highlights from the Advocate story:
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In a long-standing child custody case, an American missionary working in Nicaragua has been arrested on charges of helping a Virginia woman flee the U.S. with her daughter after a state court had awarded her former partner full custody rights.
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According to an April 1 affidavit by an FBI special agent, Timothy D. Miller, a Tennessee man who is associated with Christian Aid Ministries in Nicaragua, helped secure safe passage to Nicaragua for Lisa Miller and her 9-year-old daughter, Isabella (Lisa Miller is not believed to be related to Timothy Miller, according to the affidavit).
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Timothy Miller, 34, is one of several people named in the affidavit . . . who may have colluded in the international parental kidnapping of Isabella — including a “leader” with Liberty Counsel, the Christian legal group that has provided pro bono representation for Lisa Miller in the custody case.

In the affidavit, FBI special agent Dana L. Kaegel said that a series of e-mails as well as customer service notes from an airline company indicate that Timothy Miller helped to arrange flights to Nicaragua via Canada, Mexico, and El Salvador for Miller and her daughter, . . .
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In June 2010, Jenkins’s attorney, Sarah Star, received a phone call from an unnamed individual who said that Miller and her daughter were staying at a vacation rental house in Nicaragua owned by Philip Zodhiates, who was described by the caller as a “Liberty leader,” Kaegel said.
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According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Zodhiates heads the Christian direct-mail firm Response Unlimited. His daughter, Victoria Hyden, is an administrative assistant at Liberty University School of Law and was asked by her father to “disseminate a request to get Lisa Miller supplies.” Upon the news of the arrest breaking, Hyden's bio was taken down from the Liberty website as of noon Eastern time, but a screen grab of the page before its removal is available . . .
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Metro Weekly also cites a tie to an affiliate of Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church that appears to have been subsidizing Miller while she was in hiding and defying court orders:
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According to one FBI affidavit, the ''Lynchburg Christian Academy Payroll Account'' provided ''multiple payroll checks to Lisa Miller.'' The Academy is an affiliate of the late Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church.
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One can only hope that the FBI will seize records and determine just how high up the conspiracy extends both at the church and Liberty University and Liberty Counsel, a major player in anti-gay propaganda.

"Ex-Lesbian" Has Fled USA With Daughter

I've been following the Lisa Miller/Janet Jenkins story for several reasons: (1) because the case has involved the few rare occasions where the Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled in favor of LGBT litigants, (2) it highlights the lies and deceptions that go hand in hand with the ex-gay myth disseminated by Christianists, and (3) it demonstrates the fact that Christianists feel that they can ignore the law whenever it suits them. Now, the Houston Chronicle is reporting that Lisa Miller - who has a warrant out for her arrest - has kidnapped Isabella and fled to El Salvador. I doubt that Miller pulled this off on her own. Instead, I suspect she was aided by far right religious groups that ought to face criminal charges if such turns out to be the case. The whole sad saga underscores the fact that ALL "ex-gay" ministries need to be shut down by state licensing agencies and that therapists who engage in this snake oil conduct ought to lose their licenses. Here are highlights from the Chronicle:

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The girl, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, failed to appear for a court-ordered custody swap in January and are believed to have flown to El Salvador last September, said attorney Sarah Star, who represents ex-partner Janet Jenkins.
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Star said a Virginia police officer told her that Miller and the girl flew to El Salvador's capital, San Salvador, from Juarez, Mexico, which is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
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The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has turned its attention to Central America, distributing photos and information about Isabella to news outlets throughout the region, apparently believing she and her birth mother moved there, Star said Thursday.
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Isabella and Miller, of Forest, Va., were supposed to appear Jan. 1 for Jenkins, of Fair Haven, Vt., to take custody of the girl. When they didn't appear, a contempt citation and arrest warrant were issued for Miller in Vermont, and a Virginia court has issued a show cause order against her.
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Personally, I believe that Miller is focused solely on herself and obviously cares nothing about the turmoil and instability to which her daughter is exposed. She's more concerned about screwing over her ex-partner than the welfare of her child. Sadly, it's too typical of the self-proclaimed "born again" Christians who act in the most un-Christian of ways.

Arrest Order Issued for Lisa Miller, Faux Ex-Gay

I have written a number of times about the ongoing Virginia-Vermont saga over the split of Lisa Miller (at left) and her ex-lover, Janet Jenkins. Miller, attempted to forum shop with the aid of Christianist wingnuts at Liberty Council by fleeing to anti-gay Virginia only to have the Virginia Courts back up custody orders issued by courts in Vermont where Miller and Jenkins entered into a civil union. Now, the Vermont courts have ordered Miller's arrest for contempt of court and her refusal to turn custody of their daughter, Isabella, to Jenkins. Personally, I find Miller's claims that she "accepted Jesus" and is now "ex-gay" to be bullshit. Sadly, she seems to have fallen into the clutches of notorious Virginia wingnuts who have brainwashed her into believing in the impossible: changing her sexual orientation. I cannot help but wonder what financial incentives have been offered to Miller by the professional Christians - not to mention how much money the professional Christians have raised from the gullible by using Miller as their poster girl. No doubt if apprehended, Miller will be held out as a Christian martyr and Liberty Counsel, et al, will endeavor to raise even more money at Miller's ultimate expense. Here are some highlights from WJZ- Channel 13:
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A Vermont judge has ordered the arrest of a woman who has refused to turn over her 7-year-old daughter to her former lesbian partner.
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Family Court Judge William Cohen found Lisa Miller of Forest, Va., in contempt of court during a hearing Tuesday and issued the arrest warrant.
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Miller was ordered to surrender custody of her daughter on Jan. 1 but failed to do so and has since disappeared. Their daughter is now considered a missing person.
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Miller and Jenkins got a civil union in Vermont in 2000, had the baby two years later and broke up in 2003. Miller moved to Virginia, where she renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian.

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Unfortunately, I suspect that Matt Staver and the folks at Liberty Counsel care nothing for the damage done to Isabella - or Miller for that matter. It's all about furthering the Christianist agenda no matter how false it may be.

Lisa Miller -- Ex-Gay, Born Again, Outlaw, Kidnapper On the Run

As one who tried to deny my true sexual orientation for decades and who has seen first hand the falsity of ex-gay claims - former ex-gay poster boy Michael Johnston is a case in point - I know full well that one doesn't become ever really "ex-gay." It simply doesn't happen despite whatever brainwashing groups like Exodus International and NARTH try to impose. Sooner or later, it will all fall apart and one's innate sexual orientation will remain unchanged. Hence I am baffled at Lisa Miller's insane actions that have made her a fugitive and might well result in her losing custody of her child if the two of them are apprehended. Needless to say, I doubt she would have taken such foolish steps without the aid and comfort of far right Christians who view the law as applying to everyone but themselves. I suspect she's being aided even at this moment by such people. Change.org looks at the sad saga of what religious extremism can cause. Here are some highlights:

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Five years ago, Lisa Miller packed her bags and left her home in Vermont for the greener, less gay-friendly pastures of Virginia. She left behind her partner of six years, Janet Jenkins. She left behind their civil union. She left behind homosexuality. The only thing she didn't leave behind was their then 17 month-old daughter Isabella.
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Lisa's move to Virginia was highly calculated, a backward display of political asylum: she picked a state in which she could hide behind the anti-gay policies and hope not to be found by the inclusive homo-friendly laws of her past.
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Despite the numerous legal decrees granting Janet visitation rights, Lisa has cut Janet out of the family equation, claiming that acquiescing to the custody directive would be like "handing my daughter over to the milkman."

Lisa isn't just ignoring the Vermont orders because she doesn't like them, she's ignoring them because she has her own set of rules: God's law. She felt that "God, through His word and through the ways that He shows Himself, that he wanted me to stop visitation" and so she did. This is no longer a battle between bitter exes, this has become a war of religious ideology.
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Unfortunately for those on Team Lisa (namely evangelicals), directives from God don't carry much weight in a court of law. With each consecutive missed court appearance, each canceled visit with Janet, each statement in the press of defiance and religious piety, Lisa, and Lisa alone, built the case against herself. Rule number one folks, don't piss off a judge. It never ends well.
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So last November a judge granted sole custody of the girl to Janet, citing Lisa's repeated disrespect for the court as representative of her disregard for the best interest of the child. When Lisa failed to show up for a January 1 court appearance, an arrest warrant was issued. No one has seen or heard from Lisa, or Isabella, since.
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This battle isn't over. And the messier it gets, the clearer it becomes that we need uniform laws regarding adoption and custody. Lisa is the newest darling for the traditional family army, while Janet stands in for gay parents everywhere, simply fighting for the right to love their kids.
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What is even more sad - and it may years before Lisa Miller realizes it - is that the Christianist have used Lisa and Isabella for their religious jihad with no long term concern for either of them. It's all about imposing their religious views on all.

Virginian Pilot Editorial Slams Lisa Miller

To my shock and amazement, the Virginian Pilot's main editorial today takes Lisa Miller (and by implication her Christianist attorneys and ex-gay "ministries" that are assisting her) to task for her defiance of court orders - both from Virginia and Vermont courts to turn custody over to Janet Jenkins. The editorial in fact argues that Miller has forgotten the best interest of her daughter and needs to be held accountable. Needless to say, the local holy rollers will be wetting themselves and going into convulsions over the editorial. I can hardly wait for some of the reality untethered letters to the editor that will likely follow. Here are some editorial highlights:

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Isabella Miller-Jenkins is not an abstract political principle or a religious creed. She’s a little girl whose seven short years have been marred by the chaos and uncertainty of a custody battle that has gone tragically awry. Thousands of children each year are torn between warring parents, but Isabella’s suffering has been prolonged because the two adults fighting over her are both women whose civil union dissolved into a national debate over gay rights.
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It is difficult to imagine a life more traumatizing than the one Isabella has had, and Miller bears much of the blame for her daughter’s pain. . . . Miller chose to move to Vermont because that state recognizes civil unions. She later fled to escape those same laws but only after she invoked them by filing for dissolution of her union and acknowledging Jenkins’ parental rights.
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Now, Miller has disappeared from her Virginia home with her daughter in a final reckless act of defiance. Isabella faces months or years of displacement and anxiety as a fugitive. She may one day visit her mother behind bars if Miller is apprehended and convicted for contempt.
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Yet Miller is convinced she is protecting Isabella, a belief encouraged by attorneys wanting to use the child as a test case to challenge laws in states that recognize same-sex civil unions or marriage. Liberty Counsel, a group affiliated with Liberty University’s School of Law, has pursued the case for years after Miller’s financial resources were tapped out.
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The result has never been in question. Miller has repeatedly violated court orders and ignored the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, which prohibits a parent who is unhappy with a child-custody ruling in one state from seeking a second opinion elsewhere.
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In a 2005 interview, Miller described “bargaining with God” to end her lesbian relationship if her efforts to have a second child failed. Miller says she has been born again, but that does not free her from the consequences of her actions. One day she will have to face her past.

"Ex-Lesbian" Mom on the Run?

The Lisa Miller v. Janet Jenkins saga appears to be taking yet another twist and demonstrating the contempt of the wingnut crowd for the law and the courts. It's all about them and their attitude that they can give the courts the figurative equivalent of flipping the bird and believing that they can get away with it. Speculation is growing that "former lesbian" Lisa Miller may have run off with her daughter in contempt of a Vermont court order transferring custody to Ms. Jenkins. Throughout the legal battle between the former domestic partners in both the Vermont and Virginia courts, Miller has been represented by Christianist lawyers like Matt Staver of Liberty Counsel/Liberty University Law School. The case has been before the Virginia Court of Appeals and the Virginia Supreme Court several times and attempts to invoke Virginia's anti-gay marriage amendment have failed repeatedly. Now, there are fears that Lisa Miller has absconded with the child - some speculate with the help of Exodus International or other anti-gay Christianist organizations (I have seen several groups using Miller's "plight" for fundraising purposes). Here are some highlights from CBS News on Miller's disappearance:

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The birth mother of a 7-year-old Virginia girl must transfer custody of the child to the woman's former lesbian partner, a Vermont judge ruled, adding that it seems the woman has "disappeared" with her daughter. Vermont Family Court Judge William Cohen ordered Lisa Miller of Winchester, Va., to turn over daughter Isabella to Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven at 1 p.m. Friday at the Virginia home of Jenkins' parents.
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But in the Dec. 22 order denying Miller's request to delay the transfer of Isabella, Cohen wrote: "It appears that Ms. Miller has ceased contact with her attorneys and disappeared with the minor child."
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Miller and Jenkins were joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. Isabella was born to Miller through artificial insemination in 2002. The couple broke up in 2003, and Miller moved to Virginia, renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian. Cohen awarded custody of the girl to Jenkins on Nov. 20 after finding Miller in contempt of court for denying Jenkins access to the girl.
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The judge said the only way to ensure equal access to the child was to switch custody. He also said the benefits to the child of having access to both parents would be worth the difficulties of the change.
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Mathew Staver, Miller's attorney, declined through a spokeswoman to comment on the case. A listing for Lisa Miller in Winchester, Va., says the phone line has been temporarily disconnected at the customer's request.

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The supreme courts of Virginia and Vermont ruled in favor of Jenkins, saying the case was the same was a custody dispute between a heterosexual couple. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear arguments on it.

"Ex-Lesbian" Losing Custody to Non-birth Parent

The long and bizarre saga of the Janet Jenkins-Lisa Miller custody battle took a new, ground breaking turn as a Vermont court awarded custody of 7 year old Isabella Miller to her non-biological but court-recognized parent, Janet Jenkins. Given Lisa Miller's refusal to abide by the rulings of both Vermont and Virginia courts, it's not surprising the she now has lost custody. Indeed, she ought to be in jail for contempt of court charges and her attorney, wingnut loon Mathew Staver of Liberty Counsel, should be facing sanctions given the number of frivolous actions and appeals he has filed for Miller. Miller and Staver are representative of the far right's belief that they are above the law and can denigrate and ignore court rulings they do not like. I do have to wonder how much Miller is getting paid by the fundies to continue to maintain her "former lesbian" charade. The Rutland Herald has more on the ruling and Miller and Stavers likely next stunt. Here are some highlights:

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A Rutland Family Court judge ordered a first-of-its kind parent custody change Friday in a child-visitation dispute involving a Virginia woman and her former lesbian partner who lives in Fair Haven. In a 21-page order, Judge William Cohen granted sole custody of 7-year-old Isabella Miller to her nonbiological but court-recognized parent, Janet Jenkins. Jenkins and her former partner — and Isabella's biological mother — Lisa Miller, who renounced homosexuality after the couple split in 2003, have been in and out of courtrooms in Vermont and Virginia for years arguing over visitation rights.
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After finding Miller in contempt of court earlier this year for denying Jenkins access to Isabella, Cohen said he decided the only way to ensure the child equal access to both parents was to switch custody. "The court concludes that it is in the best interest of (Isabella) that Ms. Jenkins exercise parental rights and responsibilities," the judge said. "This court stated that continued interference by Ms. Miller with the relationship between (Isabella) and Ms. Jenkins could lead to a change of circumstances and outweigh the disruption that would occur if a change of custody were ordered."
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Miller's attorney, Mathew Staver, said Friday that Miller planned to fight for her daughter on two fronts: appealing Cohen's decision to the Vermont Supreme Court while continuing a battle in the Virginia Court of Appeals regarding the state's authority to enforce Vermont orders that conflict with Virginia's laws.
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While the fight goes on, one legal observer said he believes Cohen's most recent decision will pave the way for future custody disputes involving same-sex couples. "It's a very important decision that I think will be influential beyond the borders of the states where these cases have been argued," Carl Tobias, University of Richmond professor of law, said Friday in a phone interview from Virginia. He said Cohen's decisions thus far had staying power because they treated the legal parents of civil unions — and by extension gay marriages — no differently than parents in heterosexual custody cases. While the Vermont case appears destined for appeal and the court battle in Virginia continues, Tobias said he didn't think appeals courts in either state would overturn the decision.
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One can only imagine the self-inflicted martyrdom that Miller will now wear on her sleeve as Matt Staver and his fellow Bible beaters seeks to sucker more patsies into send his snake oil outfit more money.

A Map Of Where Gays Can Marry

I hope that as the year ans decade go on the number of state granting marriage equality will grow as the grasp of religion is loosened on the civil laws.

Explosion of Hate Mocks Christian Values

Since the Iowa Supreme Court ruling a week ago which was soon followed by the legislative triumphs for gay marriage in Vermont and Washington, D.C., the explosion of hate from Christianists and the dehumanizing and untruthful things that they are disseminating about LGBT individuals in my view are a travesty and make a mockery of Christ's message. After all, Christ said that the two great Commandments were to love God and to love thy neighbor as they self. Moreover, the Gospels repeatedly show Christ as condemning the self-righteous and sanctimonious who smugly judged and condemned others in contravention to the command to love thy neighbor. The Christianists claim to believe the Bible is inerrant and must be followed verbatim as "the word of God." Why then do they pick and choose what they want to follow as if the Bible were an al carte menu?

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Let's be candid, from the National Organization for Marriage and it's bogus ad with paid actors pretending to be real ordinary citizens to commentaries in National Review and statements by Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention what we have seen is unbridled hatred for other humans merely because we do not subscribe to a particular set of religious beliefs. The statements are truly hate filled and - in my view - will provide another basis for more citizens to look at the Christian message and walk away shaking their heads in disgust. Andrew Sullivan has it right when he says that these folks hold gay lives in contempt. Here are some highlights of the "love" being disseminated by professed Christians. I begin with the National Review comment:

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Few social goods will come from recognizing same-sex couples as married. Some practical benefits may accrue to the couples, but most of them could easily be realized without changing marriage laws. Same-sex couples will also receive the symbolic affirmation of being treated by the state as equivalent to a traditional married couple — but this spurious equality is a cost of the new laws, not a benefit. One still sometimes hears people make the allegedly “conservative” case for same-sex marriage that it will reduce promiscuity and encourage commitment among homosexuals. This prospect seems improbable, and in any case these do not strike us as important governmental goals.

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Then we have Richard Land at the SBC who is rapidly becoming as extreme a homophobe as Peter LaBarbera and Fred Phelps making Southern Baptists as a whole appear to be a most unloving crowd. Land's official title is "president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention's official entity assigned to address social, moral, and ethical concerns, with particular attention to their impact on American families and their faith." Here are Land's incendiary statements:

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Once again, it was the judiciary branch of state government rending the nation’s moral fabric, bent on rewriting our country’s social construct. With no residency requirements, the [Iowa] court’s opinion means at the end of April when the order goes into effect, same-sex couples will be free to travel from other states to exchange “vows” in the Iowa Heartland.

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This ruling turns Iowa into a destination for same-sex “marriages.” No doubt there are weekend travel packages already being planned. Iowa will soon be the Las Vegas of same-sex “marriage” for America. And you know those folks won’t be resettling in the Hawkeye State, but will be heading back home–perhaps to your state.

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The Iowa Supreme Court couldn’t have ruled that an amendment to the constitution is “unconstitutional.” If they had done that, then a government “of the people, by the people, for the people” would be imperiled. If the California Supreme Court does this in the case they are currently considering, then we’d have to say that our entire system of government is coming to a tragic end.

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Another comes from the Baptist Press where Eric Schumacher pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, maintains that gay marriage is more catastrophic than a 500 year flood and will"eternal damage" that cannot be repaired and which will "erode" civilization. Here are some highlights:

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On April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a state law limiting marriage to one man and one woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. Licenses will be issued to homosexual couples April 27. It is not hyperbole to say that this ruling has the potential to be the worst disaster to strike the state of Iowa.

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Flood waters destroy houses, ruin offices buildings and displace families. Yet, recovery happens. Houses are rebuilt. Businesses relocate. Families eventually find housing. Legalized "homosexual marriage," on the other hand, does far more pervasive and irrecoverable damage. Civilization itself is eroded as marriage, the central building block of culture and society, is redefined. Soon, our sons and daughters are confused about what it means to be male and female, as "homosexual marriage" gains both legal status and visibility in neighborhoods and the classroom.

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Flood waters erode the soil. "Gay marriage" erodes the soul. A flood impacts for a decade. "Same-sex marriage" destroys generations. A flood draws a community together. "Homosexual marriage" tears the family apart. Communities recover from floods. The promotion of un-natural unions has an eternal consequence.

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As I have said in prior posts over the nearly two years I have been actively blogging, messages like these are akin to how the Nazi regime dehumanized and denigrated Jews in the run up to the Holocaust. How many people will hear these messages and feel totally justified in violence against LGBT citizens. It is bigotry and religious based discrimination of the worst order.

Christian Bigots Apoplexy Over Marriage Advances

All too predictably the Christianists and professional Christian set are beside themselves in the wake of the Iowa ruling on Friday and today's votes in Vermont and Washington, D.C. What is amazing is just how hate filled some of these alleged Christians are when it comes to vilifying LGBT Americans. To these folks we are definitely less than human and they truly do not care what type of violence their messages of hate may incite. Perhaps the most vile remarks were made by radio bigot Michael Savage who said the following:

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"So there are the vermin now celebrating twisted perverse marriage in the middle of America. It's a victory for perversion in my opinion. You want me to tell you what makes me sick? When I see two puffy white males kissing each other, I wanna puke. When I see two women kissing each other, on the lips, as lovers, I wanna vomit. Why? It's unnatural. It's against all of the laws of mankind. It's against all the laws of humankind. It is suicide for a society to embrace such behavior."

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Speaking of "puffy white males," I guess Savage must have been looking at his own image in a nearby mirror. Not far behind Savage was the ever reliable Klan loving Tony Perkins from Family Research Council who likewise denigrated gays and anyone who would treat us as citizens deserving equal civil rights. Here is a sampling of the loving words from this professional Christian who relies on promoting anti-gay hate for his livelihood:

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"Same-sex 'marriage' is a movement driven by wealthy homosexual activists and a liberal elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well. Time and again, we see when citizens have the opportunity to vote at the ballot box, they consistently opt to support traditional marriage," said Perkins.

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"The vote today by the D.C. City Council was a direct affront to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The radical Left wants to destroy the traditional union of one man and one woman across the country and they will not rest until they do so.

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Then there are the remarks of the ever anti-gay columnist, Cal Thomas, who likewise slammed gay Americans but who at least recognized the fact that professional Christians like Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Peter LaBarbera, et al, who denigrate gays for a living ought to be doing more to support heterosexual married couples. Here are some highlights"

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One must hand it to the gay rights movement. They have taken advantage of a morally exhausted nation that tolerates so many things that used to be intolerable—from abortion, to easy divorce, to pornography. And they have attacked American traditions at their strongest points, from the military, to pressuring Disney to allow “gay days” at their amusement parks, to marriage.

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The problem with the Iowa Court ruling is that it vitiates a standard that defined marriage as between two people of the opposite sex, which was God’s idea, not government’s (see Genesis 2:24), while failing to substitute a new standard. . . . As Iowa and other courts continue to dismantle the foundations of our nation without the approval of its citizens (each time the public gets an opportunity to vote on marriage, it votes to uphold the male-female version), they have an obligation to say where they intend to take us. What is the new standard for human relationships? Or do we make this up as we go, bowing to whatever pressure group makes the most noise?

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To those on the political and religious right who are intent on continuing the battle to preserve “traditional marriage” in a nation that is rapidly discarding its traditions, I would ask this question: What poses a greater threat to our remaining moral underpinnings? Is it two homosexuals living together, or is it the number of heterosexuals who are divorcing and the increasing number of children born to unmarried women, now at nearly 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

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Most of those who are disturbed about same-sex marriage are not as exercised about preserving heterosexual marriage. That’s because it doesn’t raise money and won’t get them on TV. Some preachers would rather demonize gays than oppose heterosexuals who violate their vows by divorcing, often causing harm to their children.

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The battle over same-sex marriage is on the way to being lost. For conservatives who still have faith in the political system to reverse the momentum, you are—to recall Harold Hill—“closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge.”

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Since we LGBT citizens are being depicted as vermin, destroyers of society, and those seeking to destroy democracy by these Godly folk, I can only wonder how soon it will be before we see the next news story of a some gay - or perceived gay - citizen murdered by someone who feels that God supports the murder of gays and that that person (or all of us) deserve to die.