"A Cesspool of Deviancy": More Witnesses Test Jim Jordan Specious Denials

Witnesses indicate Jordan is lying about his knowledge of ongoing sexual abuse. 

Perhaps I should not gloat, but I love seeing morally bankrupt Republicans who willingly prostitute themselves to hate-filled Christian extremists and bloviate about "family values" self-immolate as the get caught up in sex scandals.   A perfect example is former House Speaker Dennis Hastert who was a sexual predator who was ultimate criminally convicted or abuse of your athletes. Another is former Virginia 2nd district congressman Ed Schrock who voted vociferously anti-gay and whined about sharing showers with gays - even as he was seeking gay sex trysts.  There are many other examples, but the one who may soon join the list of men like Hastert and Schrock is Ohio GOP Congressman Jim Jordan. Each time Jordan disclaims any knowledge of the sexual abuse engaged in by his boss, Ohio State wrestling coach Richard Strauss, a new witness appears who disputes his denials.  Now, additional allegations are surfacing which hopefully will ultimately lead to Jordan being driven from office.  A piece in Politico looks at the mushrooming scandal.  Here are excerpts:

New allegations in the Ohio State University sexual abuse scandal are threatening to intensify the political firestorm facing its onetime assistant wrestling coach, powerful GOP Rep. Jim Jordan.

A half-dozen ex-wrestlers told POLITICO they were regularly harassed in their training facility by sexually aggressive men who attended the university or worked there. The voyeurs would masturbate while watching the wrestlers shower or sit in the sauna, or engage in sexual acts in the areas where the athletes trained, the former wrestlers said.

Larkins Hall, the building that housed athletic teams, became such a well-known target that people who frequented it at the time have reminisced in anonymous postings online how easy it was to ogle naked members of the wrestling team.

The situation was so egregious that former wrestling head coach Russ Hellickson would at times have to physically drag the gawkers out of the building, several sources familiar with his actions at the time said. Hellickson also pleaded with the university multiple times to move their athletes to a private facility, the sources said. Jordan served as Hellickson’s No. 2 . . . .

The accusations could exacerbate Jordan’s troubles. He was the wrestling team’s assistant coach from 1986 to 1994 and has adamantly denied knowledge of any sexual abuse. . . . they said he would have had to know about it. One former wrestler told POLITICO he saw Jordan yell at male voyeurs to get out of the sauna, though Jordan’s office refuted this account. Even three wrestlers who defended Jordan said it would have been impossible for him not to notice the pervasive toxic atmosphere surrounding the team.

“Coaching my athletes in Larkins Hall was one of the most difficult things I ever did,” said a former wrestling coach who worked with Jordan but asked not to be named. “It was a cesspool of deviancy. And that’s a whole ’nother story that no one has addressed.”

Multiple former wrestlers have accused Jordan, a National Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee, of being among the faculty members who turned a blind eye to inappropriate behavior by the late Richard Strauss, the university’s former athletic doctor. Strauss allegedly preyed on male students during physicals, groping them to the point of making them ejaculate, according to one nurse who witnessed it and recounted the story in a video produced by alleged victims and obtained by POLITICO.

Ohio State has launched an investigation into Strauss’ behavior. Strauss worked at the university from 1978 to 1998. He killed himself in 2005.

Jordan has become the face of the controversy because of his current high profile as a leader of the hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus. But the Ohio State scandal, which first came to light in April, goes well beyond him.

Now, Jordan is one of the most powerful members of the House and a potential candidate for speaker. . . . He is close with President Donald Trump, who expressed his support for the Ohio Republican on Thursday night.

The controversy will continue next week when Congress returns from its Fourth of July recess, and he is pressed by reporters for more information. . . . But Jordan’s denials have upset several of his former wrestlers, who want him to acknowledge what they felt as victims of sexual abuse.

Dunyasha Yetts, a former champion wrestler at the university, agreed that “sexual abuse” wasn’t used to describe what was occurring. But he accused Jordan of playing word games. Yetts said he was easily the most vocal person on the team to complain about Strauss and the Larkins Hall situation. Yetts claimed he not only told Jordan about Strauss’ behavior, but asked Jordan and Hellickson to confront the doctor with him.

At one point after being injured during his senior year, Yetts said he asked Jordan and Hellickson to come into Strauss’ examination room with him because he didn’t want to be fondled.

The Ohio State scandal — and talk of Jordan specifically — is tearing apart the university’s once tight-knit alumni wrestling network. Jordan’s former wrestlers are now warring publicly, with some accusing him of not doing enough to protect them and others coming to his defense.

DiSabato, however, is only one of several witnesses to have come forward. Even defenders of Jordan told POLITICO that the environment in Larkins Hall was abhorrent. Jordan used to work out with the students and use the sauna with them, even creating his own jocular “King of the Sauna” award at the end of the year for the wrestler who was best at trash talking his opponents and boasting of his successes post-practice. That’s why several wrestlers said it‘s implausible that Jordan didn’t see anything, despite his denials.

University spokesman Benjamin Johnson acknowledged in a statement that Ohio State is “aware of reports that individuals at the university did not respond appropriately during Richard Strauss’ time at Ohio State from 1978-1998” and said the school is investigating.

Again, I hope Jordan goes down. 

Donald Trump Is Winning Because the Media Is Failing the American People

I have frequently lamented the manner in which the so-called mainstream media is failing to do its job.  The same type of failure allowed Bush/Cheney to lie and take America in an unnecessary war in Iraq that cause the circumstances that gave birth to ISIS.  Now, by largely kissing Donald Trump's very wide ass (that doesn't match is very small hands) and worrying more about creating sensation and page views, the same mainstream media is furthering Trump's campaign.  It never demands answers from him about is plan free agenda to make the changes he promises in his sound bites or asks the simple question "how?"  Likewise, other than bogus Trump University and his questioned veterans donations, there is far too little focus on Trump's sleazy and tawdry past dealings.  A piece in Huffington Post indicts the media on the manner in which it is failing the American people.  Here are excerpts:

[T]the rationale behind this refusal [of the media to do its job] is simple self-interest on the part of journalists who know that they can “ask any question about Trump, Trumpism or anti-Trumpism except the existential ones, because the existential ones could lead him to stop calling in to [their] morning show and providing [them] with [their] highest-rated hour for free.”

After outlining the absurd inability of the press to question Trump when he blatantly and repeatedly contradicts himself on the record, he relented in his criticism somewhat, acknowledging that it’s difficult to “examine what’s going on inside of a man who could first pretend to be his own media spokesman, then boast about his own sexual conquests in the third person, then admit the deception to a reporter, then again admit it on the legal record, then deny it on national television, then when pressed about it by The Washington Post simply hang up the phone.”

With their own jobs hanging in the balance, who in the American media of 2016 could invoke not the politics of reproductive rights but question if there’s something far more than inconsistency involved when a candidate says he believes women who have abortions should be in some way punished, then weeks later insists he meant they should punish themselves? Or in that environment, who can ask not about religious intolerance but instead what is amiss with the thought process of a candidate whose campaign pivoted from the fringes to a hateful lane in the mainstream the day he insisted Muslims be banned from entering this country, yet who could manage to later seriously claim all that was “just a suggestion”…

The mainstream media betrayed the American people in the lead up to the Iraq War and it truly seems to be doing the same thing - all with no regard for what a Trump presidency would do towards destroying America.  

PS, I also cannot refrain from yet again condemning the evangelical Christians who are supporting Trump.  If their claimed beliefs and religiosity are real - as opposed to modern day Pharisee displays of hypocrisy - they ought to be running screaming from Trump.

Quote of the Day: The GOP's Tawdry Sex Scandals

As noted frequently on this blog, today's Republican Party claims to be the party of "family values" yet when one looks at political sex scandals, its the GOP that leads the way at least three to one against Democrats.  A short quip in the Washington Post s sums it up well in the wake of Dennis Hastert's indictment:

If I understand the history correctly, in the late 1990s, the President was impeached for lying about a sexual affair by a House of Representatives led by a man who was also then hiding a sexual affair, who was supposed to be replaced by another Congressman who stepped down when forced to reveal that he too was having a sexual affair, which led to the election of a new Speaker of the House who now has been indicted for lying about payments covering up his sexual contact with a boy. 

You can't make stuff up this good!

The GOP's War on Poor Children

In the warped Republican world of "family values," some families and some children simply do not matter.  Obviously, families headed by same sex couples do not matter as evidenced by the GOP's opposition to marriage equality which would provide increases security to thousands of children.  Nor seemingly do poor families and poor children matter.  That's the only conclusion that can be reached from a GOP effort to take away health insurance coverage for over a million children.  A New York Times editorial looks at the GOP's sick version of "family values."  Here are excerpts:

Senior Republicans in Congress are seeking major changes to the Children’s Health Insurance Program when the program’s money runs out in September.

Their proposal, labeled a “discussion draft” for legislation yet to be written, could deprive more than a million children of insurance or force their families to pay higher out-of-pocket costs for their coverage. It also would shift costs to states, which would be left holding the bag to pay for the children’s insurance or for the care of the children as uninsured patients.

The draft is being circulated by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; Representative Fred Upton of Michigan, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and Representative Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, chairman of the health subcommittee. It threatens to undermine the progress made in reducing the number of uninsured children, gains that came from enrolling more children in Medicaid and in CHIP, which covers children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.

The Republican proposal would eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that states keep the family-income eligibility levels stable until 2019, and it could make it harder for families to prove their eligibility. Faced with a loss of federal funds for CHIP, as suggested in the Republican proposal, many states would probably shrink their CHIP programs and reduce their own financial contributions. A result would be fewer children enrolled in the program. 

And the proposal would allow states to impose a 12-month waiting period (up from the current 90 days) before children who lose coverage from a parent’s insurance plan can be enrolled in CHIP. That is a very long time for a youngster to go without insurance and the regular care it provides. Many families in that situation will not be able to afford coverage on the new health care exchanges.

The Republican proposal is billed as a way to let states make “common-sense changes” to their Medicaid and CHIP programs. But instead of helping the states, it could end up costing them a lot of money.

By contrast, bills introduced in the House and Senate by Democrats would extend federal CHIP financing for the next four years and largely continue the program along current lines. That is the better approach. Governors should lean on Congress to extend this valuable children’s program without major changes.

The GOP, Muslims, Marriage and Bigotry

As noted in a post yesterday, three Muslim students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were murdered by a neighbor who reportedly had a problem with Muslims among others.  Meanwhile, in Alabama we see state court judges refusing to follow federal court rulings that have struck down that state's bans on same sex marriage.  What do these events have in common?  So-called "conservatives" or more specifically, the Republican Party which has made pandering to racists and religious extremists a core part of the GOP platform.  Indeed, in 2012, Tony Perkins, a hate group leader with KKK ties, was allowed to draft a portion of the GOP national platform.  Demonizing others and depicting them as "other" has become a GOP staple.  A piece in the New York Times looks at the dangers of extremist bigotry.  Here are excerpts:

In North Carolina, three young Muslims who were active in charity work were murdered, allegedly by a man who identified as atheist and expressed hostility to Islam and other faiths. Police are exploring whether it was a hate crime, and it spurred a #MuslimLivesMatter campaign on Twitter.

And, in Alabama, we see judges refusing to approve marriages of any kind because then they would also have to approve same-sex marriages. In one poll conducted last year, some 59 percent of people in Alabama opposed gay marriage. Somehow a loving God is cited to bar loving couples from committing to each other.

These are very different news stories. But I wonder if a common lesson from both may be the importance of resisting bigotry, of combating the intolerance that can infect people of any faith — or of no faith.

[I]t does seem useful for everyone to reflect on our capacity to “otherize” people of a different faith, race, nationality or sexuality — and to turn that other-ness into a threat. That’s what the Islamic State does to us. And sometimes that’s what we do, too.

There has been a pugnacious defensiveness among conservative Christians to any parallels between Christian overreach and Islamic overreach, as seen in the outraged reaction to President Obama’s acknowledgment at the National Prayer Breakfast this month that the West has plenty to regret as well. But Obama was exactly right: How can we ask Islamic leaders to confront extremism in their faith if we don’t acknowledge Christian extremism, from the Crusades to Srebrenica?

[O]ne message of the New Testament is the value of focusing on one’s own mistakes rather than those of others. “You hypocrite,” Jesus says in Matthew 7:5. “First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  We could do with a little more of that spirit these days, at a time when everybody wants to practice ophthalmology on everyone else.

It seems odd to me that so many conservative Christians are obsessed with homosexuality, which Jesus never mentions, yet seem unworried about issues Jesus did emphasize like poverty and suffering. Jesus explicitly advised a wealthy man, “Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21), so maybe that’s the Scripture that Judge Moore should follow to demonstrate his piety.

Among Americans aged 18 to 24, a 2012 survey found that half or more describe present-day Christianity as “hypocritical,” “judgmental” and “anti-gay.” And more regarded it as immoral to view pornography than to have sex with a person of the same gender. Alabama is, once again, on the wrong side of history.

Yet it is precisely the poisonous, hypocritical form of Christianity with which the GOP has wrapped itself - along with white susupremacy and a  contempt for the U.S. Constitution and the rights it grants to others.

Gay Alabama Lawmaker Threatens to Reveal GOP Colleagues' Affairs

Patricia Todd at right

If hate is one of the defining motivation behind Republican policies, another defining characteristic of today's GOP is hypocrisy.  It's no coincidence that it seems that 9 times out of 10 it is a "pro-family" Republican who is getting caught in a sex scandal.  These hypocrites embrace hatred and live in glass houses and truly deserve being called out on their hypocrisy - hence my role in "outing" former 2nd Congressional District Republican Ed Shrock.  In my view, if one is going to be singing the "family values" song, one had damn well be walking the walk.   Apparently, Alabama State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, feels the same way: she has threatened to disclose the affairs of the "godly, family values" members of the Alabama legislature.  Here are highlights from the Times Daily:

State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, had a warning for her Statehouse colleagues over the weekend.
“I will not stand by and allow legislators to talk about ‘family values’ when they have affairs, and I know of many who are and have,” Todd, the state’s only openly gay lawmaker, said on Facebook over the weekend. “I will call our elected officials who want to hide in the closet out.”

Todd was responding to comments from her fellow lawmakers after Friday’s decision by a federal judge to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriages.

“It is pretty well known that we have people in Montgomery who are or have had affairs …” Todd told the TimesDaily this morning. “I just want them to be careful what they’re saying, some of it might come back to stick on them.”

Todd said she was hurt and angered by some of the remarks and backlash she has heard since Friday.

“But I know I’m on the side that is going to win and I’m sorry they’re so ignorant,” she said.

Several high-profile GOP leaders have spoken out against the ruling, and Attorney General Luther Strange asked the judge to stay her order until the U.S Supreme Court considers gay marriage later this year.

Todd this morning said for Alabama to continue to fight gay marriage was a waste of limited state resources.

Todd will carry this year a bill that would protect gay and lesbian state employees and teachers from workplace discrimination. “I’ve probably burned any chance of getting it through,” she said this morning.

Kudos for Todd.  Personally, I hope she outs some of the hypocrites.   Likewise, I'd love to see some Virginia Republicans called out on their hypocrisy.

The GOP Answer: Suffer the Children

Candidly, I get nauseated hearing Republicans claim to be the protectors of "Christian values" and traditional morality.  Particularly, since of the policies of today's GOP are the antithesis of the Gospel message.  If the GOP supports any biblical values, it seems to be the values of the Pharisees so condemned by Jesus.  The hypocrisy is indeed stunning.  Nowhere does this disconnect make itself more obvious than in the GOP's approach to children.  If one is not born into a white, native born, preferably far right Christian family, the GOP approach is to kick you into the gutter.  This holds true in the GOP's approach to children who came to this country illegally through no fault of their own.  A column in the New York Times looks at the GOP's foul approach to such children.  Here are excerpts:

[T]here are some difficult issues in immigration policy. I like to say that if you don’t feel conflicted about these issues, there’s something wrong with you. But one thing you shouldn’t feel conflicted about is the proposition that we should offer decent treatment to children who are already here — and are already Americans in every sense that matters. And that’s what Mr. Obama’s initiative is about.

Who are we talking about? First, there are more than a million young people in this country who came — yes, illegally — as children and have lived here ever since. Second, there are large numbers of children who were born here — which makes them U.S. citizens, with all the same rights you and I have — but whose parents came illegally, and are legally subject to being deported.

What should we do about these people and their families? There are some forces in our political life who want us to bring out the iron fist — to seek out and deport young residents who weren’t born here but have never known another home, to seek out and deport the undocumented parents of American children and force those children either to go into exile or to fend for themselves.

The real question, then, is how we’re going to treat them. Will we continue our current regime of malign neglect, denying them ordinary rights and leaving them under the constant threat of deportation? Or will we treat them as the fellow Americans they already are?

The truth is that sheer self-interest says that we should do the humane thing. Today’s immigrant children are tomorrow’s workers, taxpayers and neighbors. Condemning them to life in the shadows means that they will have less stable home lives than they should, be denied the opportunity to acquire skills and education, contribute less to the economy, and play a less positive role in society. Failure to act is just self-destructive.

But speaking for myself, I don’t care that much about the money, or even the social aspects. What really matters, or should matter, is the humanity.

My parents were able to have the lives they did because America, despite all the prejudices of the time, was willing to treat them as people. Offering the same kind of treatment to today’s immigrant children is the practical course of action, but it’s also, crucially, the right thing to do. So let’s applaud the president for doing it.

I increasingly find it difficult to be civil to some Republicans when they launch into their anti-immigrant, anti-minority harangues.  I typically bite my tongue at first and then call them out as hypocrites and modern day Pharisees  and force them to admit they are really motivated by greed, hatred, and bigotry.  They claim to cling to "Christian values" and "family values" yet their actions speak volumes, none of it good.

Child Homelessness Surges in America

As the Republicans seek to destroy the social safety net and self-proclaimed "family values" spend millions of dollars to oppose gay rights, especially gay marriage - all because they claim to be concerned about "the children" - child homelessness is surging in America.  While all these funds are spent on anti-gay efforts, these same "family values" organizations spend nothing on aiding children or families.  The hypocrisy is absolute.  An article in The Daily Beast looks at the surging problem of child homelessness.  The referenced report can be found here. Here are highlights:

The number of homeless children in the U.S. has surged in recent years to an all-time high, amounting to one child in every 30, according to a comprehensive state-by-state report. The report, which will be issued Monday, blames the nation’s high poverty rate, the lack of affordable housing, and the effects of pervasive domestic violence. The report by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013.

The number is based on the Department of Education’s latest count of 1.3 million homeless children in public schools, supplemented by estimates of homeless preschool children not counted by the DOE. The problem is particularly severe in California, which has one-eighth of the U.S. population but accounts for more than one-fifth of the homeless children with a tally of nearly 527,000.

[T]he federal government has made progress in reducing homelessness among veterans and chronically homeless adults.  "The same level of attention and resources has not been targeted to help families and children," she said. "As a society, we're going to pay a high price, in human and economic terms."

Child homelessness increased by 8 percent nationally from 2012 to 2013, according to the report, which warned of potentially devastating effects on children's educational, emotional and social development, as well as on their parents' health, employment prospects and parenting abilities.

[N]either federal nor state housing assistance nor incentives for developers to create low-income housing have kept pace with demand.  "We need more affordable housing or we need to pay people $25 an hour," she said. "The minimum wage isn't cutting it."

"Fixing the problem starts with adopting an honest definition," said Bruce Lesley, president of the nonprofit First Focus Campaign for Children. "Right now, these kids are sort of left out there by themselves."

Lesley's group and some allies have endorsed a bill introduced in Congress, with bipartisan sponsorship, that would expand HUD's definition to correlate more closely with that used by the Education Department. However, the bill doesn't propose any new spending for the hundreds of thousands of children who would be added to the HUD tally.

Yet another example of "American exceptionalism" that the right wing likes to extol.

Two Former GOP Utah Attorneys General Arrested In Corruption Case

As I have asked before, why is it that a disproportionate number of "family vales" and "god fearing" GOP officials seem to be the ones caught up in corruption scandals and criminal indictments.  It is true that here in Virginia we have Democrat Phillip Puckett under FBI investigation, but those soliciting him with bribes were Republicans such as Terry Kilgore.  And, of course, lets not forget GOP former governor Bob McDonald who is facing trial on corruption charges.  The only good news is that Virginia does not have a monopoly on corrupt Republicans.  As Talking Points Memo reports, two former Utah Republican attorneys general have been arrested on corruption charges.  Here are story excerpts:

Two former Utah attorneys general, John Swallow (R) and Mark Shurtleff (R), were arrested in a long-running corruption case on Tuesday morning.

Shurtleff has been charged with three counts of bribery, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of witness tampering, one count of evidence tampering and one count of unlawful acts, according to the Salt Lake County jail's website, Swallow has been charged with two felony counts of bribery, one count of false or inconsistent statements, one count of false government records and one count of unlawful acts.

According to the Deseret News, the allegations surrounding Swallow and Shurtlefff center on their relationship with a Utah businessman, Jeremy Johnson. Shurtleff allegedly used Johnson's private plane to fly to a California fundraiser and to fly to New York to meet with actor Vincent D'Onofrio. Swallow allegedly stayed on Johnson's houseboat and borrowed his Ferrari.

Federal and state law enforcement searched Swallow and Shurtleff's homes in June amid a probe into the state attorney general's office. Swallow had followed Shurtleff in the office, but resigned last year amid several federal and local investigations.

Authorities have been investigating possible bribery, obstruction of justice and misuse of public funds.

I'm not saying that Democrats are perfect, but they seem to get caught up in fewer corruption charges and far fewer cases involving solicitation of gay sex even as they proclaim themselves to be "family values" candidates.  Just saying  . . . .

The Lie That the GOP/Conservatives Support Family Values

America's last place ranking in maternity leave

One hears constant blather from self-labeled "family values" organizations and, of course, the Republicans about how strongly they support family values.  The claim, like just about everything else the utter, is a lie.  There definition of family values means vilifying gays and single mothers and doing all in their power to eliminate social programs that might actually help support families so that greed driven bigots can keep their money to themselves much like the wealthy condemned by Christ in the Gospels.  Perhaps equally shocking is the fact that 163 other countries have forms of paid maternity leave to support motherhood while the USA has no such program.  The "pro-live" fetus worshipers talk constantly about valuing life, but once children are born, these hypocrites don't give a damn about these newborn and young children.  A column in the Washington Post looks at the disconnect between the rhetoric and the reality.  Here are highlights:

Politicians talk about family values but do almost nothing to help families. They talk about parental responsibility but do almost nothing to help parents. They talk about self-sufficiency but do precious little to make self-sufficiency a reality for those who must struggle hardest to achieve it.

For all these reasons, it was exciting last week to see Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut introduce the FAMILY Act, the acronym standing for their Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act. The bill would provide partial income for up to 12 weeks of leave for new parents and for other family demands, such as care for a sick family member, including a domestic partner.

How far behind the rest of the world is our country on this quintessential family values matter? The Post’s Amy Joyce cited a Harvard University study in 2004 noting that of 168 countries it examined, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave. We weren’t one of the 163. Joyce observed that “the U.S. is on par with places like Papua New Guinea and Swaziland when it comes to paid family leave.”

Premiums would range from about $72 to $227 a year, depending on a person’s income. The maximum benefit is capped at $4,000 a month. They expect the average monthly benefit to be less than half that.

There is nothing revolutionary about this proposal. It builds on the existing (and highly popular) Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires unpaid leave and was enacted two decades ago. It is modest in comparison with leave policies in other well-off countries.

Yet in light of Congress’s dismal record since the Republican takeover of the House in 2010, it would be revolutionary to see any law passed that empowered individuals and families to ease their everyday difficulties.

At a time when the political news is dominated by a debate between do-little conservatism and do-nothing conservatism — which is to say, between a right-tilting Republican establishment and the radical tea party — Gillibrand’s package includes building blocks for a broader counter-vision inspired by the idea of an Empowering Government.  

[S]urely a country that honors the devotion of family members to each other should want to make it at least a little easier for them to do their jobs.

GOP Rep. Scott "Sanctity Of Marriage" DesJarlais Exposed As Serial Adulterer

As I have pondered before, why is it almost always the "family values" Republicans who loudly proclaim their support for the "sanctity of marriage" who are the ones caught having adulterous affairs?  Yes, once in a while a Democrat will be caught in inappropriate relationships, but for each of those there seem to be a dozen or some married Republicans caught either having adulterous affairs or soliciting gay sex.  Tennessee Congressman Scott DesJarlais (pictured above), a Republican, who was swept into office in 2010 as part of the Tea Party wave, has again proved the phenomenon.  Here are highlights from Times Free Press:

Obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the couple’s 2001 trial transcript also confirms DesJarlais had sexual relationships with at least two patients, three coworkers and a drug representative while he was chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tenn. During one affair with a female patient, DesJarlais prescribed her drugs, gave her an $875 watch and bought her a plane ticket to Las Vegas, records show.

DesJarlais spokesman Robert Jameson did not respond to requests for comment. The attorney for the congressman's ex-wife said that at this point she does not have any comments to issue on her ex-husband's testimony.

The transcript corroborates accounts given to the Times Free Press in October by one of the patients who had a sexual relationship with DesJarlais. The newspaper continues to grant her anonymity, along with all the women due to the nature of the testimony.

DesJarlais, a family-values conservative who rode 2010’s tea party wave to Washington, testified his ex-wife’s earlier abortion stemmed from medical concerns.

The Tennessee Democratic Party had attempted to obtain the transcript before the Nov. 6 election, but the court delayed the process because the document was not typed up in its complete form.
But the party shrugged off the political tardiness of the revelations, saying the transcript rightly jeopardizes DesJarlais’ still-active medical license and congressional future.

There is much more in the story which seems to prove that no one lies more and is guilty of as much hypocrisy than a "family values" Republican.   I might also add that straight men like DesJarlais REALLY need to take better care of themselves.  He's 12 years younger than me and he looks like Hell.  I shudder to think what his paramours may have looked like.

Delaware “Family Values” GOP Candidate Busted on Child Molestation Charges

For the third time in as many days we are seeing the true nature of the "family values" conservatives who oppose same sex marriage, claim to worship the "sanctity of marriage" - all of whom coincidentally are REPUBLICANS.   First it was the prostitute soliciting "Christian family company" business owner in Maine, and then there was the GOP Attorney General of Arizona who had his affair exposed following a hit and run accident.Now it is Republican candidate for the Delaware State Senate, Eric Bodenweiser (pictured at left) who has been arrested on child molestation charges.  And, if you haven't already guessed it, the victim was a young boy.  And as is par for the course, Bodenweiser was a member of the anti-gay Delaware Family Policy Council.  The Washington Blade has details.  Here are highlights:

A Republican candidate for the Delaware State Senate who boasted of being a member of the anti-gay Delaware Family Policy Council was indicted this week on multiple charges of engaging in unlawful sex acts with a 13-year-old boy.

The indictment came less than a week after Eric Bodenweiser, 53, abruptly dropped out of his race for a State Senate seat in a conservative-leaning district near Rehoboth Beach that includes the City of Georgetown.

The indictment includes 113 felony sex charges, including 39 counts of unlawful sexual intercourse — first-degree and 74 counts of unlawful sexual contact — second-degree. Although the indictment doesn’t identify the gender of the victim, the Gape Gazette identified the victim as a boy who allegedly was sexually abused by Bodenweiser between Oct. 1, 1987 and Aug. 31, 1990 when he was between the ages of 10 and 13.

Jason Miller, a spokesperson for the Delaware Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case, said the victim, who is now in his 30s, has spoken to the media and revealed details not disclosed in the indictment but which are expected to surface at a trial.

Among those who had endorsed Bodenweiser in his State Senate race was Christine O’Donnell, the 2010 Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Delaware.

Democratic candidate Jane Hovington, who was expected to lose to Bodenweiser by a wide margin, is now the only candidate on the ballot in the race for the 19th Senate district. She is being challenged by Republican former Georgetown Mayor Brian Pettyjohn, who is running as a write-in candidate.

Why is it that 99% of the time it is always the Republicans and "family values" crowd that are the child molesters and adulterers?

"Anti-Gay GOP Arizona Attoney General Caught After Hit and Run Accident While Having Affair

Just yesterday this blog looked at the hypocrisy of an anti-gay marriage supporter in Maine who was arrested as part of a prostitution ring sting.  Now, we have the rabidly anti-gay Attorney General of the State of Arizona who has been caught having an affair with a woman not his wife.  Worse yet, he left the scene of an accident while rendezvousing with his mistress.  Like Donald Fortin in Maine, Attorney General Tom Horne (pictured at right) doesn't really give a damn about "protecting marriage."  He's just a flaming anti-gay bigot and a total hypocrite.  The Arizona Daily Star has details on Horne's affair and hit and run offense.  Here are highlights:

PHOENIX - Tom Horne caused more than $1,000 worth of damage when he clipped another car in a parking garage and just drove off, in order, according to FBI agents, to conceal an affair he was having with his passenger.

Phoenix police records obtained Tuesday include detailed witness accounts by FBI agents who were following Horne, Arizona's attorney general, on March 27 as part of a campaign finance investigation. They said they watched him back his borrowed vehicle into a white Range Rover in the parking garage of a Phoenix residential complex.

FBI agents said that after the fender-bender, Horne and the woman, since identified as Carmen Chenal, who works for Horne, walked off and entered the residential area of the complex where Chenal lives.

The FBI report details how Chenal left the Attorney General's Office that day in a Volkswagen she'd borrowed from Linnea Heap, another employee at the office. Five minutes later, Horne left in his own gold Jaguar. 

According to the report, they met up at a parking garage and emerged several minutes later with Horne, now wearing a baseball cap, driving the Volkswagen.  From there, they went to the residential parking section of a garage at 202 W. Roosevelt St.

FBI agent Grehoski made it clear in several of the interview transcripts released that he believes Horne was hiding something.

"You know, we've heard that Tom is supposed to be honest to a fault," he told Heap during an interview about a month after the accident.  "But he isn't," Grehoski continued. "He's driving someone else's car, crashed, and left the scene of an accident. Having some rendezvous with Carmen in her apartment. I mean, that's not ethical. That's not honest. That's slimy."

And in an interview with Amy Rezzonico, the spokeswoman for Horne's office, Grehoski says outright, "You've got a guy having an affair."

From there, they went to the residential parking section of a garage at 202 W. Roosevelt St.

Maine Anti-Gay Marriage Supporter Arrested in Prostitution Scandal

Once again we are seeing a shining example of the hypocrisy of some of the members of the conservative Christian crowd who oppose gay civil rights as they claim to be motivated solely by a desire to "protect the sanctity of marriage."  In this case the hypocrite is Donald Fortin, age 59, of 83 Skillings Woods Road, Turner, Maine, who has been charged with Engaging a Prostitute following an ongoing police department investigation of a prostitution ring out of a Kennebunk Zumba studio.  Fortin is the owner and president of Fortin Construction which on its website describes the company as a "Christian family owned company."   Moreover, he is a contributor to anti-gay  Protect Maine Marriage and family values GOP state senator Garrett Mason.  Maine's Majority has released the following Press Release:

Portland, ME - A review of campaign finance filings has found that the name of one of the men charged in the ongoing Kennebunk prostitution scandal matches that of a large contributor to the effort to defeat the state's same-sex marriage ballot measure and a maxed-out donor to Garrett Mason (R-Lisbon Falls), a Christian conservative and staunch opponent of marriage equality.

According to state records, on October 15, 2012, Donald Fortin of Turner personally donated $1,000 to Protect Maine Marriage and $350 to Mason through his business, Fortin Construction.[1] On June 21, Fortin also made a personal contribution to Mason in the amount of $350.

On October 25, the Kennebunk Police charged Donald Fortin of 83 Skillings Wood Road in Turner with Engaging a Prostitute. The same address is also found on the corporate filings of Diamond Developments of Maine, LLC (owned by a Donald Fortin) as well as a campaign contribution report by a Cynthia Fortin, who also gave $350 to Mason's campaign on October 15.

“We feel that the public deserves to know about this kind of hypocrisy," said Maine's Majority director Chris Korzen. "If Donald Fortin the campaign donor is indeed the same Donald Fortin in the Kennebunk Police press release, he cannot get away with actively promoting a conservative political agenda while engaging in behavior that is so blatantly at odds with his stated values. Furthermore, Protect Maine Marriage and Garret Mason must do the right thing and return these contributions.”

 Obviously, Fortin doesn't place much sanctity of his own marriage.  Whenever I see a business mentioning religion on its website, I usually take that as a good warning to hold on to your wallet.  Nonetheless, I feel sorry for his sons pictured on the company website who are no doubt embarrassed by their father's behavior and hypocrisy.

When Will the GOP Face a Reckoning On Marriage Equality?

Andrew Sullivan has written on why marriage equality should be a conservative goal - and I have done the same in a VEER Magazine column - because of the stability and benefits that flow not only to the couples involved, but also to their families and the larger community. Despite this, the GOP continues to pander like a tawdry whore to the Christianists. When has to wonder when the ultimate reckoning will come given the rapidly growing acceptance of same sex marriage by the younger generations. A piece in the New Yorker looks at this issue and again makes the case as to why marriage equality should be a conservative value. Here are some excerpts:

Why isn’t gay marriage conservative? One would think that, at a certain point, there would be a real confrontation within the Republican Party about this—one that goes beyond its libertarian wing’s impatience with the subject. Do you want children to grow up in a home with married parents? Do you want adults who live together to make a binding commitment, one that helps weave them into their community? Are your party’s candidates and alleged intellectuals turning out books complaining about the absence of both of the above, books with titles like “It Takes a Family”? Would you like to help plan, attend, and dance at the wedding of your daughter, nephew, brother—or your own marriage? All of these people exist; so do their children. A wedding ring is the symbol of a transformative legal act, but it is not the sort of magic ring that conjures people out of nowhere or, pulled off, makes them invisible.

Perhaps that confrontation has begun, quietly enough, although the agreement of the G.O.P. Presidential candidates (other than Ron Paul) on the subject makes that harder to see.

And yet the legalization of gay marriage in New York State was eased by Republican Party donors who supported it and told Senators and assemblymen that they wouldn’t be abandoned financially. And, as the Times noted recently, they haven’t been—quite the opposite. . . . . The Washington bill was supported by Nike, Microsoft, and Starbucks—liberal-minded corporations on issues like this, maybe, but still corporations. But what may be more effective is the voter in the back of the auditorium who checks himself when he hears bitter talk about the supposed assault on marriage, because the words are no longer abstract, and because they seem unloving.

When policemen in Virginia barged into the bedroom of Richard and Mildred Loving, in 1958, there was a wedding certificate hanging on their wall. Because Richard was white and Mildred was black and Native American, the piece of paper marked them, in the eyes of the local government, as disreputable. . . . . They were forced to leave the state. The perversion of that position was recognized by the Supreme Court five years later, in a unanimous decision that overturned miscegenation laws.

Gay marriage may get to the court, but it’s looking as though it will stop in many statehouses along the way, and by then more marriage certificates will hang on more walls, recognized as something to honor.

Between the GOP position on contraception, the glorification of discrimination against those deemed "other," the anti-abortion extremism and the efforts to dehumanize LGBT citizens I have to wonder when the majority will wake up and throw the GOP on the trash heap of history.

Bachmann Shoots Herself in the Foot With Endorsement of Slavery Statement

While continuing to pander to the most ignorant and bigoted elements of the GOP base, the utterly insane Michele Bachmann shot herself in the foot in a major way by signing onto the Family Leader's "Marriage Vow" which in reality translates into ugly anti-gay marriage and racist language. Bachman is apparently trying to deny that she endorsed the portion of the hate group's vow that stated that black children were better off under slavery than in toady's broken families. The statement is indicative of (i) the latent racism that I find always just beneath the surface of all of the "family values" Christianist organizations and (ii) the ease with which these supposed Christians rewrite history to suit their agenda. As for Bachmann, it demonstrates that she's a liar - just like her husband who claims not to engage in ex-gay therapy even though it has now been documented that he does precisely that. Once again, if a self-congratulatory conservative Christian's lips are moving, the safest bet is to assume that they are lying. The Washington Post has coverage of Bachmann's lame attempt to lie her way out of the slavery statement debacle:
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A socially conservative group has apologized for including a passage about slavery in a pledge it asked the Republican candidates to sign as a prerequisite for the group’s endorsement in the presidential race. Rep. Michele Bachmann had been the first GOP hopeful to sign “The Marriage Vow,” which included in the introduction a section that lamented that “the Institution of Marriage in America is in great crisis.”
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One piece of evidence it offered was the claim that a black person born into slavery “was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American president.”
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The suggestion that African American babies may have somehow been better off under slavery touched off sharp criticism from liberals and commentators, who noted that U.S. slaves had been forbidden from marrying and were often sold at auction and separated from their family members.
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Saturday, Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart said that the Minnesota congresswoman had only endorsed the 14-point “candidate vow,” which did not include the slavery passage. However, the entire document was only four pages, including two pages of footnotes, and the slavery section was the first bullet point within the preamble.

Bil Browning Exposes Indiana GOP Hypocrite

Setting oneself up as the judge of others' morality can be a risky business - especially if one has a lot of dirt and misconduct in one's past. A case in point: Anti-gay Indiana Republican state representative Judson (Jud) McMillin (pictured at right). It turns out that McMillin has a pretty nasty - and until now largely secret - past. It includes theft allegations, vehicular homicide, and resigning from a job as a after a sex scandal. Not exactly "godly Christian" conduct. Yet McMillian has had the gall and hypocrisy to vilify gay and lesbian relationships and voted to bar any and all recognition of same sex relationships in Indiana. As the saying goes, pay backs can be hell and Bil Browning at The Bilerico Project has just paid McMillin back and exposed McMillian's nasty secrets to the bright light of day. McMillin is a perfect example of why "family values" Republican hypocrites - and Democrat ones as well - need to be exposed. Such exposures will (1) hopefully lead to the hypocrite's electoral defeat, and (2) attach a high risk to embracing the hate peddled by the Christianists and professional Christian set. Pam Spaulding is looking for similar hypocrites in North Carolina and I am looking for them in Virginia. I urge anyone with information to contact us so that we can bring the light of day on hypocrisy. Here are highlights on McMillin from Bil's post:
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After he graduated high school in 1995, McMillin left to attend Ball State University. You won't find Ball State listed in his official biography though, because McMillin left the school in the spring of 1996 after members of the baseball team accused him of stealing from the parking lot fees. No charges were filed and McMillin was quietly allowed to leave the university.
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His legislative bio conveniently leaves out his Ball State attendance in favor of his degree in Economics from the University of Cincinnati - a school much closer to home and where his father's influence was stronger. After graduation, McMillin got his law degree at the University of Mississippi and returned to the area to find a job.
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He eventually became a deputy prosecutor in Dayton, Ohio - a mid-sized city not far from the Indiana border. Luckily for him, his family wasn't too far away; he'd need their help again when he resigned after a sex scandal rocked the burg.
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According to two sources close to the case, the photos were incredibly graphic. One photo reportedly shows McMillin masturbating and using a dildo on himself while others were simply of McMillin's genitalia. In one exchange, McMillin is alleged to have texted Stapleton that he was heartsick being separated from her and sent photos of himself masturbating with a string tied tightly from his testicles to the wheels of a rolling office chair to illustrate his pain.
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Since the photos and texts were filed under seal and McMillin refuses to release them, there is no way to confirm or deny the photos' contents beyond what's blatantly spelled out in court filings.
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After word leaked back to McMillin's boss about the incident in the state park and he confessed to starting a relationship with a victim he was supposed to be protecting, law enforcement sources in Montgomery County say McMillin resigned to prevent being fired. He left his job on September 16, 2005 - days after starting his illicit affair with another man's girlfriend.
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These days, Jud McMillin is a rising Republican star. He sits on the Courts and Criminal Code committee, the Roads and Transportation committee, and is vice chair of the Judiciary committee that oversaw passage of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partner benefits. McMillin voted in favor of the marriage discrimination amendment twice - once in committee and again on the floor of the House.
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On his campaign website, he listed marriage discrimination as one of his top issues. "I will protect the integrity of the institution of marriage. I believe that a marriage is a union of a man and a woman before their peers, government, and most importantly, God.
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If Hoosiers want to learn something from McMillin's example, they should discover that when you want to dictate morality, you'd better have some outstanding morals of your own. McMillin doesn't.

The Craigslist Congressman and the Crossdressing Prostitute

Remember Christopher Lee, the idiot family values Republican from New York State who resigned his seat in Congress after it became known he was looking for hookups on Craigslist with women who were not his wife? Well, the stories seems to be getting way, way more interesting and in the process underscoring the lies and hypocrisy of these "family values" politicians. It seems per a new Gawker story that Mr. Lee also had a penchant for cross dressing prostitutes - yep, he apparently likes to play with those with a cock. It would almost be hysterically funny but for the fact that there are voters out in the general public who are stupid enough to allow themselves to be so shamelessly played for suckers. As more and more of the stridently homophobic members of the GOP get caught looking for gay sexual play, one almost has to wonder when we'll hear that Bob Marshall has been going into D.C. for kinky gay sex. It would surely fit the pattern. Here are highlights on the still unfolding Lee story (you can't make stuff up that would be this over the top):
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Lee's sudden exit took many people by surprise. Hadn't other members of Congress admitted to worse than an unconsummated, PG-13 flirtation and managed to stay in office? It turns out Lee may have had good reason to step out of the spotlight so quickly: It wasn't just women that the Craigslist Congressman was hunting for on the Internet.
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In the past two weeks, two D.C.-area transgender women contacted us, each with a separate story about exchanging emails with the ex-congressman. One sent us an ad that Lee allegedly posted on Craigslist in search of trans women; the other sent us a never-before-seen photo that she says Lee sent her after they started chatting by email. Taken together, they present a possible explanation to those who have wondered why such a tame "sex scandal" forced Lee's hand so quickly.
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The first woman who reached out to us was a pre-op transgender woman from Arlington, Virginia who we'll call Fiona.

Fiona told us she replied to an ad that appeared in the "casual encounters" section of Craigslist in mid-January. She used Craigslist's "e-mail this posting to a friend" link to send the ad to herself, she explained, so even though the ad no longer appears on the site, she was able to forward us a copy:

Sexy Classy guy for passable TS/CD - m4t - 39 (Cap Hill)
Date: 2011-01-14, 8:55PM EST

New to area. Very fit classy, successful guy. 39, 6ft 190lbs, blond/blue. smooth hard body. Looking for a sexy ts/cd that i can spoil. I promise not to disappoint.
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Google does cache index pages on Craigslist, and we were able to confirm that an ad with precisely the same headline was posted on the evening of January 14, which is convincing evidence that the ad is genuine.
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Revealingly, the headline and ad itself contain many elements from Lee's first known Craigslist flirtation, including the words "fit" and "classy." It dates to the same evening Lee exchanged emails with the woman we told you about two weeks ago. And it even featured Lee's infamous shirtless Blackberry picture, albeit cropped to hide Lee's face. Yes, that's right: a member of Congress posted a personal ad seeking transsexuals and crossdressers and even included a picture of himself, all without thinking twice, apparently.
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Fiona said she found out who Lee was much the same way the other Craigslist correspondent did. "I copied and pasted his email into Facebook, and that's when his picture of him and his wife and his little boy showed up. Then I clicked on the link and realized he was a politician from New York, and I was like OMG."
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The other person who contacted us shortly after our story was published was a transvestite who lives and works in Washington, D.C. We'll call her Holly.
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The first thing Holly sent us was a never-before-seen picture of Chris Lee's now-familiar torso and red Blackberry. She edited the picture to obscure the Congressman's face, however, and printed her email address over his chest. (We have covered up the address in the photo above.) If we wanted to publish the unedited image, Holly explained, we'd have to pay her for it.
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It didn't take very long to determine that Holly was a prostitute. We found a profile for her on an escort website which featured the same email address that she'd used to contact us. When we asked about her chosen line of work, Holly confirmed it. She was a working girl, she explained, and a man using Lee's email address had responded to a "Trans for Men" ad she'd posted on Craigslist.
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I guess the moral is that the next time you hear some GOP windbag ranting against gays, it's not too far fetched to realize that they may be out trolling for what they claim to condemn online. Or at least lusting for it in their hearts as Jimmy Carter might say.

"Family Values" Republican Resigns Over Craigslist Ad

Two sources never cease to provide an endless stream of hypocrisy: the Roman Catholic Church and "family values" Republicans. The later just seem to never cease being caught caught trolling for extramarital sex - either with members of the same sex like former Congressman Ed Schrock or in this most recent case Congressman Chris Lee (R-NY) who was seeking sexual hooks ups with women who were not his wife. Sadly, Congressman Lee is all to typical of the "family values" crowd in the GOP who rant against gays, kiss up to Christianist extremists, and then seek illicit sex on the side outside of the marriages. I guess "protecting marriage" translates to keeping the other spouse from discovering the infidelities. Yet the mental midgets and Kool-Aid drinkers of the far right keep falling for the GOP's disingenuous bullshit and putting individuals like Rep. Lee to office. Gawker broke this story and here are some highlights:
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Three hours after his shirtless Craigslist antics appeared on this site, Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) announced his resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives. Moments ago his office sent the following press release to the media:
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For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 9, 2010. Statement from Congressman Chris Lee (NY-26):
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"It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Western New York. I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.
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"The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately."
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Gawker had this previous coverage which blew the lid off of Lee's political career:
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Rep. Christopher Lee is a married Republican congressman serving the 26th District of New York. But when he trolls Craigslist's "Women Seeking Men" forum, he's Christopher Lee, "divorced" "lobbyist" and "fit fun classy guy." One object of his flirtation told us her story.
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On the morning of Friday, January 14, a single 34-year-old woman put an ad in the "Women for Men" section of Craigslist personals. "Will someone prove to me not all CL men look like toads?" she asked, inviting "financially & emotionally secure" men to reply.
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That afternoon, a man named Christopher Lee replied. He used a Gmail account that Rep. Christopher Lee has since confirmed to be his own. (It's the same Gmail account that was associated with Lee's personal Facebook account, which the Congressman deleted when we started asking questions.)
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Yesterday, we reached out to Rep. Lee, whose support for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and vote to reject federal abortion funding suggests a certain comfort with publicly scrutinizing others' sex lives.
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"The Congressman is happily married," said Lee's spokesman when pressed for answers to our questions. "The only time he or his wife posted something online was to sell old furniture when they changed the apartment they keep in DC."

Another Gay Teen Suicide and Still the Christianists Oppose Anti-Bullying Laws

In some ways with each passing day I find myself wanting less and less to have anything to do with being Christian - at least the type of Christians who spew nothing but ignorant, self-congratulatory Bible based hatred. And few things generate fury in me more than seeing these modern day Pharisee bastards oppose laws that would bar bullying in our schools, particularly anti-gay bullying. Minnesota has been a hotbed of Christianist opposition to such laws and now it appears that their handiwork has claimed the life of another gay teen who felt that death was preferable to the Hell he experienced at the hands of anti-gay bigots. Eighteen year old Lance Lundsten(pictured in this post) took his own life this past Saturday and news reports indicate that bullying is what drove him to take such action. Maggie Gallagher, Tony Perkins, Benedict XVI, and the other haters who pretend to be followers of Christ have yet more blood on their hands. Indeed, if anyone deserves to die (not that I'm advocating murder) it's these merchants of hate and intolerance rather than the victims of the bigotry that they promote. KSAX-TV has updated coverage and here are highlights:
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According to his Facebook page, Lundsten was openly gay. On a Facebook memorial page in Lundsten's honor, friends said that Lundsten had been bullied at school for his sexual orientation. Some students who knew Lundsten believed the bullying may have led to his death.
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“Bullying is a huge issue, particularly with the youth in our country now,” Facilitator of the Diversity Resource Action Alliance Shari Maloney said. “I think because we’re in central Minnesota, and we aren’t as diverse as some of the larger Metropolitan areas are, someone who is different maybe draws more attention and it’s not always positive.”
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Another Jefferson High School student started a Facebook group following Lundsten's death called the Jefferson Anti-Bully Coalition. Senator Al Franken discusses legislation to protect students from being bullied in the classroom because of their sexual orientation.
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Whether or not bullying played a role in Lundsten's death, the license given to Christianists to spew hatred and the place religious based bigotry has been afforded in this nation's laws - e.g., DOMA - needs to cease.