California Companies Fight Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

A New York Times story looks at those companies who would be profiteers off of the efforts of the Christianists and Mormons to deprive LGBT Americans of equal marriage rights. These PR mercenaries place making a buck - or a lot of bucks - over integrity and respect for religious freedom as they deal with self-enriching sleaze bags like Maggie Gallagher who is raking in a six figure yearly income disseminating hate and bigotry. Cheap prostitutes have perhaps more integrity in my opinion. Hopefully, this story will help get the names out of these aiders and abettors of bigotry and other businesses who hope to market to the LGBT community and progressive consumers will shun their services. One does need to know one's enemies and their accomplices - and hopefully inflict other costs upon them. Here are some highlights:

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As the political battle over same-sex marriage plays out in state capitals across the country, several California companies have emerged as the go-to players for opponents of the marriages. One of the companies, Mar/Com Services Inc., lists its business address here in San Francisco, a city well known for its large and politically active gay population. When Maine residents opposed to a new law permitting same-sex marriage decided earlier this year to challenge it, they hired Mar/Com to do the production work for the television and radio advertisements. Of the $2.7 million spent to pass the Maine measure, about 75 percent flowed to companies in California, according to campaign disclosure documents.
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Central to this cottage industry is Schubert Flint Public Affairs, a company based in Sacramento that headed the winning campaign for Proposition 8, a 2008 California ballot measure that outlawed same-sex marriage. Frank Schubert, the company’s president, said it was “not like we took the California campaign and photocopied it and took it to Maine, but we took some of the things we learned.” He said same-sex marriage is not “what our firm is devoted to,” but rather “is one area that has been very active in the last couple of years.”
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Jesse Connolly, the manager of the unsuccessful campaign to uphold same-sex marriage in Maine, said the California influence was profound. “I think it’s pretty clear that Frank Schubert and his vendor friends have decided there’s big money to be made in these fights,” Mr. Connolly said in an e-mail message. “It was Schubert on the stage election night being cheered. The consultant from Sacramento.”
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The company that received the most money, according to campaign disclosure statements in Maine, was Mar/Com, whose president, Bill Criswell, appears to also be the president and chief executive of Criswell Associates, a San Francisco advertising and marketing company. . . . Criswell has been strongly criticized by some liberal bloggers in San Francisco who say it is inappropriate for a company based here to be involved in overturning gay rights.
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Mr. Schubert said that his company and his clients write the advertisements, and that Mr. Criswell “executes them as we have scripted and directed.” “He does not do the creative and decide what is in the ads — we do,” Mr. Schubert said. Mr. Criswell did not return phone calls.
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Campaign disclosure documents show payments of nearly $150,000 to a company, Public Policy Strategies, doing business out of a mailbox in Stateline, Nev., on the California border. A corporate filing for Public Policy Strategies in Nevada shows no officers listed for the company except at a rented office in Zurich. Calls to that office were answered by an answering machine, and messages were not returned. . . . Mr. Schubert said Public Policy Strategies was an “East Coast pollster” that wanted to keep its identity secret because companies had been subject to harassment and boycott threats from gay rights advocates for working against same-sex marriage. “I’m not going to blow their cover,” Mr. Schubert said.

One would think that being afraid to have your identity known ought to perhaps tell you something. Sadly, some are willing to put money ahead of decency and integrity.

Poor Little Rich Boy Walking Away from Blackwater

In a temper tantrum worthy of a prima donna, Blackwater USA founder, poor little rich boy, Erik Prince (pictured at left), the son of profound homophobes who backed numerous far right religious organizations, is packing up his marbles and walking away from his company that committed atrocities in Iraq and made a fortune off of American taxpayers. Not surprisingly, under Prince, Blackwater was a favored contractor by the Bush/Cheney regime. Now, he's acting as if he and the company are being persecuted. Sounds all to typical of the far right loonies. Sorry, but I just cannot find any sympathy for this jerk. In my view, it is too bad he isn't up on charges for civilian deaths in Iraq. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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The man who built Blackwater USA into one of the world's most respected and reviled defense contractors feels that he was thrown under the bus after serving the nation's security interests for years.
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Erik Prince's company, which renamed itself Xe Services in February after an uproar over its Iraq operations, has worked closely for years with the CIA, the State Department and the U.S. military. But it became the target of a series of federal investigations and congressional probes, primarily for its Iraq work. Most recently, officials disclosed that the CIA tapped the company to work under a program to capture or kill terrorists.
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The 40-year-old heir to a Michigan auto parts fortune told Vanity Fair in an interview released Wednesday that Xe now pays $2 million a month in legal bills. The company is headquartered in Moyock in northeastern North Carolina.
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Prince likened his case to the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity — a disclosure that led to a special prosecutor investigating the matter. "Well, what happened to me was worse," Prince said. "People acting for political reasons disclosed not only the existence of a very sensitive program but my name along with it."

[His father, Edgar Prince, turned a small die-cast shop in Holland, Mich., into a major auto parts supplier with a specialty product: a windshield visor with a lighted mirror. After his death in 1995, the company was sold for $1.4 billion. Edgar Prince was a confidant and financial backer of Gary Bauer] With his auto parts inheritance, Prince founded Blackwater in 1997 along with former colleagues from the Navy SEALs. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the company quickly developed a presence providing security and later won a lucrative contract to protect diplomats in Iraq.
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A September 2007 shooting in a Baghdad square that led to federal charges against company contractors triggered outrage in Iraq and the United States and prompted the eventual State Department decision not to renew Blackwater's contract protecting diplomats in Iraq. Executives at the company bemoaned that the work had tarnished the company's image.
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The company has been beset by lawsuits and complaints over its work in the Iraq War, where it was a contractor providing security to U.S. government officials, and in other company endeavors. In August, two men who worked for Blackwater alleged in a federal lawsuit that Prince or his agents murdered one or more people who were planning to provide information to federal authorities about criminal conduct by the company and its operatives in Iraq. In a sworn statement, a “John Doe #1” says he observed “multiple incidents of Blackwater personnel intentionally using unnecessary, excessive and unjustified deadly force.”

Another Lawsuit Targets Christian Right Founder of Blackwater

Erik Prince - the Christianist founder of Blackwater USA - has been hit with another lawsuit arising out of the gratuitous murder of innocent Iraqi civilians by his Blackwater mercenaries. Personally, it could not happen to a better person. Prince's parents have been long time sponsors and donors to far right organizations that demonize gays and his mother made a major six figure contribution to the supporters of Proposition 8. If the claims set out in the lawsuit prove true, they demonstrate that despite his professed Christian beliefs, Prince (and many like him) are actually heartless, despicable bigots and monsters who kill others for sport. I continue to be shocked by the Christianist mindset that views non-Christians as little more than animals. WWJD? I hope the allegations of the lawsuit prove to be true and that Prince's mercenary operation is ultimately shut down. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Yet another civil lawsuit accuses Blackwater guards of driving through the streets of Baghdad randomly shooting innocent Iraqis. The latest case accuses Blackwater founder Erik Prince of personally directing murders from a 24-hour remote monitoring "war room" at the private military company's Moyock, N.C., headquarters.

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Prince "personally directed and permitted a heavily-armed private army... to roam the streets of Baghdad killing innocent civilians," alleges the suit, filed by four Iraqi citizens. Prince was well aware that his men, including top executives, "viewed shooting innocent Iraqis as sport," the suit says. In fact, "those who killed and wounded innocent Iraqis tended to rise higher in Mr. Prince's organization than those who abided by the rule of law." Prince's top executives openly discussed "laying Hajjis out on cardboard" and "bragged about their collective role in killing those of the Islamic faith," the suit alleges.

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On more than one occasion, the suit says, Prince's men went "night hunting" in helicopters after 10 p.m. over the streets of Baghdad, wearing night goggles, killing at random. The lawsuit says Prince caused murders to occur on at least 11 occasions, including one and perhaps more in the United States. The suit describes one case in which a young man, not identified in the court papers, died after photographing Anna Bundy, a Blackwater executive, packaging illegal weaponry outfitted with silencers for shipment to Iraq.

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The latest suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, is the sixth civil case brought against Prince and his company, now known as Xe, by the Washington law firm Burke O'Neil on behalf of more than 60 Iraqis or their estates. Many of them were injured or killed two years ago today - Sept. 16, 2007 - in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in a shooting incident that left 17 Iraqis dead and ultimately led to the loss of Blackwater's diplomatic security contract.

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In one episode described in those papers, one of the five defendants, Evan Liberty, allegedly drove through Baghdad on Sept. 9, 2007, a week before the Nisoor Square incident, randomly shooting Iraqis through the porthole of an armored vehicle.

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By all accounts, Prince and his Blackwater henchmen are nasty individuals who truly give Christians and Americans a bad name. If the allegations are true, I hope Prince eventually will do prison time.

FBI Finds Blackwater Tampered With Vehicles

I must admit that I am not surprised to hear that Blackwater in effect made repairs to wipe out any evidence that might have been relevant to the investigation of the September, 2007, incident where 17 Iraqi civilians were killed (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2008-01-12_D8U4E4E01&show_article=1&cat=breaking). In my opinion, Christianists like Erik Prince talk a good talk about being God-fearing, Bible believers, etc., but are the first to lie, cheat and engage in underhanded business transactions. It has certainly been true for some Regent Law School alumni I know, in my opinion. Here are some story highlights:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Blackwater Worldwide repaired and repainted its trucks immediately after a deadly September shooting in Baghdad, making it difficult to determine whether enemy gunfire provoked the attack, according to people familiar with the government's investigation of the incident. Damage to the vehicles in the convoy has been held up by Blackwater as proof that its security guards were defending themselves against an insurgent ambush when they fired into a busy intersection, leaving 17 Iraqi civilians dead.

U.S. military investigators initially found "no enemy activity involved" and the Iraqi government concluded the shootings were unprovoked. The repairs essentially destroyed evidence that Justice Department investigators hoped to examine in a criminal case that has drawn worldwide attention. The Sept. 16 shooting has strained U.S. relations with the Iraqi government, which wants Blackwater expelled from the country. It also has become a flash point in the debate over whether contractors are immune from legal consequences for their actions in a war zone.

The damage and subsequent repairs were described to The Associated Press by five people familiar with the case who discussed it in separate interviews over the past month. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Blackwater's chief executive, Erik Prince, has pointed to the damaged trucks to counter accusations that his contractors acted improperly. In interviews this fall, he said three of Blackwater's armored vehicles were struck by gunfire and that the radiator from one was "shot out and disabled" during the shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. An early two-page State Department report supports Prince's statements. The report noted the Blackwater command vehicle was "disabled during the attack" and had to be towed.

The preliminary State Department report noted "superficial damage" to the vehicles; and photographs exist showing bullet damage. People who have seen the photos said there are no time stamps or other indications of when and where that damage occurred.

Inspector General Removes Himself from Blackwater investigations

Nothing like insider family connections to tamp down objective investigations. Seems like I'd remember if my brother had ties to the entity I was charged with investigating and which has been in the news constantly. These people truly seem to think everyone else is an idiot. Crooks and liars - that's how I see them. Fortunately, this situation was exposed and Krongard has been forced to remove himself. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot's coverage (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=136938&ran=3648&tref=po):

State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard pledged Wednesday to remove himself from any investigations involving Blackwater after a House committee chairman revealed that Krongard's brother serves on Blackwater's advisory board. Accused of a conflict of interest by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Krongard first said his brother, Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard, had no connection with Blackwater. Waxman then released Blackwater documents indicating that Krongard's brother had attended a Blackwater board meeting earlier this week in Williamsburg.

After a break, Krongard said he had telephoned his brother and confirmed his Blackwater connection. As inspector general, Krongard is the top State Department official charged with investigating allegations of waste, fraud and abuse. Waxman, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has accused him of impeding an investigation into alleged Blackwater arms smuggling in Iraq.

Krongard's involvement in the investigation while his brother served on the Blackwater board "would appear to violate the conflict of interest guidelines applicable to inspectors general," the committee report concluded. In testimony to the House committee Wednesday, Krongard first denied any knowledge of his brother's Blackwater connection and said: "I never impeded any investigation." Shown the letter from Prince inviting his brother to join the board, Krongard said he didn't know whether his brother accepted. "I'm not my brother's keeper," he said.

Waxman then produced a follow-up e-mail from Prince to Buzzy Krongard thanking him for joining the board and providing details about the board's first meeting Monday and Tuesday in Williamsburg, including transportation from Washington provided by Blackwater's aviation affiliate. After the committee returned from a break, Krongard said he had just called his brother. "I learned he had been at the advisory board meeting yesterday," he said. "I had not been aware of that. I want to state on the record right now that I hereby recuse myself from any matters having to do with Blackwater."

The reversal put committee Republicans who supported Krongard on the defensive. "He has done you tremendous damage," Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told Krongard. "I don't know what kind of conversation you had with him, but I would have been one unhappy guy." The Krongard matter was the second time in two days Blackwater has been in the news. The New York Times reported Tuesday that FBI agents have concluded that at least 14 of the 17 killings of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater personnel Sept. 16 in Baghdad were unjustified.

Blackwater sees nothing wrong with Howard Krongard's actions, spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Wednesday: "We do not see a conflict of interest." The company has also denied any involvement in arms smuggling.

FBI finds 14 of 17 killings by Blackwater Unjustified

Why am I not shocked? I mean, after all, Blackwater for all the efforts to dress it up with some semblance of respectability is in the final analysis a bunch of mercenaries headed up by a Christianist fanatic in the person of Erik Prince. One needs to only briefly read the websites of Christianist organizations that Prince's father helped found and/or fund and it is quickly apparent that Muslims rank somewhere less than fully human, as do brown skinned Hispanics, Blacks and, of course, gays. Sadly, this mentality has become mainstream in today's GOP. These Virginian Pilot story highlights illuminate the mess (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=136887&ran=105944&tref=po):

Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case. The FBI investigation into the fatal shootings in Baghdad is still under way, but the findings, which indicate that the Moyock, N.C.-based company's employees recklessly used lethal force, are already under review by the Justice Department.

Investigators found no evidence to support assertions by Blackwater employees that they were fired upon by Iraqi civilians. This finding sharply contradicts initial assertions by Blackwater officials, who said that company employees fired in self-defense and that three company vehicles were damaged by gunfire.

These guys think they are back fighting the Crusades and exterminating the infidel - as does the delusional Chimperator - so why is there any surprise?

Bush To Take Lead on Blackwater

Personally, I cannot help but wonder why the USA has been pushed to the point where it must depend on private security contractors as opposed to relying on the military and US security personnel. Was it some failed brain storm to save money or was it a mechanism to spread money among Bush loyalists and supporters? I would truly be interested in an complete answer. Here's Time's look at the current Blackwater USA mess:

But Maliki offered his own solution on Wednesday, recommending that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad change the company it uses to provide security. "This crime has generated a lot of hatred in the government and the people against Blackwater," Maliki told reporters. "For their own interests, the Americans should hire a new company to protect their people so they can move freely." The Iraqi premier also ordered a full investigation into Sunday's fire fight. Maliki has made it clear that he will raise the subject with Bush during their New York meeting, saying he won't tolerate "the killing of our citizens in cold blood." A U.S. government report of the incident that first appeared on TIME.com, says that Blackwater guards shot back only in response to small arms fire. The company has said its employees killed and wounded armed insurgents, not civilians. Yesterday, Iraq's Ministry of the Interior released an account of the incident that differed substantially from the U.S. report. The ministry said that Blackwater initiated the firefight, killing as many as 20 civilians.

Having met some of the special forces types, I can only imagine what the private security personnel are like. They are today's equivalent of Rome's mercenaries in the ancient world.

Bush/Cheney Embrace Nazi Terminology and Use Mercenaries

Andrew Sullivan has this post today on his blog (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/verschrfte_vern.html). Like Andrew, I am appalled at what this administration has done to utterly destroy the USA's reputation around the world, not to mention the erosion of civil liberties in this country:

Here's a link to the blogs that have discussed the fact that the Bush administration's term "enhanced interrogation" was coined in 1937 to describe exactly the same techniques authorized by Bush, Cheney, Tenet, and Rumsfeld. The term was coined by the Gestapo. The original post, with historical documentation, is here. Please read it. Please send it to others. We have to wake people up to what is being done in their name. There is a better way to get intelligence, and before the goons and thugs of the Bush administration, the U.S. used to practise it. We still can return to honor and excellence in interrogation - instead of shame and failure.

Meanwhile, AmericaBlog has this story (http://www.americablog.com/2007/05/21000-british-mercenaries-working-in.html):

21,000 British mercenaries working in Iraq: That is three times the number of UK troops currently in Iraq. Just as the US has lowered the bar for recruiting, low standards are often used when recruiting mercenaries though the so-called security companies are making enormous amounts of money on this outsourcing project and the "security staff" are pulling in $1000 per day, tax free. Running a war with guns-for-hire is a strange way for democracies to win hearts and minds.

Many in the private sector have, however, expressed alarm about the types of recruits attracted by the money. Robin Horsfall, a former SAS trooper and security guard said "former soldiers are working alongside people who have been involved in nightclub security and have very limited experience. It's because a lot of contracts only demand that you can prove you have got six week's security experience".

It's interesting that while the fundies are worried about gays destroying America, their anointed Chimperator Bush is employing policies very much like those of ancient Rome as it headed for its downfall, particularly the use of mercenaries.