Amidst Virginia Election Year Pat Robertson Seeks to Retool Image

Call me cynical, but doesn't is seem more than a strange coincidence that in the middle of a political campaign where his boy, Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, is beginning to sink in the polls as voters are coming to understand that "Crazy Pat" and McDonnell hold the same views on theocratic government, that suddenly Robertson has unveiled a video that seeks to "soften" his image? I don't think it is a coincidence. Pat Robertson has tried relentlessly to control Virginia through individuals like McDonnell who seek to impose their religious views on all Virginians, abolish abortion rights, recriminalize gays, and obliterate the separation of church and state. With all the attention focused on McDonnell's thesis written at Robertson's wingnut university (admittedly, it's somewhat less crazy than in the days when McDonnell was a student), Robertson is smart enough to realize he has to try to soften his Christianist and batshit crazy image. He can try to say he's doing it for other reasons, but the timing seems very suspect. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

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Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson doesn't hold grudges, really loves people and is "much more moderate" than most people realize. Who says so? Robertson does, in a CBN International video interview posted online this month at CBN.com.

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"I've had terrible things said about me and many of them unfair, but they don't understand me," Robertson tells his audience. CBN International is part of Robertson's Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network. . . . But Robertson, 79, also seems to be trying to set the record straight, as if he were crafting his legacy and public image, said Laura Olson, a political science scholar at Clemson University. "I think he might also be trying to hedge against the media and historians remembering him as either an extremist or an 'old-school' Christian Right leader," Olson said.

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Had Robertson waited until December or late November to unveil this effort, I might be more inclined to believe his possible motives. This is a man who does nothing without a reason. As for loving? This is the man who has advocated assassinating foreign leaders, wanted to bomb the United Nations, and who blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays and liberals. Robertson remains as disingenuous as ever.

Tuesday Male Beauty

click image to enlarge (Image from Gay Body Blog)

New Deeds Ads Target McDonnell on Thesis

Thankfully, Creigh Deeds' campaign has put together ads that will help insure that more Virginians know the real Bob "Taliban Bob"McDonnell - as opposed to the carefully crafted and false moderate image McDonnell needs to win in November. The ads - one of which is set out below - do what is needed most: they tie McDonnell's thesis views to his record in the Virginia General Assembly. In short, the thesis was not some academic exercise but has been in fact a blue print of how McDonnell has sought to govern. Deeds needs to keep the ads coming.

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On a similar note, I wish that Democrat candidate Steve Shannon would do something similar with GOP candidate Ken Cuccinelli who is so crazy he makes the real Bob McDonnell seem almost normal. Cuccinelli has fully supported every Christianist effort of Bob McDonnell and then some. The thought of Cuccinelli in the attorney general's office scares the daylights out of me. One can only hope that as voters come to realize that McDonnell is not what he claims it will begin to drag down the entire GOP slate.

It is one thing for candidates to hold their own religious views. It is something totally different when the candidates agenda is to force those views on all Virginians. McDonnell - like the majority of the Uber-Christians - view freedom of religions as their right, but want to restrict religious freedom for everyone else. This year's GOP slate MUST be defeated.

Guilford College Student Threatened for Being Gay

Whether or not it is a sick prank or a serious threat, officials at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina are taking the matter of a student receiving death threats seriously. An unnamed student has now received two death threats from an unknown individual or individuals that state that death is almost too good for him as a gay man. To my view, this type of nastiness is a natural outgrowth of the constant anti-gay mantra that comes from the professional Christian organizations and anti-gay religious denominations that use hatred of gays as a convenient fundraising method and means to distract attention for serious problems in the denomination - e.g., the corruption and misrule within the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Here are some story highlights from Fox8 News:

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Guilford College students will hold a meeting on Monday after someone sent a student two letters threatening his life and calling him derogatory names based on his sexual orientation.The hate crimes happened in the Bryan Hall dormitory last week. On Monday, a student found a note on his door that had a death threat and called him a derogatory name. The note also said "nobody wants your kind on campus." On Thursday, someone dropped a rock with a letter attached in the same student's window. The note used the same derogatory name and also said: "You don't deserve life like the rest of the world. It's bad enough with out all the gay crap pulling people down. It's sick, unnatural, and death is almost too good for you. Almost."

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The dean of students who live in Bryan Hall informed students about the hate crimes during a meeting on Friday."That note was horrible. They read that out loud and I think everybody was just shocked. It was so disturbing, so upsetting, so hateful and so mean," said Sarah Meteyer, a sophomore at Guilford College.The Gay Pride Organization on campus will meet on Monday to organize a march on campus this Wednesday. The organization hopes to bring awareness on campus about what happened at the dormitory.

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The college is acting forcefully and the president has addressed students:

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President Kent Chabotar informed the campus community in a statement last week that publicly deplored the incidents. Campus Life held a mandatory hall meeting in Bryan Hall to continue the conversation, and students are sponsoring a candlelight vigil on campus Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 7 pm. In his statement, President Chabotar said: “There is no room whatsoever at Guilford for persecution, oppression and harassment of individuals or groups. Those who perpetrate acts such as this challenge our intent to maintain the atmosphere of freedom that is essential for learning and civil society. Those who—out of prejudice, ignorance, or hatred—intimidate and silence others by their words or actions undermine us all.”

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The Greensboro Police Department is involved in the investigation of this matter and campus officials will cooperate with local authorities to ensure that those responsible will be held accountable both off campus and on campus. Persons having information about the incident are asked to contact Public Safety at 316-2908.

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I hope those responsible are caught and dealt with appropriately - expulsion from the school might be a good start.

Iowans Not Overly Motivated to Over Turn Gay Marriage

In a new poll, residents of Iowa are not overwhelmingly motivated to get on the repeal gay marriage bandwagon and, indeed, enthusiasm for such an effort lies generally among the wingnut crowd. Hopefully, as was the case in Massachusetts, the majority of voters will see - if they are not already seeing - that gay marriage is no threat except to the Bible beaters and that it has no negative effect on the lives of other citizens. The Des Moines Register has a report on the poll findings which will probably not be encouraging the Maggie Gallagher and others making a very nice livelihood off of peddling anti-gay marriage lies and animosity (in my opinion Maggie has less integrity than a cheap prostitute - at least the prostitute is honest as to why she is doing what she is doing). Here are some highlights:

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Iowans are almost evenly divided about whether they would vote for or against a constitutional amendment to end marriage for same-sex couples, according to The Des Moines Register's new Iowa Poll. Forty-one percent say they would vote for a ban, and 40 percent say they would vote to continue gay marriage. The rest either would not vote or say they are not sure. The most intensity about the issue shows up among opponents. The percentage of Iowans who say they strongly oppose gay marriage (35 percent) is nearly double the percentage who say they strongly favor it (18 percent).

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The overwhelming majority of Iowans - 92 percent - say gay marriage has brought no real change to their lives. Sixty-three percent say candidates' stands on other issues will be more important in making their decisions in the 2010 elections.

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The poll shows that 26 percent of Iowans favor April's unanimous court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, 43 percent oppose it and 31 percent don't care much or are not sure. Despite the 43 percent opposition to the ruling, 61 percent of Iowans say other issues will influence their decision on whether to vote to retain Iowa Supreme Court justices in the 2010 elections. "It's really none of my business what other people do in their lives," said Curt Goodell, 38, a Johnston resident.

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David Redlawsk, a former political science professor at the University of Iowa, took note of the finding that almost all Iowans say the ruling has had no impact upon their lives. "Given how hard it is to amend the constitution, by the time a vote will happen, this will be the new normal," Redlawsk said. "There's a core that oppose it and always will, but, for most people, they're ready to move on."

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What I find sad is that most of the sheeple who get manipulated by Maggie Gallagher and those like her are clueless to the fact that these parasites are making many times the typical voters income living off of anti-gay animus. It is truly sick and it is anything but Christian conduct.

The Shrinking GOP

With evidence like that set out above that the Republican Party has severe PR problems one has to wonder why Obama and the Congressional Democrats act as if they are afraid of their own shadows and continue to feel compelled to bow and genuflect to the GOP - even as most of the country views the GOP with disdain. The plain and simple truth is that the GOP will NEVER cooperate with Obama and care only about obstructionism. Obama and the Democrats need to begin to aggressive call out GOP leaders for their lies and do all they can to further tie the GOP to the birthers and teabaggers who most remotely rational folks see for nut cases. Here is more from Washington Monthly on the poll results:

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A REGIONAL PARTY.... I was looking over the new results from the weekly Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos. Most of the results are about what we've come to expect -- President Obama's ratings are more favorable than unfavorable (55% to 38%); neither congressional caucus is popular, though Dems are more than twice as popular as Republicans (39% to 18%), and the Democratic Party has a 41% favorable rating to the GOP's 23%.

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In case anyone's having trouble reading the visual, the Republican Party's favorability is very weak in Northeast (7% to 87%), and only marginally better in the Midwest (13% to 78%) and West (14% to 75%). In the South, however, 50% have a favorable opinion of the GOP, and only 37% have an unfavorable view. . . . But it seems the Republican Party would be in a much more competitive position -- in the short and long term -- if its base wasn't centered in just one region.

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Again I ask, why can't Obama and the Congressional Democrats wake up and take advantage of this phenomenon. I am tired of see the tail wag the dog.

More Monday Male Beauty

Miss Manners on Correctly Addressing Gay Couples

I hope Miss Manners is ready to be declared a target for a American Family Association boycott. No doubt the loons at AFA will be foaming at the mouth over her recent column advising a writer on how to properly address gay and lesbian couples since she does recommend calling them faggots and telling them that they are going to Hell. But then somehow the AFA crowd doesn't strike me as very concerned about etiquette, good taste, honesty or social propriety in general. Boorishness, self-centeredness and rank dishonesty seem to be much more valued attributes given the dishonest garbage that AFA regularly disseminates, all the while patting themselves on the back for the false piety. Here are some highlights from The Advocate:

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Miss Manners is the expert on all facets of etiquette, and in her latest column she says that “updating old customs for new times happens to be her favorite part of this job.” She follows up by answering a reader’s question on how to address mail to a same-sex couple. The reader wonders if she should use the same formalities as when addressing an opposite-sex couple, then asks a question out of concern for the couple in question.

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Miss Manners responds: “Miss Manners begs you not to concern yourself with the unlikely possibility that postal clerks have any interest in the marital arrangements of the public they serve. She reminds you that marriage is a matter of public record, and that to presume that others' marriages are better kept secret is insulting.”

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Via the Columbus Dispatch comes this additional advice from Miss Manners:

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The plural of Mrs. is Mesdames, and the plural of Mr. is Messrs. So, a married female couple with the same surname would be Mesdames Jenna and Aurora Acorn, and a married male couple would be the Messrs. Jackson and Hal Thornton. Then there is the two-line form, each name with its own title. This is used when an address is shared by unrelated people or by family members, such as siblings, but also to address married couples if the wife has a title such as Dr., Senator or Judge, or, you should note, if her surname is different from her husband's.

Mormon Leader: Homosexuality Not in Your DNA

Apparently, trying to keep up with the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and ranks of professional Christians in terms of ignoring modern medical/mental health knowledge, Elder Bruce C. Hafen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of the Mormon Church (pictured at left), has been deliberately disseminating lies to attendees at an Evergreen International conference by pronouncing that they can be cured of the same sex attractions. As best I can determine, Hafen has no legitimate credentials in the area of medical or mental health, but when does that ever stop these quacks who have to defend their anti-gay bigotry lest their whole house of cards faith system come crashing down . I mean, if God made gays as we are deliberately and that is fine by God's perspective, the entire mythology f the Book of Mormon - and the Bible - begins to fray and potentially fall apart. Personally, I continue to believe that the only thing that will shut down bogus outfits like Evergreen International are major lawsuits brought by those who have been harmed by their witchdoctor like programs. Here are some highlights from the Salt Lake Tribune:

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People who are attracted to members of their own sex can change, an LDS general authority said Saturday, so they shouldn't let Satan persuade them they can't. Elder Bruce C. Hafen, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, spoke at the 19th annual conference of Evergreen International, a nonprofit group that helps Mormons "overcome homosexual behavior" and "diminish same-sex attraction." The event was held at the LDS Church's Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City.

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Last month, the American Psychological Association passed a resolution advising mental health professionals against telling their clients they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or other treatments. No solid evidence exists that such efforts work, the APA concluded, and some studies suggest the potential for harm, including depression and suicidal tendencies. A task force reviewed 83 studies on sexual-orientation change conducted since 1960. The "long-standing consensus" of the behavioral and social sciences, the APA noted, is that homosexuality is a "normal and positive variation of human sexual orientation."

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Hafen spent a large portion of his talk, held during a Sunday-like service, criticizing the gay-rights movement and denying a biological link to sexual orientation. Same-sex attraction is "not in your DNA," he said. He attacked the APA's decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, deeming it politically motivated.

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Lisa Diamond, a psychology professor and researcher at the University of Utah, in an interview with The Tribune , called Hafen's assertion "hilarious" and "absolutely untrue." Homosexuality had been listed as a disorder, Diamond said, without any real scientific data. The APA reversed course after a pioneering psychologist, Evelyn Hooker, produced research to show there was no difference between the mental health of straight and gay individuals, she said. "That moment really did represent, in fact, the triumph of science over prejudice," Diamond said.

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It is reprehensible that individuals like Hafen knowingly disseminate lies which harm others just so that he and his cohorts can hang on to power and of course make money through organizations like Evergreen International. Like the Catholic Church, the day is coming where either modern knowledge is accepted or the religious dictatorships centered at the Vatican and in Salt Lake City will slowly wither and die as ignorant hold overs from days past.

Monday Male Beauty