Lunatic Catholics Attack Obama and Gays

I never cease to be amazed at how the "conservative" extremist within the Roman Catholic Church hyperventilate non-stop over gay marriage and anyone who refuses to treat LGBT citizens as something more than mere human garbage NEVER raise their voices demanding that the bishops, cardinals and yes, the current Pope, who covered up for sexual predatory priests be held accountable. Just like the Evangelical Christians who whine about "protecting marriage" and then divorce more frequently than atheists, the far right in the Catholic Church are complete hypocrites who simper before the falsely pious and corrupt and morally bankrupt members of the Church hierarchy. Like Joe Solmanese's relationship with Obama, it is a wonder these people have not suffocated from their brown nosing of bishops, cardinals and the Pope. Naturally, the concept of separation of church and state and religious freedom for those holding other beliefs is nowhere on the radar screen. It's all about them. Here's a sampling of their current hypocritical whining from Catholic Online which describes itself as a voice for authentic Catholicism :

*

President Obama, the man trusted by the USCCB to do the "right thing" on health care, has declared war on marriage and, by implication, the Catholic Church. Speaking to the nation's leading homosexual rights lobbying group, the Human Rights Campaign, Obama said: "You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman".

*

As Deacon Keith Fournier reports and comments, "The leading voice for this Cultural Revolution is now President Barack Obama." The question becomes whether or not the leadership of the Catholic Church, both bishops and laity, are going to respond vigorously and loudly to Obama's direct challenge to one of its non-negotiable teachings.

*

The "so-called" Defense of Marriage Act? That "so-called" is the sound of contempt toward the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim understanding of marriage. As Deacon Fournier commented, "We now stand in a precarious place in the nation we love."

*

At some point in the near future, one individual bishop after another will begin to speak out on the "Cultural Revolution" being lead by Obama, and more and more this nation's Catholics will recognize the imminent and unprecedented danger of the Obama administration.

*

Obviously the religious zealots at Catholic Online forget that some Christian denominations DO recognize same sex relationships and some even bless such relationships. But then, as I said, it's all about them. No one else's views or rights matter.

Tuesday Male Beauty

Second Thoughts in Battle for Virginia

As a political junkie, the 2009 statewide races in Virginia are enough to drive one to distraction. Creigh Deeds, who somehow surged to win the primary to run for governor in June, seems to be an anchor that is dragging down the entire Democrat statewide ticket. His opponent, Taliban Bob McDonnell, is any progressive voter's worse nightmare and the GOP candidate for attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, is so crazy that he ought to be a regular columnist for World Net Daily. Yet likely voters do not seem to understand the extremism of the GOP ticket and Democrats in Virginia remain demoralized - largely, in my view, because Obama and the national Democrats have delivered on none of the soaring campaign promises. Worse yet, Obama seems unwilling to do anything of substance to get out the black vote which could tip the race to the Democrats. It's enough to make one want to scream. Here are highlights from a New York Times story on the ongoing Virginia debacle:
*
When State Senator R. Creigh Deeds defeated Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic Party chairman and confidante of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, to be the Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia, the argument among many Democrats was that Mr. Deeds — an easy-going, moderate Democrat from rural Virginia — would be the stronger candidate in a general election.
*
But with this closely-watched election less than a month away, and Mr. Deeds struggling against Robert McDonnell, the Republican former attorney general, it is hard not to forgive some Virginia Democrats for thinking that they might have been better off with Mr. McAuliffe at the top of the ticket. This is no small thing since a defeat for Democrats in Virginia would be a decided setback for this White House, particularly after President Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state last year since 1964. Democrats have held the Virginia governor’s seat for eight years.
*
Perhaps the single most politically devastating moment for Mr. Deeds was when he gave a halting and fumbling answer, in a cluster of reporters and television cameras, about whether he would raise taxes to pay for repairing the state’s transportation system. Republicans have used clips from it to produce two of the most devastating advertisements of the campaign, raising questions at once about his views on taxes and his basic candor.
*
Finally, there is money. Republicans are outspending Democrats two-to-one in this race. Mr. McAuliffe came into the race with a huge financial network that he built on the part of the Clintons; and in the unlikely event that his network had not come through for him, he had enough of a private fortune that he would have been able to help himself.
*
While hypotheticals are difficult, Mr. Holsworth suggested that for all the problems Mr. McAuliffe might have, this would have been a very different fall in Virginia if Mr. McAuliffe were the candidate. “McAuliffe would have relished this kind of campaign,” he said. “It would have been a clear contrast with McDonnell, he would have relished making these contrasts, and he is far more a person who enjoys the rough and tumble of a campaign. And none of that is evident in the Deeds campaign.”
*
Deeds symbolizes the fact that what sells in Southwest Virginia from where he hails is something very different from what sells statewide in a race for governor. The Democrats need to remember this. The last Democrat from that region to run for governor was Mary Sue Terry and she lost badly. Jerry Kilgore, the GOP candidate who lost to Tim Kaine likewise was from Southwest Virginia. Like it or not, Southwest Virginia is no longer main stream Virginia. Both parties need to figure that out. Meanwhile, some real help from Obama with the black vote would be more than a little helpful. But like on the issue of gay rights, action is something unknown to Obama.

When You Have Nothing Else to Recommend You, Play the Gay Card

I generally do not discuss local municipal politics on this blog. However, there are occasions when the sleaze involved in campaigns becomes so unconscionable that I cannot bite my tongue. A case in point is the local race for Sheriff in the nearby City of Chesapeake which lies to the south of Norfolk. During my legal career some years back I worked for an area law firm with offices located at that time in Chesapeake. As a result, I came to know many of the ins and outs of that city's politics and made the acquaintance of Sheriff John Newhart (pictured at left) at one of the many charitable events he was helping to sponsor. While I do not practice criminal law, on the occasions I needed practical, pragmatic advice for clients or family members, Sheriff Newhart always was willing to help out or recommend a course of action.

*

Now, for the first time in years Sheriff Newhart is being challenged by a disgruntled former employee who has virtually nothing to recommend him to the voting public. A fact that is confirmed by Newhart's endorsement by literally just about every politician in the city from BOTH the GOP and the Democrats. So what does his challenger do? Spreads rumors that Newhart is a racist - which is not the case - and employ a whisper campaign that Newhart is/might be gay. Among John Newhart's endorsers is my former classmate, GOP Congressman Randy Forbes, with whom I rarely find agreement, particularly given his inability to recognize the separation of church and state. But in this case Randy and I DO agree. John Newhart needs to be reelected. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

*

When John Newhart became sheriff in 1970, the city was a vast expanse of farms interrupted by a few small towns. As the farmlands gave way to bedroom communities, Newhart remained a constant. He has been re-elected every four years, and went unchallenged for two decades. This year, independent candidate and former deputy David Cahoon is taking on his former boss. At stake is the responsibility to lead a department of about 410 deputies and staff and oversee a jail population of 1,100 inmates, among other duties.

*

Newhart has overseen the growth and modernization of the department. He established a charitable fund for crime victims and several programs for elderly and poor residents. The National Sheriffs' Association named him sheriff of the year in 1997. He points to an efficient jail operation, coming in $1.2 million under budget this fiscal year. Newhart cut the city's work release program to save some of the money. Despite being unchallenged for 20 years, the incumbent has not been without controversy. He was acquitted of charges of abduction and attempted sodomy of a teenage boy at the Oceanfront in 1977.

*

Cahoon criticized Newhart for traveling to California, New York City and coastal Florida on extradition trips with another sheriff's department employee. Newhart said it saved taxpayer money to go on trips rather than send a deputy who would require overtime pay.

*

Cahoon, 47, also a Chesapeake native, graduated from Great Bridge High School in 1980. After earning an associate's degree from Tidewater Community College in police science, Cahoon joined the Chesapeake sheriff's office as a deputy in 1984. He served as a deputy sheriff in Chesapeake for 20 years before Newhart dismissed him. He sued Newhart in 2007, saying the sheriff fired him for supporting a black deputy in an employment complaint. The case was settled.

*

Cahoon's campaign website is a half-baked, amateur affair and his team of supporters seems to revolve almost exclusively around fellow employees where he now works. Likewise he lacks any credible endorsers. How he thinks he demonstrates any where with all to run a modern, well run sheriff's department is baffling. I guess that's why he has had to resort to lies and whispers of racism and that Newhart might be gay. It's disgusting and I hope Chesapeake readers will vote for John Newhart on election day.

More Christianist Hypocrisy on Marriage

As the Christianists and professional Christian set continue to spread deliberate lies and endeavor to sow hysteria as they go all out to turn back marriage rights in Maine and partnership rights in Washington State, a new Pew Forum shows that evangelical Christians have a real problem with their own marriages. Problems that have absolutely nothing to do with same sex marriage. Indeed, these sanctimounous bigots divorce more frequently than even - oh my God, the horror - atheists. It certainly seems to me that perhaps they ought to be more focused on their own dysfunctional marriages and stop trying to deny civil rights to same sex couples. Or could it just possibly be that these sanctimonious folks are afraid that us homos and lesbos might just do a better job at marriage and exhibit a better pattern of monogamy and enduring relationships? Here are some highlights from Time's story on this phenomenon:

*

The [U.S. Senator John] Ensign story continues to reverberate not because of its delicious best-friend's-girl plotline (for who among us is surprised anymore that politicians sleep around?), but because he said he stood for something else. He is a "family values" Republican who voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton and in 2004 lent his support to a constitutional amendment defining marriage, saying, "Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country, and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our Constitution." . . . Ensign has become the latest example of what so many see as the failure of the right to retain any credibility on the marriage question.

*

No one denies that conservative Christians have a marriage problem, a dizzying gap between their articulated ideals and their success in achieving them. According to the Pew Forum, evangelicals are more likely to be divorced than Roman Catholics, Mormons, the Eastern Orthodox, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and atheists. Of course, every person who utters "till death do us part" and then separates is, in a sense, conceding defeat. But when evangelicals are leading the charge in the marriage movement (and now, the anti-gay-marriage movement) arguing that sacred unions between one man and one woman are good for society because they're good for children, one would hope that they'd have worked out the kinks a little better than the rest of us.

*

Too bad more folks in the MSM are not talking about this incredible hypocrisy on the part of those who seek to deprive others of civil legal rights. Instead of mindlessly providing platforms for the likes of Maggie Gallagher, the talking heads ought to be grilling her on this situation.

More Monday Male Beauty

Was the National Equality March A Success? It Depends On Who One Asks.

There has been a great deal of sniping going on between proponents of the National Equality March and those who opposed it and/or resented the fact that they could not control it. Some have cynically sought to diminish yesterday's accomplishment while others are seeking to blame the March's organizers for "splitting" the gay rights movement. From my view as a relative new comer to the battle for equality, I believe far too many of the comfortable "insiders" of the gay rights movement have become complacent and, since their lives are not as adversely impacted as those of many others in the LGBT community, are willing for crumbs to be thrown their way. Rex Wockner described the "split" as follows:

*

The praise for Obama inside HRC's fancy dinner and the denunciations of Obama in the streets of D.C. seemed to unequivocally confirm the split that's emerged in the gay community in the aftermath of the passage of Proposition 8 in California. On one side, the grassroots, the netroots, many younger GLBT people and the Stonewall 2.0 folks, who are pissed off, mad as hell and aren't gonna take it anymore. On the other side, the gay activist establishment, which seems to believe that business-as-usual "slow and steady" is still the way to go.

*

For background, I concede that I am by no means a part of the "gay activist establishment." I did not come out until age 49 and when I did, I was forced from my law firm which did not want an openly gay partner. Under Virginia law, my treatment was perfectly legal. That experience was followed by a horrific divorce in a legal system where homophobic judges can financially crucify gay spouses with no fear of recourse against them. I know only too well what many other LGBT Americans experience because we are not allowed fully equal protection under the civil laws. Admittedly, my move into activism was quite by accident. It began when I helped Wayne Besen "out" Jerry Falwell's protege and national "ex-gay," Michael Johnston. That experience was followed by my giving Mike Rogers the information needed to start the process of outing former Congressman Ed Schrock. Subsequently, having decided that I wanted to make a difference, I helped found Virginia's only affiliate of the NGLCC. In addition, I have been on the committee for Equality Virginia's Legends Gala for the last four years and co-chaired the event last year.

*

From this short education and my political activities before coming out, I believe I have a perspective that the jaded, comfortable insiders of the activist establishment lack. And from my perspective, I think that those condemning and ridiculing the March as meaningless and unsuccessful are missing other very real and relevant meanings of "success."

*

I traveled to the March yesterday with about 100 individuals from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia by bus (many others traveled by car and made a weekend of the event). The majority of those attending the March had NEVER been engaged in a protest/demonstration of this type. And that includes my partner/husband. Moreover, half of the people I traveled with appeared to be under age 25. They were highly energized by the March and returned home excited and MUCH more likely to get truly involved in the push for legal equality than ever before. To me, that is a "success." I suspect the same thing happened many times over with the groups I saw at the March from many other states across the nation.

*
Those living in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York City, and other much more LGBT friendly areas - where LGBT people actually have some legal protections unlike we here in Virginia - fail to assess at times how depressing and demoralizing it can be living in a red state. States where - as in Virginia - despite the valiant efforts of local and state LGBT activists little or nothing positive has come to fruition on the civil equality front. In fact, in Virginia, other than the Lawrence v. Texas decision striking down the sodomy laws, things are now worse for LGBT Virginians in terms of civil legal equality than when I came out in late 2001. Indeed, many of us Virginia activists get utterly demoralized at times. I and others like me found the March reinvigorating as did a number of the older set in the group I traveled with. That DOES count for something significant. Hope is the fuel to keep the struggle moving forward. That too is "success."

*
"Success' also includes showing LGBT Americans living in "enemy territory" (or "behind enemy lines" as one of yesterday's speakers called it) that they are NOT alone. Demonstrating that there are many of us who are pushing and will continue to push the envelop for real action can make or break a person's spirits. There are huge numbers of us outside the world of the comfortable, self-congratulatory crowd at HRC who value access to power for themselves more than action that benefits ALL of us. Giving others that sense of not being alone and perhaps even disseminating a bit of hope to isolated LGBT citizens is also "success."
*

I fully realize that yesterday was just a beginning. A fact recognized over and over again at the rally on the west lawn of the Capitol. What we all need to do now is follow up on the Equality Across America mission to organize in EVERY Congressional district and not take "no"or "be patient" for the acceptable response of our elected officials. When that happens and the LGBT community can better pressure passage of ENDA, and the repeal of DADT and DOMA, then the March will have been a "success" on yet another scale.

In Yet Another Blunder, Deeds Tells LGBT Virginians That He And McDonnell are Interchangeable

Fresh back for the National Equality March where frustration with the national Democrats was clearly in the air, I find an article in today's Virginian Pilot where both Taliban Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds are asked a series of questions on "social issues." On the issue of gay rights, the two candidates' response on gay marriage are basically interchangeable. Sadly, BOTH seem to believe their personal religious views should trump full equality under the civil laws, including civil marriage.

*

GAY RIGHTS

*
Q. What thoughts would you share with your children concerning same-sex marriage and partner benefits? Any experiences or insight that helped shape your opinions?

*

Deeds: We have taught our children that marriage is between one man and one woman, but discrimination is wrong and people should never be denied basic rights. My experience in the General Assembly working with legislators on both sides of these issues has taught me a lot about basic fairness and the possibility for finding common ground in many cases.

*
McDonnell: My Catholic faith teaches me that all human beings have intrinsic value and equal rights and I do not tolerate discrimination. I support the marriage amendment ( to the Virginia Constitution) and believe marriage should be between one women and one man. As attorney general, I hired the best and the brightest personnel based solely on merit and that is what I will do as governor.

*

When are the Democrats going to "get it" that taking various segments of their base for granted and occasionally patting them on the head like good little lap dogs is not going to work anymore. If the end result will not be significantly different, why bother to support Democrats who talk the talk but do NOT walk the walk - and why send them one's hard earned money?

Christianist Hate at NEM

The only unpleasant moments at the National Equality March yesterday occurred shortly after the beginning of the March when the boyfriend and I found ourselves face to face with hate merchant extraordinaire and murder advocating anti-abortion loon Randall Terry (at left). Terry was yelling nastily at marchers with a megaphone and calling us freaks and sinners. Quite a few of us had words with this man and even the boyfriend yelled back at Terry - who I deem to be one of the leading false Christians today which is quite an accomplishment given the number of vile professional Christians one encounters. Other than this unexpected face to face encounter, the entire mood yesterday was one of determination and good cheer. The ONLY hateful language we heard all day came from Mr. Terry - something that is all too typical of the most visible Christianists.
*

In contrast, retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu had a beautiful letter read at the March in full support of full LGBT equality both within and outside of the Church.

Monday Male Beauty