James Dobson, Tony Perkins or ???

Guess which leader of the religious right said that homosexuality is an "unlikable and foreign act" that "shakes the foundations of society," "robs humanity" and "brings about disease."

Give up? It could be any of 'em, right? But it wasn't a leader of the religious right. It was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

It's pretty sad that James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Peter LaBarbara, "Bishop" Wellington Boone, the Southern Baptist Convention etc. say eerily similar things about gays that the president of Iran says.

But it's not surprising

So Duh POP III

A website was created at the beginning of September for people to write letters of support to Sarah Palin. There does not seem to be any activity on this site after September 3rd. I presume that was the last day anyone was proud enough to actually write a letter of support. The website is called Proud of Palin (POP) and throughout the week I am posting some of my favorite.

Below is one from Italy. He is right about one thing. We don't deserve her!

Gov. Palin,

I write from Italy to say that I would vote for you if I had the chance, because you are the candiate closest to my worldview.

Stand fast against the attacks against you; these people do not deserve you.

Fabio
Italy

For all So Duh POP post, click here or on the label PROUD OF PALIN below

I was thinking how much I hate Republicans but then...

We are headed for a bad, bad time with the economy but there is a silver lining.

Today, the Republicans handed Barack Obama the presidency.

And I thank them for that!

Palin Paranoia

Last night I had trouble falling asleep. This is not unusual as I probably have undiagnosed insomnia. What is unusual is that I was up thinking about how the incompetence of Sarah Palin is just a ruse. Granted it is far fetched but Joanna McKane has been all about drama and Palin could be following the narrative in order to spring a big gotcha on the public. What if on Thursday she not only makes a little bit of sense but she floors everyone with her quick wit and grasp of the issues?

The recent news that Palin may be planning a public wedding for her daughter, Bristol, just a few days before the election in order to whip some extra votes is pretty far out there as well but it’s apparently true. Though I am not exactly sure how that is going to work since, in my mind, all it does is amplify that abstinence education (if in fact Bristol is pregnant. That's a big if!) doesn’t work and getting married at a young age is a recipe for disaster.

So her idiocy might be part of a bigger plan. And if it is, could it work? A couple of years ago there was this guy who worked for me who just didn’t seem to get it. He was always struggling, always unable to understand just the basic fundamentals of the job. But just about a month before he was up for a review he miraculously turned everything around. He not only got what his job was, he excelled and put even the best employees to shame. I did not buy his little stunt of stupidity and made sure his review reflected his poor behavior for eleven months.

But the American people have short memories. Really, really short memories. And all it would take is one stellar jaw dropping performance from Palin to negate everything up to that point.

Of course this entire election season I have sold the American people short. It seems this cycle they are paying attention like never before. And perhaps they wouldn’t be fooled by an all-of-a-sudden coherent, intelligent Palin.

I know, I know. I am probably paranoid. But I really don’t think she could possibly be as stupid as she seems (could she?). In some sort of way I feel like we might be getting punked.

Dennis Prager on Focus on the Family

UPDATE: I did not realize it was a two part program so my response will be up Wednesday night

I am writing a response that will be up tomorrow night about today's Focus on the Family broadcast with Dennis Prager. Go listen to it.

I am amazed (not really) that Dobson prefaces Prager's remarks with saying that Prager is some sort of genius.

But anyway, check back tomorrow for the response to this half-wit

This is what the republicans said today by blaming Pelosi

"We got a tongue lashing from Pelosi so we threw a temper tantrum and threw the economy in the crapper for good because our feelings were hurt. "

What a bunch of delicate flowers!

Let them all rot!

Hope you all don't need a car soon. Or a home. Or a student loan. Or, perhaps, even a paycheck.

Live blogging the house vote on the economic crisis

THE REPUBLICANS ARE BLAMING NANCY PELOSI.
This is too rich!

2:12 DOW Down 576
VOTES Yea: 207 Nay: 226 VOTING OVER BILL HAS FAILED

2:08 DOW Down 531
VOTES Yea: 207 Nay: 226 VOTING OVER but may be extended

2:00 DOW Down 475
VOTES Yea: 207 Nay: 226 I should have sold my stocks 6 months ago. Oh, wait! I don't have any stocks. Nevermind

1:53 Bouncing back slightly. Down 457

1:45 Turn to MSNBC and watch the vote. And watch the dow sink as the no votes accumulate. This is scary. Down 600 at this point.

So Duh POP II

A website was created at the beginning of September for people to write letters of support to Sarah Palin. There does not seem to be any activity on this site after September 3rd. I presume that was the last day anyone was proud enough to actually write a letter of support. The website is called Proud of Palin (POP) and throughout the week I am posting some of my favorite.

Here's another doozy. This one is so laughable that I almost think it's a joke, but then I think of a lot of the republicans I know and sadly realize the following letter is probably real:

Gov. Palin,

You've got more executive experience than Obama, Biden, or heck even McCain! You faced down the Soviet threat while Governor of the great state of Alaska, which is something no other governor of any state would claim to have done. You single-handedly cleaned out the corruption of your state and made drilling for oil a possibility again.

Now you're going to be a grandma! I am so happy for you and how you raised your children to do the right thing.Do not listen to the angry left. Face them down like you faced down the Russian missles and migs that you are sworn to protect Alaska from. You will be our next VEEP and our next POTUS after that!

Sally, Iowa

For previous POP letters simply click the PROUD OF PALIN label below

So Duh POP I

Ok, so there’s this blog(?) I found called PROUD OF PALIN, which is basically a site that people can write letters of support for Palin. It appears that the site just had a one day run from what I can tell (back when there were people that were actually proud of her, I guess). But the letters are hilarious! So throughout the week I am going to post my favorite POP (Proud of Palin) letters. I will call them So Duh POP. Here is the first, posted without comment (but plenty of laughter):

Governor Sarah Palin,

I became aware of you when your name surfaced in a short list of those considered for John McCain's VP nomination in March. Since then I held out hope that you would be the one picked; as a 'C'onservative first and a small 'r' Republican, I was lethargic in support of Senator McCain. There's a lot of ill feelings held by Conservatives toward Senator McCain, and we Conservatives felt left out of this party...again. All of that changed last week, when you were given the nod. You've singlehandedly energized the Conservative base; those of us who were actually considering a protest vote for Bob Barr or writing in Minnie Mouse or whoever as a protest vote.

So, you have to ride this one out. You represent the future of the party. Please, please stick with us; you're our only HOPE!

Thanks,
Serr, Smyrna, Tennessee

Can Joe Biden not say the word literally...

literally ever again?

I swear, he is so passionate and a great speaker but then he throws in the word literally and he loses me. He hardly ever uses the word correctly and it is as if he knows he uses it and sometimes tries to even stop using it but he just can't.

He best not use the word at the debates. Joe Biden should literally keep his answers short and simple. When his tongue starts moving faster than his mind, he loses.

Look at my shiny new toys!

A little house-keeping, if you don’t mind: Have a looksie there to the right. See it? It’s a bunch of fancy-shmancy new buttons! And those buttons allow you to subscribe to this blog and become a follower of this blog. Lucky you! Now every time I post you can get an update via email. And becoming a follower of me, besides just being damn cool that you are a follower of me, allows you to get a picture or something over there in that column(see? I'm my first follower). Really, today is a good day for you! I’m glad I could bring you some joy today. You don’t have to thank me. Instead just keep coming back.

Unless you want to get me a new computer. I really need one. I am using my husband’s and money is tight (we had to recently send $2,333 to the federal government so they could make sure Wally Wallstreet could stay in his brownstone on the Upper West Side. We're that swell!) so unless you, kind reader, can send me a computer I am stuck using the Mrs.

Anywho, catch you later. Stay tuned for my post about Dove Ice Cream, Sarah Palin (what am I gonna do if she ever leaves?) and fashion shows

And the mantle of the presidency descended upon his shoulders

Queen Esther called and she wants her lipstick back!

There has been quite a lot of buzz on the ‘internets’ the past couple of days speculating as to whether Sarah Palin will withdraw. The growing opinion by some on the right is that Palin is not up for the job. Kathleen Parker, a columnist and darling of the right, was the first to speak the truth that dare not speak its name in Republican circles. She was followed by others on the right who echoed her sentiments.

Parker, originally a Palin cheerleader, is known for her Coulteresque venom towards democrats. For instance, there’s this gem:

"These bastards like Clark and Kerry and that incipient ass, Dean, and Gephardt and Kucinich and that absolute mental midget Sharpton, race baiter, should all be lined up and shot.

So when Parker says Palin should take her lipstick and high-tail it back to her igloo, that’s saying something. That’s saying a lot actually. But unfortunately for Parker it is not saying enough. With people like Palin, it will never be enough.

For a moment let’s say John McCain picked Mitt Romney as his running mate instead of Palin. Romney, with an ego the size of his bank-account, will do anything and say anything to be elected as demonstrated by his failed bid for the presidency.

But if Romney became the iceberg to McCain’s ship that Palin has become, Romney might consider dropping out. He would strategically consider the implications his staying in the race had on him. He would drop out in an act of pure selfishness in order to preserve some hope of future political aspirations.

Romney may be slick but he has no delusions as to who he is. Though his ego is big, he would never presume to be chosen by God. Not even Mittens is that presumptuous.

Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is that presumptuous. She is cut from the same cloth as George W. Bush and she believes that God has brought her to this moment. Some of her staunchest supporters have even likened her to Queen Esther of the Bible.

There is no way Palin will drop out. No way in hell…literally (speaking of literally, why does Joe Biden use the word literally in every other sentence? It gets on my literal nerves!). It's the same reason Bush couldn't withdraw from Iraq. Hell, even Todd Palin cannot fathom withdrawal as evidenced by his five children.

It's the fundamentalist God-complex

James Dobson and his traveling band of hate believe that Sarah Palin has been sent by God “for such a time as this”. These are the same people that believe Bush “won” the presidency for such a time as that.

The people that James Dobson leads believe it is them against the world. They cannot accept that they might be wrong. Therefore, once Palin was anointed by the evangelical pope and his posse, the time for speculation was long gone.

If Palin appears unqualified, it’s the media’s fault. If Palin can’t answer a simple question, it’s the question’s fault. If Palin seems like the worst pick that one could imagine, it’s the liberal’s fault. But it is never, under any circumstances, Palin’s fault.

How could it be? After all, since they believe that Palin has been plucked from her igloo by God, then if they were to fault Palin they would be faulting God. And since they seem to want to speak for God ALL THE DAMN TIME, they can’t backtrack. “Oops, we were wrong. We thought we knew what God was trying to say but it turns out it was just acid-reflux. We promise to be more careful next time. Pinky swear!”

And when all else fails, they hide behind the Bible. They cite verses that speak of persecution of Christians as an explanation for perceived attacks against them or their candidates. What they do not realize is that very few are attacking them for their faith.

Instead, people are angry at them for using their faith as a substitute for their minds.

And sadly, those that still cling to the notion that Sarah Palin is the right choice are a disgrace to their faith, their minds and to a God that gave them both.

The Statesman or the Drama Queen

A man running for president decides to suspend his campaign in order to return to Washington to work on a crisis. This is how that candidate would behave if:

a) He was a statesman: Cease all campaign ads like he promised to do, eschew the limelight (and klieg lights) and work tirelessly through the wee hours of the night in order to get a resolution passed.

b) He was a drama queen: Claim that he was suspending his campaign, including campaign ads, but never really do it. Also he would send out each and every of his surrogates to attack his opponent. Then he would go on every news show he can possibly manipulate to tell the American people that he is apolitical and tell them that he is willing to pay the price if he slips in the polls. In fact, the drama queen will do very little negotiating on the deal for which he claims to have suspended his campaign and instead he will stand in the public arena pontificating about the virtues of that very suspension.

The drama queen is much like the hypocrite in Matthew, chapter 6 verses 5 and 6:

When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

The drama queen’s reward is the knowledge that everyone else knows how great the drama queen is.

John McCain, er, Joanna McKane is a drama queen. He puts Erica Kane to shame.

OMG OMG OMG OMG

This isn't even funny anymore. This is downright scary. This woman cannot be elected VP of the United States. And if you do vote for the McCain/Palin ticket you are not patriotic. You are a traitor!

No person who loves this country could vote for a person so ill-equipped. She is an insult to the office she seeks.

Who is Michael Crowley from The New Republic?

Who is this guy Michael Crowley who was on Hardball tonight? Guest host David Shuster said Crowley was the senior editor of The New Republic.

Senior Editor?

Really? He looks like he's 18! Can anyone give me info on this guy? Readers, help me here!

Admittedly, he is pretty cute but my God he looks so young. His wiki page says he graduated from Yale in 1994. Is he some kind of child prodigy who graduated when he was 4? If I am doing my math right,and assuming he went to school at the same age as normal people, he is about six years older than me. Is this possible?

But, yeah, cute in a nerdy way!

Help readers

OK, take her back to her igloo

Watch CBS Videos Online

Ok, we get it. We really get it! She is not ready for prime-time. Take her back to her igloo now! We will no longer request her presence.

It's also apparent why John McCain suspended his campaign. He did not want this train-wreck dominating the news.

This is so unbelievable that I often think I am dreaming. Seriously, I have to call people to ask them if it is all true.

Well, at least this Katie Couric interview proves one thing. No matter how bad the brand, and no matter how mindless the candidates, there are just people that will vote Republican because they are stubborn. I never thought there would be a national candidate more inept than Bush, but it appears I was wrong.

At least if McCain / Palin do somehow win we will have four years of non-stop comedy because they have proven that they are nothing more than a joke.

John McCain and All My Children

Gay men the world over are known for their drama, among other things. We coined the term “drama queen” and most of us can, without much effort, fill those stilettos. However, having watched John McCain over the past few weeks, I’m afraid the gays may be losing the “drama queen” turf war.

Who knew that a crusty, old gigolo could claim the DQ mantle almost seamlessly? In fact he puts most of the gays I know to shame. With his VP pick, his hissy-fit over “unfair press” and, now, with his suspension of his campaign, he is taking unnecessary drama to new heights. The only thing that would make all this drama complete is if McCain were caught spiking the drinks of his press pool with GHB.

It has become sort of cliché for a gay man to say of another gay man “So and so is so gay, when he opens his mouth a purse falls out”

I’d like to amend that and say that when John McCain opens his mouth an episode of All My Children falls out.

John McCain is now the Susan Lucci of politics...all drama with very few wins to show for it. In fact, from here on out I will refer to him as Joanna McKane, Erica Kane's alter ego.

Let there be no doubt...

Sarah, repeat after me "In. Over. My. Head"

Watch it to the end. If elected this person will be? Everyone repeat after me...

One. Heartbeat. Away.

Houston, we have a problem

Embiggen the pic

Every morning I go through my sitemeter to see how people arrived at my blog. It is always fascinating to find out what it was that brought many of you here.
But this one is pretty funny! I'll let it speak for itself other than to point at the domain name and then the search string (both of which I've highlighted).

Be. Very. Afraid.

Back in 2004, right around election time, terror alerts across the country were raised. The government told us that we were in imminent danger.

Now, in 2008, they are telling us the same thing about the economy.

I assure you the president’s address tonight will be nothing but an attempt to scare the living daylights out of us over the economy.

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Aren’t you sick and tired of them telling you to be afraid all the time? Aren’t you sick and tired of being afraid?

Transparency Watch

Now it all makes sense. From CNN

McCain surrogate Sen. Lindsey Graham tells CNN the McCain campaign is proposing to the Presidential Debate Commission and the Obama camp that if there's no bailout deal by Friday, the first presidential debate should take the place of the VP debate, currently scheduled for next Thursday, October 2 in St. Louis.

In this scenario, the vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin would be rescheduled for a date yet to be determined, and take place in Oxford, Mississippi, currently slated to be the site of the first presidential faceoff this Friday.

McCain's attempt to smear Andrew Sullivan will backfire. Big time!

This may be the most facinating development in the entire Sarah Palin / Trig Palin saga.

Today Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post wrote an article in which he included e-mails that Andrew Sullivan had sent to the McCain campaign. The two emails read:

"I'm very sorry to say, it's come to this: can you confirm on the record that Trig Palin is Sarah Palin's biological son? . . . Since this is a crazy idea, it should be easy for you or someone to let me know, the most popular one-man political blog site in the world, what the truth is."

"I asked a simple question akin to asking whether you can confirm that the sky is blue. Here's the question in case it got lost: can you confirm on the record that Trig Palin is Sarah Palin's biological son? Can I please get a response of some sort, even if it is that you will not respond?"

So how did the McCain campaign respond? By passing Andrew’s inquiries on to Kurtz to publish. They did not respond to Andrew, did not supply any evidence as to the birth of Trig. They simply attempted to smear the messenger and ridicule his legitimate questions.

Anyone, ANYONE that does not now believe that McCain campaign is the sleaziest in modern history is either asleep or dead . And the attempts to humiliate Andrew are nothing more than further evidence that the campaign has become a bunch of unhinged henchmen ready to destroy anything that gets in their way.

Something is brewing, I assure you. And the McCain campaign is in pure panic mode. Whatever delusions they once fostered have been replaced by overwhelming, toxic fear. Fear, the basest of human emotions, causes humans to react in the basest of ways.

When historians reflect on the exact moment the campaign slipped beyond the reach, overwhelmingly they will conclude that the campaign’s utter contempt for, and disregard of, a free and unbridled press was the decisive point of no return.

Responding to cries of more transparency with increased opacity only leads to two things: The first is heightened suspicion and the second is a steely resolve to affirm that suspicion with evidence.

If this is the game the McCain campaign wants to play, that is certainly their prerogative. But it is a game they will most certainly lose.

Therefore, I will include a post from last week since none of my questions from that post have been answered:

As many have said before, the reason Sarah Palin is so important, and the reason that there is such a focus on her, is because she shows how reckless John McCain’s judgment is and her lies, as we are discovering each day, prove that she was not vetted AT ALL.

Andrew Sullivan has done a wonderful job at disseminating all the facts on Sarah Palin.

But there are more questions that need to be answered. Let’s start with these:

** Bristol Palin, the 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter of Sarah and Todd, was out of school for a significant amount of time last year (anywhere from 5-8 months) with “mono”. The maximum a child is normally out of school for such a thing as mono is less than three months. Did she have a rare strain? Was she, as one would assume, quarantined so as to not infect others? If so, could someone find out the dates she was out of school? Surely, with such an infectious disease, she would not be having sex while infected? She has been pregnant for, what, five months according to Sarah Palin?

** When Sarah Palin realized she was going into labor, why did she go ahead and make a speech at a governors’ conference in Texas? She says she was leaking amniotic fluid? Who is her doctor and why did they tell her it was ok to make an eight hour trip back to Alaska, on a PLANE? Did Sarah tell any of the flight attendants she was in labor? Did the pilot know? The governor of Alaska was five weeks premature with a special needs child and yet all the powers that be told her it was A-OK for her to travel? On a plane? Leaking amniotic fluid? Why wouldn’t they, for the sake of the baby, do what is in the best interest of the child and deliver in Texas so as not to risk more harm to little Trig? Todd Palin said they wanted the baby to be born in Alaska because “You can’t have a fish picker in Texas?” First of all, what does that even mean? And secondly, they were willing to risk further harm to the baby just so he could have Alaska as his place of birth?

** When she arrived back in Alaska, why weren’t there medical personnel waiting there to whisk away the governor? Why did she drive an additional 45 minutes to get to the hospital when there were others closer?

** Where are Trig Palin’s birth records? This is a legitimate question. After all, Trig had his own webpage on the governor’s state-run website. Where are Sarah Palin’s medical records? Mat-Su, the hospital where Palin gave birth, does not even list the birth of Trig the day the Palins claim. They don’t list the birth at all. Why is this?

** Sarah Palin returned back to work just three days after giving birth to her 5th child. Did her doctor, the one that is apparently MIA, allow this too? Or did Sarah go against her doctor’s wishes? I admit, I am no Sarah Palin. I’m a sissy-boy faggot that can barely move after a week with a slight cold. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, can shoot 437,000 caribou before dusk. But it seems to me that just 72 hours after giving birth to a child with special needs and she returned to work? Am I the only one that finds this not only remarkable, but also hard to believe?

I am sure there are very obvious answers to all these easy questions. Could people just give them to me? In the comments please list the answers if you have them. List the source as well.
Psst. Snopes does not count as a “source”

Also, if there are more questions that I have not listed, list them in the comments.

Oh, and I am fully prepared for the comments calling me crazy, unhinged, reckless. Say what you will. I don’t give a shit. I just want the answers. We deserve the answers. And one way or another, the answers will come out.

John McCain gets all transparent

Just after I finished posting about John McCain’s lack of transparency he does something completely transparent. He said he is suspending his campaign until congress come's up with some sort of solution for the impending economic crisis on Wall Street. Oh, and he wants to postpone the debates as well.

Wow! This man doesn’t even want to be seen within 48 hours of President Bush on TV. The president will address the nation tonight.

And it immediately ends the bad press McCain has been receiving and allows him a breather. Whew!

That’s pretty darn transparent!

Campbell Brown: "Free Sarah Palin"

Money quote from CNN's Campbell Brown:

"Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment. This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong. She is tough. She is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heart beat away form the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Allow her to face down those pesky reporters... Let her have a real news conference with real questions. By treating Sarah Palin different from the other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves. Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one."

Clay Aiken Comes Out

Just as I was writing the Buse story (here) the Clay news broke.

Um, was there ever any question? YAWN

I was Mark Buse

Here are my thoughts on the news that Mark Buse, John McCain’s chief of staff, is gay.

I lived in Washington DC from 1997-1999 with a four month hiatus managing a congressional campaign in 1998. DC was a magical place and allowed me the space I needed to come out, baby step by baby step, of the closet. It was also a place that allowed me to foolishly jump back in the closet.

It was in DC that I went on my first date with a male, had my first boyfriend and experienced things I never thought possible. From a private tour of the White House by National Security Advisor-cum-docent Sandy Berger to watching the impeachment proceedings of Bill Clinton in the gallery of the Senate, I was a kid in the proverbial candy store.

The hiatus I mentioned above was to work for a congressional candidate in east Texas. The candidate, Brian Babin, was a republican seeking to unseat incumbent Jim Turner in the 2nd District of Texas. The 2nd District is known for its most famous representative, Turner’s predecessor Charlie Wilson. I went to work on the campaign more for vanity reasons than anything else. At the age of 21, I was the youngest campaign manager working on a federal level campaign and though I knew where my candidate stood on, among other things, homosexuality (virulently anti-gay) I decided to briefly return to the closet in exchange for the superficial satisfaction of doing something that no one else my age was doing.

In August of ’98, after a series of events, I resigned from the campaign, citing irreconcilable differences with my candidate over the issue of homosexuality. It was briefly a story (see here) and when I made it back to DC I was a changed man.

I understand Mark Buse working for someone who believes in inequality for, and votes consistently against, the LGBT community. I understand because I was just like Buse but also because I knew hundreds of people just like Buse. I do not condone, but I do understand.

And let me be perfectly clear. When the truth comes out about the sexuality of many in DC, the Buse story will seem silly. Hell, the Larry Craig and Mark Foley stories will seem silly. Buse, Craig, Foley et al are D-List in comparison. Currently there are men and women hiding in the closet that are in the highest positions (household names type of “highest positions”) of government and when – not if but when – they are outed the stories we have heard so far will seem like child’s play.

So what do I think? I think the hiding in the closet is cowardly and if, while hiding in the closet, you are working for someone who works against those that live their lives honestly you should be fully prepared for someone to call you on your BS. If you can’t tell the truth, someone else will tell it for you.

But Buse? Please! He’s nothing compared to the outings yet to come.

Chris Rock calls Clinton Out

I assure you that Bill Clinton will do anything in his power, short of an outright McCain endorsement, to make sure Obama loses. He does not care about this country. He cares about power. That's why he and Bush get along swimmingly.

At least Chris Rock recognizes what Clinton is trying to do. I just wish more people did.

Hypocrite of the far right (for today): Mark Buse

Posted without comment (until later, of course):

John McCain's Chief of Staff, Mark Buse, is Gay

UPDATE: My thoughts here

Bush's October Surprise: Surprise!

If it is true that the Bush administration is deliberately agitating the hornet’s nest that is Pakistan by escalating US military operations in the northwest area of that country, the question is, why now?

It has long been assumed that Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri are in the northwest area of Pakistan or even in adjacent Afghanistan. And while what seems to be a renewed interest in the area is a welcome development, one must cautiously look at the motivating factors behind the administration’s actions as well as the possibly destabilizing consequences such actions might produce.

Bush has had seven years to catch bin Laden, “dead or alive”. After saying bin Laden was the most important person in the war on terror, the administration did an apparent about-face and said that he didn’t matter all that much. The shifts (reversals, really) of the administration are troubling but, as anyone who has followed Bush closely through the years can tell you, they are not surprising.

What is surprising is how Bush -- as well as his hopeful successor McCain -- has moved closer to Obama’s positions with everything from Iran to Iraq to Afghanistan to, most recently Pakistan. Those “shifts” in policy are not meant to be noticed. In fact, as McCain proved with the “Change” slogan, they are meant to be owned without acknowledging that the mantra was stolen from the opponent in the first place.

But the focus on Pakistan while ignoring its democratically elected government in Islamabad is even more cynical than slogan stealing and even more dangerous than saber rattling. It is Bush’s last stand and the intent could not be any clearer. Bush is prepared to use the full force of the United States military in an extraordinary display of theatre to tilt the November elections.

This is his “October Surprise”. Bush thinks that in the last hour of his presidency he can run out and become a hero by catching bin Laden, a man Bush has been uninterested in catching for seven years. And he thinks that the big catch will ensure his party’s victory in November.

Is he that cynical? Does he think Americans are that stupid?

The better question, will it work?

Memo to Steve Schmidt: Accusations must be backed up with evidence

Steve Schmidt, a top McCain strategist, accused The New York Times of being "totally, 150 percent, in the tank for the Democratic candidate" Barack Obama.

I know this kind of media bashing works. I come from a family that believes this crap. But, my God, is this the best the McCain camp has? I know it has been a bad week for the senator but please try a little harder.

Tucker Bounds needs to be let go before he has an aneurysm, Steve Schmidt needs to start providing some evidence for his claims and Palin needs to hold a press conference. Is that too much to ask?

Republicans are really bad at losing. They cannot accept that their ideas are stale and their concepts flawed. So what do they do? They blame the media. They always have and they always will. It's in their blood. And it would be really funny in a sad sort of way if it were not for the fact that it works.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Schmidt is also trying to blunt something potentially devastating that has yet to be revealed. Call it a hunch, an Alaskan size hunch. Only time will tell.

Rachael Ray and John McCain talk girls...I mean grills

Today on the hour long John McCain infomercial via Rachael Ray, Cindy McCain said that she reserved judgment of Sarah Palin until she watched the Palins interact with their kids. And she said that she was extremely impressed. I would just like Cindy to remember what she said in the next couple weeks. Just sayin'!

Also, am I the only one who thought the whole "how many grills" discussion, if you were not paying close attention, sounded like this:

McCain: "We will have a girl, and at Camp David we will have a girl"

Rachael Ray: "I've heard that you can handle as many as five girls at one time"

McCain: "Actually, I think I've had four at one time"

RR: "Oh that's so humble"

McCain: "I can certainly handle more than one girl"

Cindy certainly knows that's true.

Oh, and did anyone else know Sarah Palin had a special needs child? Yeah, McCain just went on and on about special needs on the show. That guy, he's so compassionate. Like Bush, except older.
Oh, and the McCains go to Costco! I mean they're just like you and me. Gosh. I mean except they have seven homes and 13 cars, but other than that, they are just like us!
Thanks Rachael for showing us how real and compassionate John McCain is!

Bill Clinton endorses McCain on The View

Bill Clinton just practically endorsed John McCain and Sarah Palin on The View.

I know this is not popular among my Democratic brothers and sisters but I really can't stand Bill Clinton.

My dislike of him is what we call being consistent in one's own values.

I have said for some time I am no fan of Bill Clinton and I have been consistent. That is why I can't stand phony Christianists that pledge allegiance to anyone in the Republican party as long as they are x (insert any single hot-button issue). It allows, as we have seen with Bush, the candidates or elected officials get away with anything as long as they maintain they are x.
And the candidates know they can get away with anything with certain groups as long as they they toe the line on that single issue. It is dangerous and it is wrong. Single issue voting is wrong and a case can be made that it is immoral.

But anyway, why didn't Bill just wear a McCain / Palin t-shirt on The View? I have never heard such a clear, yet indirect, endorsement of a ticket in all my life. Clinton makes my skin crawl.

When I lived in DC I used to go to the same church as the Clintons. I remember a particular Sunday which happened to be the day after the Paula Jones' deposition and the day before the Monica Lewinsky story broke. Clinton, who was always composed, was squirming in the pew the entire hour. I went home that afternoon and said to my roommate "The president was acting totally weird today at church. Something big is about to happen. I don't know what, but it's something."

It turned out he was squirming for a reason and I was right. No, I don't believe the witch hunt against Clinton was justified. But he did lie to me and to every other American. He lost my trust. I felt a lot like Nora Ephron did in this essay.

The headlines tomorrow should all read "Bill Clinton endorses McCain / Palin". I assure you the New York Post already has something in mind. In fact, the endorsement wil probably be a new McCain ad.

If McCain wins Bill can solidify his legacy of blowing it, pun intended, for the Democrats.

Why Geico has lost my trust

I'm pretty mad. Actually, I'm beyond mad! I am about to lose all control and it has nothing to do with Sans-a-Blink Sarah or the McCain campaign at all.

Over the past three weeks the readership of this blog has grown exponentially. I am grateful for that and hope you all keep coming back. But I have to address a personal issue so if that's not what you want to read, come back later. However, I hope there is someone out there that can help.

I have carried Geico car insurance since I got my car two years ago. The policy was in my husband's name originally when he primarily used the car and then in my name when I started using the car primarily.

Now, I won't get into the details of a fender-bender I had over a year ago in a parking garage. Let's just say I was not happy with the way Geico handled the situation. Though the incident left a bad taste in my mouth I decided, against my better instincts, to renew the policy (changing it to my name) last April.

Now here is where I am about to lose my mind. I was on a five payment plan which meant that the month of September would not have a payment. I budgeted accordingly. My policy expires October 29th.

Well, the other day I received my renewal package for 10/29/08-04/29/09. The policy stated that I was now on a six payment plan and my first payment was due on Sept. 29, which is a week from today!

Of course I did not budget for this. So I called Geico to see what was up. The gentleman I spoke to was very kind (which is kind of unusual because I have been treated like a two year old child in the past when talking to Geico customer service representatives), but the answer he gave me as to why I now am paying in September did not suffice.

In fact it kind of reminded my of what I said in this post about just throwing out a bunch of words in order to get the questioner to forget the question. I got off the phone and realized that I now would have to come up with the money for insurance, on top of everything else, within a week's time.

The Geico guy did say I had a grace period of about a month so if I needed that time, I should use it. But that does not help me at all since I will still owe in October as well. September is still money I did not budget for and therefore the money is not there, and won't be there no matter how much supposed "grace" they give me.

Insurance in the NYC metro area is outrageously expensive. I suppose I could switch to AIG since I technically will own them soon (so will you, I might add!)

I know times are tough for a great many people right now. They are for my family as well. My computer broke and I am using my gracious husband's laptop for my computer needs, my cell phone broke and I had to pay full price for a new one from T-mobile even though we have been customers with them for over six years, my husband is ill and we are swamped with medical bills and I feel like we may have finally come to the tipping point.

There is no extra money and Geico pulling a fast one on me does not help. I'm mad as hell and I feel like screaming out the wondow "I'm not going to take it anymore".

The problem is my echo would scream back "Yeah you are. You don't have a choice!" and then laugh.

McCain campaign national spokesperson, Tucker Bounds is getting married. MSBC's David Shuster is best man

OH MY GOD! How do I keep coming up with these crazy funny titles for my posts? I even amaze myself. No, Tucker Bounds is not getting married. Quit laughing! You never know! He could be married already but moving on...

I don't mean to constantly pick on the John McCain campaign but...actually that's totally not true! I mean to pick on them every chance I get! I love picking on the campaign because it's just so freakin' easy to do. Especially this past week as the wheels have come off the Straight Talk Express.

But honestly, this guy Tucker Bounds? Really? Is that the best McCain can do. I have a feeling that as "McCain's national spokesperson" , Tucker's days may be numbered. He just had his more-than-likely-taut ass handed to him again, this time by MSNBC's David Shuster. It seems Tucker has a huge problem with the straight-talking part of the straight talk express. The whole Tuck meltdown today showed that the Campbell Brown episode was not an isolated incident.

Basically Bounds was unable to answer yes or no as to whether Phil Gramm would be part of a McCain administration, specifically McCain's Treasury Secretary. It seems like it would be a simple answer but in the McCain-paign nothing is as it seems. Tucker began hyperventilating, getting angrier and angrier and finally, when all seemed lost, he put his best butch face on and said something along the lines of "Obama is lying and he is not going to get away with it 'cause reporters are going to call him on it and I don't have to answer this question because my daddy can kick your daddy's ass, so nanny-nanny-boo-boo. And jinks!"

Knowing the history of how Tucker got to his position might help. I will explain:

Tucker, 29, was actually let go from the McCain campaign earlier this year when it appeared the campaign was dying a slow death. But when the campaign made a Lazarus-like comeback, they brought Tuck back.

Apparently Jill Hazelbaker, a former beard...er, I mean girlfriend of Tucker's, who also works on the McCain-paign convinced the Tucks to climb back on the big, hard long campaign. And he wouldn't even have to do it through the back-door either, like when he worked on the Bush campaign in 2004. In those days everything Tucker did was off the record. Everything.

Nope, the McCain-paign put Tuckle's pretty, choirboy face front and center. All neat and primped, like every college republican I have ever known.

Tucker's a man's man and probably God's man too. When I was in college and a member of the College Republicans the amount of Tuckers in that organization was astonishing. They were the kind that loved to "hang out" with their "bros" and really enjoyed spending time "in fellowship with the Lord surrounded by men of God" by going on FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) retreats. They honored their commitment to their faith by taking a vow of abstinence until marriage and got super-duper excited when people like former RNC chair, Ken Mehlman, would speak. Kenny-types were sort of super-heroes to the Tucker types.

And little Tucks, God bless his heart, he probably has his fair share of Ronald Reagan t-shirts. The ones where there is a caricature of the Gip with huge muscles protruding through a tight shirt standing in front of a big flag. You know, just as you would think of Reagan, right? Tucker probably has a ton of 'em. Reagan makes Tuck's pure heart race and blood rush to his nether regions.

But, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Mark my words. Tucker is about to be let go, quietly, through the back door.




And before I get nasty email, look to the right! See it? It says I am married to a guy. I just have a huge problem with people who live in lavender scented closets working for equality-squashing candidates. I just wish they would grow some stones and get a grip on reality.

700 billion bailout to rescue Wall Street: Bush cements his legacy of failure

First off I should repeat my joke from yesterday, since I am determined that it make it on Letterman by the end of this week.
Q:How many zeros are in 700 billion?
A: 12, if you count Bush!
(David Letterman et al. can use the joke as long as they say attribute it to Jon-Marc McDonald. I'm a riot!)

Now I know that a 700 billion dollar bailout is the kind of story that causes a great many Americans to shrug their shoulders. Though the number is staggering, the story does not have real world application that they can relate to like, oh I don't know, selling a plane on eBay or telling the big boys in Washington thanks but no thanks.

But unlike the eBay and "bridge to nowhere" stories, the proposed 700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street is actually true. And its consequences will be felt from Washington to Wasilla. Though the bailout might not warm the cockles of ones heart the way a former POW and a hockey mom do, people better start paying attention to what the bailout means not only to them, but future generations as well.

Let's get down to brass tacks for a moment. The bailout that the president has proposed is at a cost of $2,333.00 for each and every man, woman and child in this country. That's the price tag for which even babies born yesterday will be responsible! And, to make matters worse, it's nothing more than a glorified version of rearranging the deck chairs while the Titanic that is Wall Street sinks.

That's right. Two thousand three hundred and thirty three dollars. 2333 . That is how much this bailout will cost each American alive today. Let that sink in!

Got that? A man who cut taxes during wartime, wanted to privatize social-security (by turning it over to Wall Street, I might add), and spent more time on the Terri Shiavo dramedy than he has speaking to the American people about this impending crisis now wants everyone of us to pony up 2,333 dollars to clean up his deregulated mess.

Let lesser individuals fiddle with the Neverland fantasy that is Sarah Palin. Let them hitch their wagon to the falling star of space debris that is the McCain/Palin ticket. It is time for those of us who love this country to take a stand, fight like hell and make sure that Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.

What can we all do? A lot! And we all better start doing so quickly!

First, make sure you are registered to vote. Then, make sure all your like-minded friends are registered. Then go quickly (today kind of quickly) to the Obama website and find the campaign office nearest you and pick up a sign and bumper stickers. If there is not one near you, make your own signs. Plant them in your yard, slap them on your cars (I don't care if you think bumper stickers are tacky), put them everywhere.

After that, begin the hard work. Talk to everyone you know and explain to them why Obama is the right choice. Study where he stands on the issues, what his plans are and how he intends to fix our broken country.

Also explain to them why McCain is the wrong choice. Explain to them why the reckless pick of Sans-a-Blink Sarah automatically disqualifies McCain for the office he seeks. Study where he stands on the issues (which you might have to do on a daily basis as he tends to change his mind...or forgets where he stands...on the issues as frequently as he soaks his dentures).

And finally, above all else, don't lose hope. We all have witnessed the smears McCain has thrown at Obama and we have seen those smears tilt the polls. But we have also witnessed Obama weather each and every temporary drop with nerves of steel. Borrow a lesson from his playbook. Keep your eyes on the prize and don't give up. Stay focused.

We're almost there. This "long, national nightmare" is almost over. Fight for this harder than you have fought for anything in your entire life. The stakes are too high to be a passive observer!

A joke from a previous post: Bush wants 700 billion to rescue Wall Street. Just how many zeros is that exactly?

Answer: 12, if you count Bush!


Hahahahahahahaha. Thank you, I'll be here all week!

And I expect credit for the joke, dammit!






zeroes, zeros

Andrew Sullivan on Real Time with Bill Mahar

Andy does it again! Watch the whole thing.

Say what you will about Andrew Sullivan. As I have written before, his are often the loneliest positions to take. And though I do not always agree with him, I respect him immensely. I wish there were more vocal conservatives like him that saw Palin for the farce she is.

Stay strong, Andy! And "never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or conviction" Dag Hammarskjold

Bush wants 700 billion dollars to rescue Wall Street. Just how many zeros is that exactly?

Answer: 12 if you count Bush.

Hahahahahaha. Thank you, I'll be here all week. And I expect credit for the joke, dammit!

Seriously though, the fundamentals of our economy are not strong and John McCain cannot shed his republican skin for political expediency. He is a republican. Republicans got us into this mess. This is not one of those situations where we can say that they are all crooks, both the democrats and republicans. The blame rest at the feet of those that controlled congress for ¾ of the last eight years and at the feet of a president who can barely control his presidency.

This, above all else, is the failure of single issue voting. People who felt Bush was placed in office by God, as Richard Land, the head of the public policy entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, need to step out of the spotlight for a minute (or eternity) and seriously consider the impact such statements have on the kingdom of God. However, if there is one thing that is consistent about these people, it’s that they do not learn and now they are saying the same thing about Sans-a blink Palin.

These times are far too serious for Cracker-Barrel politicos who think that spitting out a few key phrases like “sanctity of life” and “sanctity of marriage” is all they need to win. We are now on our knees, on the verge of collapse, about to fork over 700 billion dollars of our money to Wall Street fat-cats and where, I ask, will this money come from?

This may be the end of this great country. And if it does collapse I want those responsible to take the blame. No get out of jail free card by blaming the gays or the liberals or anyone else. Those that voted for Bush better claim their votes. Stand up and tell us who you are. You are to blame.

And for those who are looking for God in all this. Let’s see, once again, what God might be trying to say.

“How much more do I have to reveal to you before you awake from your kool-aid induced slumber? These people who claim my name like it’s a brand on the shelf at Wal-Mart bungled relief efforts with Katrina, took you all into a immoral war based on lies, fleeced your country while they got rich, ruined your economy while they slept, lied to you time and time again. And I have shown it all to you. But instead of standing up and saying enough, you continue to cling to them. Sarah Palin came out of no where and I told you, be careful, don’t get caught up in the hype. She is not what she seems. And then I revealed to you all of her lies. And yet you still will vote for her. Well vote for her if you must, but do not invoke my name while doing so

“It is not pro-life to vote for people who ruin the lives of thousands in war, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin the lives of millions for their greed, it is not pro-life to vote for those that would ruin countless lives by ignoring the environment” --God

Stand up and be counted, Bush admirers. This country’s blood is on your hands. This country’s demise is due to your vote.

And you know what would go a long way? I’m talking to the “character-counts” crowd who rambles about character ad infinitum. Your talk about character has turned to blather because you cannot admit the failures of the last eight years. I assure you it would go a long, long way if you all would simply say “We were wrong. Completely wrong. We are sorry.. And we are going to be a hell (heck, heck’s ok for those wary of the word hell) of a lot more careful in the future when attributing God to individuals”.

But you won’t . You won’t because you are all cowards. Cowards hide behind their decisions even when their decisions are demonstrably fatal. I just pray courageous individuals will be able to clean up this mess you cowards have made.

I pray there is still time.




zeros, zeroes, bailout

Rangel calls Palin disabled

In an interview on Friday, September 19th, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem) said "You got to be kind to the disabled" when asked what he thought of Sarah Palin. His comments are outrageous and cannot be defended. Disabled people the world over should be insulted that Rangel would attempt to compare them to such a slimebag like Palin. It would be like someone calling Bushie gay. That would be a grave insult to the entire gay community.

Rangel, who is currently embroiled in controversy over his failure to report income taxes on a beachfront property, should shut the hell up.

Calling her: a pathalogical liar, idiot, unfit, in over her head, Bush in a dress, neophyte . Those are fine because they are all true but disabled is unfair. Let the republicans throw around words like "retarded" and "disabled" as insults. They are best at it. It's part of their culture to look down on those that are different.

And republicans are probably going to try and get mileage out of this the next few days. Here's the problem, though. It's the kind of problem the boy had when he cried wolf.

The twisted republicans used their outrage quotient up by feigning outrage -- shock, utter shock -- over the whole lipstick / pig controversy. And while they were using up that outrage they were spreading absolute, 100%, no shred of of truth, blatent lies about Obama.

So now they are going to try and run with this "disabled" comment and it won't work. It especially won't work since the economy may be headed for a "complete meltdown" within the next few days. People are going to see through the republican's attempts to change the subject and it's going to look rather cynical if they feign outrage...yet again... over Rangel.

That's the problem with crying wolf. When you skid your skivvies over things that don't matter, the time comes when they actually do and your skivvies are already stained. And, at that point, there's no one left to wipe your ass.

And, like I said earlier, given Palin's soon-to-be implosion, calling her disabled is an insult to the disabled. Not the other way around

Charlie Rangel calls Sarah Palin disabled

Post has moved here

Oh Happy Day

Today is my birthday and I wanted to say thank you.
Thank you to all the readers of my blogs through the years.
Thank you to those that just started reading this blog within the last few weeks.
And thanks, most of all, to Sarah Palin for awakening this blog from its slumber. If it were not for your lying every time you open your mouth, I would not have much to write about.

They will be caught and persecuted

Did our dear president, George W. Bush, just say that those acting illegally during the economic crisis would be "caught and persecuted"? Did I hear that right? He's the decider. He decides whether to prosecute or persecute. That's his strategery. I'm just thankful for the internets to help me decipher what he said.

Whew, well at least they will be persecuted! So after they are caught I guess we get to make fun of them and call them names. That'll teach 'em

Maybe when we catch bin Laden, you know, dead or alive, we can all persecute him too!

Perhaps this is Bush foreshadowing how we will treat those caught. He is afraid that we will persecute his buddies on Wall Street and that makes him sad )-:


The quote was in reference to short selling, I believe, and he said "Anyone caught in illegal transactions will be caught and persecuted

Ghost Town

The picture above is of my friend, Michael, and me at the cast and crew party for Ghost Town (opening nationwide tomorrow, the 19th). At the party we screened the movie and let me just say. Go see it! It is not only crazy funny, it is also tenderhearted. Triple loved it with a cherry on top!

An open letter to the family of Ray Boltz

Recently I received a comment on one of my posts about Ray Boltz. It said it was from a family member of Boltz. It was very kind and it asked that I not publish the comment but gave me permission to use it if I wished. Since my comments are moderated I decided not to publish. Instead I am writing that person (and others in their family) this letter in hopes that they return to my blog and see it.

To the family of Ray Boltz,

As a child and young adult I had many of Ray’s CDs. They brought me comfort and joy in some very dark hours of my life. I even saw Ray in concert once and remember how joyous I felt in that auditorium. He truly touched my life through his music.

I am a gay man and at the age of twenty, while living in Washington DC, the path that was my life split in two. Down one road I could continue to hide who I was, ashamed and alone, so as not to upset my family, most of whom were (and are) evangelical Christians. Down the other road I could pursue truth, and live honestly and openly just as God had created me to be, and accept the consequences that such honesty would bring. The decision was not easy, and in fact in many ways my coming out was not even my own doing.

I know the shock and even pain that my decision caused many in my family. My mother had to deal with not only a gay son but also with the knowledge that her ex-husband, my father, was gay as well. I cannot even begin to imagine what a woman with her beliefs, albeit misguided, went through. The grieving process was probably too much to bear at times.

When I asked my little brother, then just a boy, how my being gay made him feel he responded with tears in his eyes “It makes me love you less”.

He has since grown out of that childlike mentality. Now that little boy is a sophomore at NYU and has no issues with the fact that he has a gay brother.

But even today, over eleven years later, the relationship with my mother is strained due to my being gay. I harbor so much resentment and anger at her for holding on to beliefs that have been repudiated by some of the world's most learned Biblical scholars, not to mention science and common sense and the Bible itself. And the pain that her beliefs cause me is still as raw as it was in the beginning.

I imagine she harbors some anger at me as well. And sadly, she may spend the rest of her life carrying around the needless baggage of antiquated beliefs. It is those very beliefs that caused me to walk away from the church and never look back. It is those beliefs that have caused millions of shepherd boys and girls to walk away.

Which brings me to the purpose of this letter.

I have no idea what each of your beliefs are regarding homosexuality. Actually, for the purpose of what I want to convey, your beliefs are beside the point.

You may be grieving the Ray you thought you knew. You may not know what it is you are supposed to do now (although, as I understand it you all have known for a little while now). I am sure that so many tears have been shed and there are, even now, so many questions yet unanswered.

It’s ok.

It’s ok to curse the heavens and God and everything in between and it is even ok to be angry at Ray. But know this.

He is still the same man. He is still the same man of God. He is still the same man who moved hundreds of thousands of people to a closer relationship with their Heavenly Father. And above all else, he is still the same man who loves you all with all his heart. And I assure you that if there was anything – anything -- he could have done to change himself he would have without hesitation.

And know something else as well.

When I came out I packed up my Christian music CDs, including Ray’s. I could no longer listen to the music of people who believed my very existence to be an abomination. I could no longer praise the God they were praising.

When I heard the news about Ray on Monday I began to cry. And while I was crying I listened to “The Anchor Holds” over and over and over again. And in the end I was on my feet singing with Ray, praising God for the first time in years. The shepherd boy that had walked away from the church so many years ago because he no longer felt welcome, that boy, now a grown man, felt welcome to sing again.

I can now sing those songs, standing with my eyes towards the heavens and remember that no matter what stands in my way, no matter what the religious leaders tell me, no matter what people think of me, no matter how disgusting they think I am, I am still worthy enough to praise God.

That is the gift Ray Boltz gave me on Monday. He gave me permission…

permission to praise God again


Thank you for sharing Ray with us. There are, yet still, many lives to be changed,



Jon-Marc McDonald

Jim Bramlett , coming to serve Kool-Aid at a church near you!

I'm going to let this email making the rounds in evangelical circles speak for itself. The only thing I have to add is that this email is talking about a woman who cannot even tell the truth on the little things. So according to this man, presumably written by Jim Bramlett who says he records angels singing and that the "Lord began to shout it" to him that we were in the end-times in 1993, God has raised up a pathological liar out of Alaska for such a time as this. When do these people get their pink-slips? I mean this is the same sort of crap they said about George W. Bush, another person who has an allergy to the truth.

Dear friends:

Barack Hussein Obama has taken the nation by storm. From obscurity, with zero executive experience, or much of any kind, he has vaulted into the position of Presidential frontrunner. It is stunning. On the surface, it appears attributable only to his eloquent oratory and his race. But an invisible factor may be a strong spiritual force behind him, causing some people to actually swoon in his presence...

Last week at Obama's acceptance speech, that spirit exalted itself in front of a Greek temple-like stage, and to a huge audience like in a Roman arena. Obama was portrayed as god-like. His voice thundered as a god's voice.

At the end, Democratic sympathizer Pastor Joel Hunter gave the benediction and shockingly invited everyone to close the prayer to their own (false) gods. This was surely an abomination, but it was compatible with Obama's expressed theology, and Hunter's leftist leanings.

God was not pleased...

Enter Governor Sarah Palin. With incredible timing, the very next day, Sarah Palin also appeared out of nowhere...

We quickly learned that Sarah is a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, attends church, and has been a ministry worker.

Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the anointing. You can tell by how the dogs are already viciously attacking her. But they will not be successful. She knows the One she serves and will not be intimidated.

Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I still believe that. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin...

Only God knows the future and how she may be used by Him, but may this noble woman serve to bring renewal in the land, and inspiration.

Why Ray Boltz Matters...And James Dobson Does Not

Reading the various responses from so called “Christians” over the admission by Ray Boltz that he is gay is enough to make one sick. I expected the outcry to be swift and brutal and the Christianists do not disappoint. Actually, when it comes to their vile condemnation of gays, the Christianists never disappoint.

You know, it’s the usual dribble from people who are unable to think for themselves. Instead they regurgitate old arguments that can be, and have been, refuted time after time.

But when one chooses to “bury my head in the sand” as my mother proudly proclaims, then when revelations such as Boltz’ come out, instead of responding analytically, with reason and deliberate contemplation, Christianists simply become the dog of Pavlov, conditioned to spit out automated responses.

Actually, they are more like the dogs of Dobson, the seemingly perennial leader of the far right. Dobson, from his perch high atop the Colorado mountains, separates the venial sins from the mortal sins for his followers lest they be burdened with such a difficult task.

Yes, Dobson regularly says that everyone’s a sinner and all have fallen short…blah, blah, blah. But this is just another case where his actions are in conflict with his words. Actually his words are in conflict with his words. And no one, including Dobson’s most devout worshippers (Tom Minnery, say what?), can square Daddy D’s obsession with gay people with the totality of the Bible, no matter how hard they try.

Anyway, when something such as the Ray Boltz story breaks, it is religiously wired in the evangelical’s brain to start their symbolic salivating. Before you even read the comments, you know what they will say. And what they say speaks to their horizontal faith, not their God inspired convictions.

Often times they attempt to avoid the religious underpinnings of their bigotry by instead using the words of homosexuals against homosexuals. The most frequently used, and outrageously hilarious, is the book “After the Ball”. This book, by two homosexual marketers, is often cited by the Devout Dobson Do-Nothings as “evidence” that there is, in fact, a homosexual agenda. If you go to a “Love Won Out” conference (a conference aimed at gays who want to “pray away the gay” and those that love them) you will hear references to the book continuously.

In fact, if you were to only listen to Dobson’s Army of Mental Midgets (yep, I’ve settled on that one. The DAMMs from here on out), you would think “After the Ball” was a gay-manifesto that every homosexual had hidden under their mattress for quick reference in case they forget what the “agenda” is.

The book, written in 1989, is proof positive that the gays are using things such as AIDS to garner sympathy for the cause (because, you know, AIDS is an endearing sort of disease). At least that’s what the DAMMs and others such as Robert Knight would have you believe.

But the truth is I, and most of my fellow homos, would have never even heard of the book if it were not for the repetitious citations by the far-right. In fact, I have never even seen the book except once at Strand Bookstore, a used book bookstore, on sale for .75 cents.

That doesn’t stop Papa D from getting his vestments in a wad, though. He believes that the book is a “play-book” to elicit sympathy from the unsuspecting, pure as the driven snow, American public.

This, of course, is intellectually lazy and Dobson knows it. He just knows the DAMMs do not. Taking his continual citation of “After the Ball” to its logical conclusion would inevitably lead to his opponents citing any of the thousands of outlandish books written through the ages by so-called Christians calling for everything from ethnic cleansing to war.

But Dobson depends on the ignorance of his followers. He not only depends on it, he banks on it, literally. The lemmings that worship at the alter of the Dobson empire have made him not only an extremely powerful and dangerous man, but an extremely wealthy man as well.

Ray Boltz’ music has touched millions of people. He is still the same man he was ten years ago. The difference is now we all know. Nothing has changed about Ray Boltz the man. Nothing, except that he has shared with us a burden he has carried within for too long.

Instead of throwing out his music, or waxing poetic about loving the sinner and hating the sin, perhaps the Christianists could try something else. Perhaps they could try simply loving. Period. No conditions, no attachments, just pure, vertical, God-like love. Perhaps they could quit quantifying so called sins and start getting down to what the Bible really does, and does not, say about homosexuality. Perhaps they could tell Daddy Dobson to shut the hell up, tell him that he no longer gets to claim the banner of Christ because he has sullied that banner in the slop for too long. Perhaps there will be a leader, a shepherd boy if you will, that will rise up out of the dust bin of the religious right and call God’s people to a fuller understanding of all of his children. Perhaps those who got teary eyed every time they heard “Thank You” will whisper a prayer of thanks for Ray Boltz instead of praying for Ray Boltz. Perhaps, on the other side of tomorrow we will look back at this dark time in our nation's history and shake our heads in disbelief that someone as spiritually deficient as James Dobson could have even existed, much less influenced so many to hate.

Perhaps…but not likely.

When others see a faggot boy, God may see King: Ray Boltz comes out of the closet and admits he's gay

UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST:

Ray Boltz, a contemporary christian musician who sold over 4.5 million albums, has come out of the closet.

“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid," Boltz, 55, told the Washington Blade. "I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”

I am honestly crying while writing this. The courage it takes for anyone to come out is remarkable. But the brutality he will face from the Christianists for disclosing this will be close to unbearable. His songs will cease being played, he will be rejected at Churches and, as one commenter on Christianity Today put it:

What can be said? We are known by the fruit we bear. So, being a great musician and exalting the Lord is not enough. Repentance is necessary. We read about a man who committed sexual sin in 1 Corinthians-the church was to reject him until he repented. Likewise, Ray should be ignored but welcomed back whenever he truly repents.

That's their God for ya, Ray! Reject until you repent!

But I grew up listening to his music. "Watch the Lamb" and "Thank You" are songs that nearly every Evangelical Christian can recite.

I pray his courage allows others within his industry to come out as well. Lord knows there are more closeted gays in the conservative church than any where else!

Good on 'ya, Ray! Jesus is smiling even though some of those who claim his name are not.

Thank you, Ray, for living your truth. There are many lives that will be changed!

UPDATE: I should note that I was briefly a part of a children's christian singing group, Power Source, that was made famous for a time by a Ray Boltz song Dear Mr. Jesus

Ray Boltz is gay and that's okay

The full post can be found here

The odd circumstances of Trig Palin's birth. Just because the story has gone away does not mean there is not a story

As many have said before, the reason Sarah Palin is so important, and the reason that there is such a focus on her, is because she shows how reckless John McCain’s judgment is and her lies, as we are discovering each day, prove that she was not vetted AT ALL.

Andrew Sullivan has done a wonderful job at disseminating all the facts on Sarah Palin.

But there are more questions that need to be answered. Let’s start with these:

** Bristol Palin, the 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter of Sarah and Todd, was out of school for a significant amount of time last year (anywhere from 5-8 months) with “mono”. The maximum a child is normally out of school for such a thing as mono is less than three months. Did she have a rare strain? Was she, as one would assume, quarantined so as to not infect others? If so, could someone find out the dates she was out of school? Surely, with such an infectious disease, she would not be having sex while infected? She has been pregnant for, what, five months according to Sarah Palin?

** When Sarah Palin realized she was going into labor, why did she go ahead and make a speech at a governors’ conference in Texas? She says she was leaking amniotic fluid? Who is her doctor and why did they tell her it was ok to make an eight hour trip back to Alaska, on a PLANE? Did Sarah tell any of the flight attendants she was in labor? Did the pilot know? The governor of Alaska was five weeks premature with a special needs child and yet all the powers that be told her it was A-OK for her to travel? On a plane? Leaking amniotic fluid? Why wouldn’t they, for the sake of the baby, do what is in the best interest of the child and deliver in Texas so as not to risk more harm to little Trig? Todd Palin said they wanted the baby to be born in Alaska because “You can’t have a fish picker in Texas?” First of all, what does that even mean? And secondly, they were willing to risk further harm to the baby just so he could have Alaska as his place of birth?

** When she arrived back in Alaska, why weren’t there medical personnel waiting there to whisk away the governor? Why did she drive an additional 45 minutes to get to the hospital when there were others closer?

** Where are Trig Palin’s birth records? This is a legitimate question. After all, Trig had his own webpage on the governor’s state-run website. Where are Sarah Palin’s medical records? Mat-Su, the hospital where Palin gave birth, does not even list the birth of Trig the day the Palins claim. They don’t list the birth at all. Why is this?

** Sarah Palin returned back to work just three days after giving birth to her 5th child. Did her doctor, the one that is apparently MIA, allow this too? Or did Sarah go against her doctor’s wishes? I admit, I am no Sarah Palin. I’m a sissy-boy faggot that can barely move after a week with a slight cold. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, can shoot 437,000 caribou before dusk. But it seems to me that just 72 hours after giving birth to a child with special needs and she returned to work? Am I the only one that finds this not only remarkable, but also hard to believe?

I am sure there are very obvious answers to all these easy questions. Could people just give them to me? In the comments please list the answers if you have them. List the source as well.
Psst. Snopes does not count as a “source”

Also, if there are more questions that I have not listed, list them in the comments.

Oh, and I am fully prepared for the comments calling me crazy, unhinged, reckless. Say what you will. I don’t give a shit. I just want the answers. We deserve the answers. And one way or another, the answers will come out.

On Slaps and Seething Rage

This morning while I was writing a piece entitled “Facts are Not Privy to Opinion” my mother called. This is not unusual, as my mother and I talk at least five or six times a week. What was unusual was how the conversation ended. Actually it did not end. It digressed into a screaming match that culminated in me slamming the phone down (as much as you can slam down a cell phone with a Bluetooth ® ear piece).

Before I go on I should fully disclose something. The entire maternal side of my family are fundamentalists Christians. Most belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination of Christianity founded on the principle that slavery was not only tolerated, but also ordained, by God. This legacy of slavery has left an indelible stain on the convention that permeates its theology even today. And, sadly, many in my family still cling to the notion that African-Americans are inferior. The word “n*gger” is a word that still is used by many in my family (including my father who, incidentally, is gay but that is another post[s] for another time).

Many say that marijuana is a “gateway drug”. Well religious based racism is a gateway bigotry. Because while I do not doubt that my mom loves me, she does believe that the seven verses in the Bible that – and this is highly debatable – deal with homosexuality (out of the over 35,000 verses in the Bible which is .02%. Read that again. Point. Zero.Two percent) are clear in their condemnation of gays. As such, homosexuality is therefore not in accord with the will of God.

Growing up in such a toxic environment is dangerous for any child. But growing up while realizing I was gay along the way made it close to deadly. At the age of 21, after years of not being able to reconcile my upbringing with my sexuality, I attempted to take my own life.

I was living in a tony apartment in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. I seemingly had my entire life, and the world, ahead of me. But one morning, facing such despair of which I could not overcome, I went to the medicine cabinet and began taking entire bottles of my roommate’s prescription medications. I chased the pills with 150 year old scotch.

When I came to, at the George Washington University Medical Center, I was surrounded by at least forty of my friends, my father and his partner and…no one else. I asked my dad if my mother knew. He said she did. For two days I sat in that hospital. As friends came and went, there was not one phone call from my mother’s side of the family. No flowers. No cards. Only deafening, undeniable silence.

This was not only odd, it was downright antithetical of my maternal family’s behavior towards the sick. They visit hospitals when someone has a hangnail removed. Granted, I was in Washington DC and they were in Texas. I did not expect them to visit. But I did expect to hear their voice.

Instead, I learned later, my mother (in Texas) sent over two men from a Washington “ex-gay” group. When my father discovered this he made sure they were not allowed in my hospital room. But the damage was done. It was clear that my mother’s answer to my shame of being gay was to send over two men who believed that one could “pray away the gay”. It is something that, to this day, is still the source of tremendous pain and heartache.

The suicide attempt was just three months after my mother found out I was gay. I write “found out” because I did not tell her. Instead, shortly after I moved to DC, my mother broke into my voicemail (keep in mind she lives in Texas) and listened to my messages. One of them was from a guy I was dating at the time. The language he used on the voicemail left no room for anyone that heard it to deny who this guy was in relation to me. Within a week my mother told me she knew. I told her I knew she knew.

My mother repeatedly claims that she does not lie. Never. She says it, you can believe it. That’s that. It has almost become a mantra of hers. In fact, she says it with such frequency and such ferocity that it is borderline clinical in its redundancy.

But on the phone with her the night I confirmed I was gay, I pleaded with her not to tell anyone. She promised me she would not.

She did.

I found out a year later that she had almost immediately told not only my aunt but my grandparents as well. My aunt was (and still is) the director of a pregnancy center that tries to talk women out of abortions and my grandparents (my grandfather, really) were, at one time, big time leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention.

She lied.

This was on the heels of her swearing that she would never file for divorce from my father (although, admittedly, she had every reason to). “Jon-Marc, I will never be the one that files. I promise you that”. Not two months later, she filed.

These were the two most agonizing things in my life – my shame of my sexuality and my parents’ divorce. And in the midst of those two things, my mother lied. She lied big. If I were to quantify the lies I have been told in my life those two would be at the top, hands down.

I write the backstory to put into context the conversation I had with my mother this morning.

She called and we basically talked about nothing. The weather. My grandmother. What my mother had for breakfast. My plans for the day. My weekend.

Then we started talking about Hurricane Ike. This is what went down as I remember it (although I do realize that there are two sides and, as Dr. Phil says, no matter how flat you make a pancake, it still has two sides):
Mother: You know, if it were not for Christians, the victims of the hurricane would not be getting any help, except from the government. The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Southern Baptist Men…

Me: Wait, do you really believe that there is no other charitable organization other than “Christian” organizations that are going to help the victims?

Mother: Um, well, yes. Pretty much. I believe that. Why does that make you mad?

I should note something. “Christian” has a very strict definition for fundamentalists such as my mother. Although they will all claim that anyone that believes in Jesus Christ, that he was killed and rose again three days later, is a Christian, their actions speak louder. That is why you will see Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America etc. put quotes around the word Christian when referring to a ministry like Soulforce, a gay Christian ministry.

I should also note that my mom is the assistant director at the pregnancy center where my aunt is the director. The center, incidentally, is a direct beneficiary of Focus on the Family. They receive sonogram machines, money and who knows what else from Daddy Dobson. Dobson has also contributed much to the misery of gay people.

Now back to the conversation. This is where it gets a bit fuzzy.
Basically it got to the point where she said something along the lines of “You slap me in the face with things you say you believe”.

Me: I don’t tell you anything I believe!

Mother: You do on your blog. And you know I read it! You slap me in the face with what you write on your blog! You are trying to hurt me with what you write! I'm hanging up now
(Not sure if she hung up or not)

Me: Slap you in the face? Are you kidding me? You want to talk about being slapped in the face? Try the time you sent two ‘ex-gays’ to my hospital room, try the time you blabbed about me being gay to gran and granddaddy and B (my aunt). Don’t give me this sanctimonious bull-shit about being slapped in the face!

At which point I “slammed down the phone” by pressing the button on my Bluetooth ® headset.

People ask me why the Sarah Palin thing bothers me so much. It bothers me because I know Sarah. She is my mother, she is my two aunts, she every girl and boy I grew up with who ever wore their faith on their sleeve. She is my youth-minister in junior high who told me to stop singing the words to “Jesus Christ, Superstar” because it was blasphemous. She is my best friend in college who told me, in all seriousness, that he thought Bill Clinton was the anti-Christ.

Truth to these people is something they scream from every pulpit and discuss ad nauseum. Hell, they even capitalize the word. We know the Truth…Some people do not know the Truth…Jesus is the one source of Truth.

But when it comes down to the actual truth for fundamentalists, the “Truth” is as malleable as silly-putty, meant to be discarded when it is inconvenient, used as a weapon when it is advantageous, and hidden when it is dangerous to their cause.

It has been proven that Sarah Palin is an outrageous liar. In fact, it has been proven that she is a complete fraud. But in the mind of my mother, and those of my mother’s mindset, they dismiss these “truths” by blaming the “librul (spelled wrong on purpose) media” or “left-wing bloggers”. They throw the baby out because they believe the bathwater has been dirtied by people who do not “know Jesus” the way they “know Jesus” – the gays, the abortionists, the mockers of God. Radical Muslims have a name for them; Infidels. Radical Christians do too. They call them unsaved.

In the minds of the fundamentalists, the scrutiny of Palin feeds into the absurd notion that “Christians” are somehow “persecuted”. The more “truth” that is disclosed, the more resolute they become in their support. It’s the world against the Christianists. They are most comfortable when they believe that the world is out to get them.

Meanwhile the real victims of persecution get further marginalized. Gay kids hide voicelessly in the closet lest they get disowned by their parents and friends, African-Americans get followed in department stores because they are likely to steal, immigrants are blamed for lack of jobs in this country.

And the poor, poor Christianists? You know, the ones who claim the very president of this country as their own and who controlled congress six of the last eight years. Yeah, them! They have the audacity to claim that it is their faith that is in danger of being outlawed. Is this the fucking twilight zone?

So the perceived persecution of poor pitiful Palin is just more reason for them to love her. When it is all said and done, they have no use for the “truth”. The decriers of relativism use truth as their most relative concept.

And Sarah Palin is not a slap in the face I am willing to take. She angers me for the very same reasons my mother angers me – a lack of integrity and intellectual honesty with regards to the truth.

It is times like these when the rage is so hot and the resentment is so acute that I feel like tearing down the dam I have built with all my family secrets. I feel so furious and want to hurt them as badly as they all, while hiding behind their religion, have hurt me. Let the waters flow, let the secrets out and when the flood recedes, let them take inventory of the skeletons amidst the debris. I want to unleash the secrets that only I know. I want the world to know them too. I want the world to see them for the frauds and liars they are.

Let loose the “truth” that they would be forced to face. Let them confront the closet cases, the adulterers, the black blood in the white heritage, the ones that have had abortions and the ones that have mistresses, all within our big “happy” family. Take no prisoners and let them grapple with the consequences and twist in the wind.

Sometimes, times like this, I want nothing more than that.

But in the end I realize that my need to exact revenge serves no purpose beyond temporary satisfaction. Instead I have this blog to vent and to calm down.

Slap, slap!

"I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can’t, I will lend you mine"

Amy Poehler, channeling Hillary Clinton last night on Saturday Night Live


My fear is that in 18 to 24 months the media, in all their wisdom, will be collectively scratching their heads, wondering why they did not properly expose Sarah Palin for the fraud and liar that she is.

We’ve been through this song and dance before. The media were complicit agents of propaganda leading up to the war in Iraq. Now close to six years later some in the media are finally admitting that they did, at the direction of the White House war machine, play a role in disseminating misinformation to the American public.

It is a dark day in our country when the ladies of “The View” do the job of the actual American press and grill McCain. Joy Behar should be given an Edward R. Murrow award for calling McCain a liar to his face rather than, as is the case with actual journalists this election cycle, write articles calling McCain’s tactics “misleading”.

Pleather is misleading. Clay Aiken is misleading. Push-up bras are misleading. McCain/Palin, on the other hand, are unrepentant liars!