The Progressive Puppy

Homobigot Barton Praises Homobigot Kern

"By the age of fifty, eveyone has the face they deserve." - George Orwell

Christian dominionist David Barton helps decide what information will be included in public school textbooks.  Barton and his ultraconservative associates wield enormous power, since large publishing houses are required to adopt whatever backward "academic standards" the Texas BoE deems appropriate.  Their faith-based decisions have resulted in a dumbing down of science, history and sex-ed classes in the Lone Star State.  This invariably leaves students unprepared to function in the real world.  Not that old Davie gives a damn. 

Barton has a dark side.  His contempt for gays and lesbians is so intense that in a 2001 essay he wrote longingly about the days when "sodomites" had their genitals hacked off.  He has extolled the teachings of Pastor Pete Peters, who advocates the death penalty for homosexuals.  More recently, Barton has been spreading the lie that federal hate crimes legislation will lead to religious persecution!  (Oh, the sublime irony.  Suddenly he's worried about persecution.)  So it shouldn't come as a surprise that this homosex-obsessed bigot  - and distinguished educator, don't forget! - is heaping accolades upon Oklahoma Representative Sally Kern. 

From the Texas Freedom Network:  David Barton doesn’t have the academic credentials that would truly qualify him for his post as a social studies “expert” for the Texas State Board of Education, but he has done plenty to show that he qualifies as a right-wing extremist.  The latest example is his embrace of Sally Kern, a poster child for extremism in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.  In an e-mail yesterday, Barton - head of WallBuilders, an organization that opposes separation of church and state - praised Kern as "a courageous state leader" who is "outspoken" about her "Judeo-Christian values."  Kern is outspoken, alright - especially in her venomous attacks on gay people.  Last year, she even compared homosexuality to "toe cancer" and said gay people are "the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam." ... Barton thinks someone like that is simply “outspoken” about her “Judeo-Christian values” - as if anyone who is Jewish or Christian wouldn’t find her views appalling.  Yet Barton is helping to determine what millions of Texas children learn in their public school classrooms.

"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."  - Anne Lamont

David Barton and Sally Kern are grotesqueries cast from the same mold, a pair of gloomy whatnots gracing the mantel of right-wing Christianity.  Any discerning homeowner would store these horrors in the basement, out of sight. 

Public Option Sickens and Dies Under Dems' Watch

The prognosis is very bad, Mr. America.  The malignancy has spread.  Treated aggressively, the cancer could have been stopped.  But your elected physicians are too timid to perform life-saving surgery.  So now the health insurance tumors will continue to grow, unhindered by legislative therapy, and you will die a slow death.

Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee shot down two separate amendments that would establish a relatively mild public insurance option.  From the Washington Post:  The votes are likely to deepen fissures in the Democratic Party over the shape of the legislation, and they proved what critics have long argued:  Moderate Democrats are reluctant to expand the federal health-care role beyond the current boundaries of the Medicare, Medicaid and Department of Veterans Affairs programs.  Even President Obama, who has repeatedly supported a government-run plan in public statements, has indicated that the idea is not worth the price of failing to enact his biggest domestic policy goal.  (Minus a public option, there will be no discernable change in the way private insurers do business.  Listen closely.  You can almost hear the cancer cells churning as profits proliferate.)  

Ryan Grim on Huffington Post:  Five Democrats joined with all the Republicans on the committee to reject an amendment by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) in a 15-8 vote.  Three Democrats then joined the Republicans to defeat a second public-option proposal.  By a vote of 13-10, the committee rejected an amendment by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) ... Rockefeller's proposal was expected to garner less support than Schumer's.  The government-run insurance option he envisioned would have used Medicare reimbursement rates for the first two years; Schumer's public plan would negotiate rates and not be tied to Medicare.  Mike Lillis writes on the Washington Independent:  Supporters were quick to point out that, under both proposals, no provider would have been required to accept the public plan, and no patient would have been forced to get coverage through it. "The people who don’t like it can dump it," Rockefeller said. "That’s called free choice."  (But Dr. Bluedog and Nurse Goper don't want you to have a choice.)  Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the senior Republican on the finance panel, conceded that the current system has "shortcomings."  (Would you like something for the pain?  It's just going to get worse, you know.)  But Congress shouldn’t use those failures, he said, as reason to undermine the innovation that results when private markets compete against one another.  The creation of a public option, Grassley said, represents "a slow walk toward government-controlled, single-payer health care." 

Don't forget to settle the bill before you leave.  You won't survive this illness, but industry executives will enjoy a lavish lifestyle as you take your final breath.

The Right Targets Kevin Jennings

Kevin Jennings, President Obama's Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, is being smeared by the Washington Times.  In a scathing editorial, the conservative newspaper has stooped to using truncated quotes to insinuate that Jennings "encourages" statutory rape.  Back in 1989, a 16-year-old student referred to as "Brewster" informed the former teacher that he had sex with "an older man" he'd met in a bus terminal.  (The age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.)  Jennings said,  "I hope you knew to use a condom"  because a friend of his had recently died of AIDS.  The Times misleadingly reports that Jennings told the student to "make sure to use a condom" when he was with the man, which would indicate tacit approval of the situation.  But that's not what happened.  From Tips-Q:  Technically, Jennings had an obligation to notify law enforcement.  Had he done so, he would have exposed the boy's sexuality - keep in mind that this was 20 years ago.  (And what would the police have done?  Forced the teen to reveal who he hooked up with that day?)  Alvin McEwen writes:  Jennings never saw any relationship and it was a judgment call whether or not he should have told anyone what Brewster told him.  What if he had?  I tend to think that the story would have had a very negative denouement - Brewster's suicide.  (Or, he might have been kicked out of the house by his parents.) 

Needless to say, conservative pundits are swarming on this like piranhas on a chunk of red meat, demanding that the deputy secretary be fired and dredging up the old "homosexual indoctrination" bugaboo.  Right-wingers don't give a damn about the health and safety of LGBT youths - which is why they oppose laws designed to curb school bullying - so their outrage over the incident rings false.  Should Jennings have outed the student?  Because, that is precisely what would have happened if he'd violated Brewster's trust and turned this into a police matter.   

These are Jennings' recollections, in his own words:  And I said, "Brewster, what are you doing in there asleep?" And he said, "Well, I'm tired." And I said, "Well, we all are tired and we all got to school today." And he said, "Well, I was out late last night." And I said, "What were you doing out late on a school night?" And he said, "Well, I was in Boston." Boston was about 45 minutes from Concord. So I said, "What were you doing in Boston on a school night, Brewster?" He got very quiet, and he finally looked at me and said, "Well, I met somebody in the bus station bathroom and I went home with him." That was the only way he knew how to meet gay people. I was a closeted gay teacher, 24 years old, didn't know what to say. Knew I should say something quickly, so I finally -- my best friend had just died of AIDS the week before -- I looked at Brewster and said, "You know, I hope you knew to use a condom." He said to me something I will never forget. He said "Why should I, my life isn't worth saving anyway."

Back to McEwen:  Attacking Jennings for dealing with the situation the way he did is a classic case of ignoring the forest for the sake of the trees.  (Jennings) knows the reasons why youngsters, particularly lgbt youngsters, expose themselves to danger and based on his track record with GLSEN, he can work to stop this behavior.  But neither Fox News, the Washington Times, nor any other party on the right seems to care about that because they are determined to put Jennings' head in their trophy case.

I suppose we'll have to wait for Glenn Beck to decide Jennings' fate.  He seems to be calling the shots in Washington.

The Furkids

Some health issues here.  Postings might be light for the next day or so.

ProPup's Cruella Deville Award goes to Andrea Peyser

Over at the New York Post, Andrea Peyser has a burr up her butt about a doll created by American Girl, a company that strives to build self-esteem in daughters - and also teach them a little history on the side. 

The cold and curmudgeonly Ms. Peyser writes:  Meet Gwen Thompson, the newest addition to the American Girl canon of dolls - the wildly successful, extremely expensive brand of faux children...  Little children as young as 4 are addicted to these pricey little monsters.  It's like middle-American crack.  You have an African-American doll, an American Indian doll.  A Jewish one.  A doll who "lived" during the Great Depression, and one from the Roaring '20s. 

Peyser gets her facts wrong right off the bat.  There is no Roaring '20s doll made by the company.

And while you were snoozing, the creators of American Girl, which is sold by Mattel, got bold.  They engaged in all-out political indoctrination. 

Oh my God!  Is it a communist doll?  A Nazi doll?  A liberal doll?

Gwen, you see, is harboring a terrible secret.  She is homeless.  A homeless doll. 

To a conservative scold like Peyser, teaching kids about homelessness is the worst sort of indoctrination imaginable.

In the history books that come with every American Girl doll - bringing to life these little monsters until impressionable little ones believe they are actual people - you learn that Gwen's father walked out on the family.  Her mother lost her job.  As the little kiddies learn to read about this doll as if she's a human being, one learns that, as fall turned into winter, Gwen's mom lost her grip.  Mother and daughter started bedding down in a car. 

I wonder if Peyser spends her free time pulling the whiskers off kittens. 

But what is Mattel subtly selling along with its outrageously expensive progeny?  It seems obscene that a company that prides itself on teaching impressionable children about history and grooming - you can have your doll's hair done for $20! - should engage in political preaching.  What message is being sent with Gwen? 

Here's a guess: They're sending the message that there are in children in America who have no place to live, and that we - as a society - should at the very least feel compassion for them.

So take a close look at what your daughter is playing with.  Barbie, the feminists long complained, gave girls body issues.  But she never attempted to politically indoctrinate me.

There's something else Ms. Peyser never learned from her Barbie.  She never learned how to empathize with others.

SLC gay man vindicated. His attackers STILL not charged.

The Nuts and Bolts:  David Bell attended an all-night bash at his neighbor's home.  The music was loud and most of the party guests were drunk - and there were two sleepy children who wanted a place to lie down and get away from the noise.  Bell took the kids into his house - right next door, mind - and let them crash on his couch.  When the inebriated neighbors discovered what had happened, they turned into homophobic vigilantes. 

From TipsQ:  The complainant, Lulu Latu, recovered the children from Bell's home in the morning where an argument ensued which included a gay slur... A number of the children's adult relatives broke down Bell's door and severely beat him and his gay partner, Dan Fair.  Bell was dragged from his home by his hair and his head was repeatedly smashed against the pavement.  Someone used a piece of broken glass to cut Bell's throat, chest and one of his toes.  Bell's partner, Fair, also was beaten, and a large TV was thrown onto his head.

The men's assailants were not charged with any wrongdoing - this happened in Utah, after all - even though the homobigots who almost killed Bell and Fair have extensive criminal records including robbery and assault on a police officer.  The cops didn't waste any time in arresting Bell, though, for a non-existent crime that might have sent him to prison for life.  From Desert News:  Nearly the entire courtroom audience burst into tears Friday when a jury pronounced David James Bell "not guilty" of child kidnapping.  Some were jubilant Bell supporters who had claimed all along that he was being singled out for prosecution on flimsy charges because he is gay.  But relatives of the two preschoolers involved in the case wept bitterly and left the courtroom without saying a word as they wiped their tears and helped other distraught family members walk outside.  (Presumably, the Latu clan wasn't falling down drunk that day.)  Roger Kraft, one of Bell's defense attorneys, said a plea bargain had previously been offered that would have required some type of guilty plea by Bell with recommendation for no prison time. But Kraft said Bell said they wanted to fight the charges because he is innocent.  "I wasn't willing to cop to something I didn't do," Bell declared, as the crowd cheered repeatedly.

It was unwise of Bell to offer these youngsters a safe haven from their parents' alcohol-drenched soiree.  But if Bell and Fair had been the "nice married couple" next door instead of *gasp* homosexuals, the Latus would likely have brought over a plate of cookies and thanked them for looking after the kids.  From SLTrib:  After acquitting David James "D.J." Bell of kidnapping two South Salt Lake children, jurors were asking why the case ever came to trial.  "We agreed, as a jury, that the four-day trial cost taxpayers at least $100,000, and our time was wasted, as well," juror Natasha Jorgensen told The Tribune.  "We were appalled because it had come this far...  I would hate to have a neighbor kid come to my house and become a D.J. Bell myself."

Now, after putting this young man through a gut-wrenching trial that wasted over a year of his life, prosecutors still have not charged the drunken family that stormed into his house and attacked him and his partner. 

The message is clear:  If you're gay, don't expect justice from law enforcment officials in Utah.   (Pictured:  David Bell)