The Progressive Puppy

Taking Our Business Elsewhere

Would you shop at a grocery store with dirty floors and spoiled meat?  Would you buy clothes from a retail outlet that overcharges you for low-quality merchandise?  Would you spend money at a restaurant where the waiters ignored you?  Probably not.  So why do Americans continue to support greedy banks that stiff their customers?

From Huffington Post:  The big banks on Wall Street, propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have had a record year, making record profits while returning to the highly leveraged activities that brought our economy to the brink of disaster. In a slap in the face to taxpayers, they have also cut back on the money they are lending, even though the need to get credit flowing again was one of the main points used in selling the public the bank bailout. But since April, the Big Four banks - JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo - all of which took billions in taxpayer money, have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion.  Meanwhile, America's Main Street community banks - the vast majority of which avoided the banquet of greed and corruption that created the toxic economic swamp we are still fighting to get ourselves out of - are struggling...  If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be.

This might be a good time to Move Your Money.  It's so easy.  Visit the website and enter your zip code for the location of a community bank near you.  Here's the video that could launch a transcendent movement in American history.

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Prop 8 Supporters Still Fearful of Gay Backlash. (So they say.)

Attorney Pleads - Pleads - with Federal Judge To Reject TV Coverage

It's amusing to observe the tortured logic employed by Proposition 8 proponents as they prepare to face a federal court challenge to California's year-old ban on same-sex marriage.  Supporters of the discriminatory amendment are getting weak-kneed at the prospect of television cameras being allowed inside District Judge Vaughn Walker's courtroom.  As is typically the case with equality foes, they prefer to operate under cover of darkness.  They claim to fear "reprisals" from pitchfork wielding gay folks - known more for dodging violence than inciting it - and they contend that potential defense witnesses will be "intimidated" and decline to testify.  Please.

Charles Cooper, the attorney representing Prop 8 supporters in the upcoming case, has been firing off letters to Judge Walker, begging him keep the proceedings from becoming a "circus."  Puh-lease.  These homophobes would be selling hot dogs on the courthouse steps if they thought it would help their cause.

Theodore J. Boutrous, an attorney for the plaintiffs (working with legal eagles Ted Olson and David Boies), responds to Mr. Cooper's faux distress:  "Proponents’ concerns about 'the possibility of compromised safety, witness intimidation, and/or harassment of trial participants' are utterly unsubstantiated and groundless speculation.  Indeed, Proponents willingly thrust themselves into the public eye by sponsoring Prop 8 and orchestrating an expensive, sophisticated, and highly public multimedia campaign to amend the California Constitution. They certainly did not exhibit a similar fear of public attention when attempting to garner votes for Proposition 8 from millions of California voters, when touting their successful campaign strategy in post-election magazine articles and public appearances, or when voluntarily intervening in this case."

Karen Ocamb snaps the leash:  Let me be not so nice.  In fact, the audacity of the complaint infuriates me!  Did some angry gays erupt in protest after the passage of Prop 8 - yes, as is their right.  Was their reaction at having what the California Supreme Court called their fundamental constitutional right taken away by a majority vote frightening to some straight people - no doubt...

Truthfully - given the long long long history of violence against LGBT people - from the biblical "abomination" curse that enabled religious people to justify killing and maiming homosexuals in the name of God, to the murder of the psyches and emotional well-being of LGBT youth, to disdain from family and by extension, society, to lobotomies in the name of mental health, to the LAPD pronouncing us NHI - "no human involved" - I’m truly surprised we are, in the words of Holly Near, "a gentle loving people."  (W)hat Boutrous and by extension Olson and Boies need to understand is that Cooper and his legal team are not just pitching Walker - they are pitching the public.  Cooper’s argument against TV in the courtroom is a legal variation of the successful Prop 8 marketing campaign about "consequences."

Ocamb points to this quote from The Agonist:  The quick answer to the question “How many Christians were killed in the US in 2008 for their religion?”  is zero.  Not one Catholic, Protestant or any other sect of Christians suffered one member of their religion being martyred for Christ.  But seven people were murdered last year in a hate crime: one of them for being black, one for being Hispanic, and five of them for being homosexual or lesbian.

Now let ME be not so nice.  After basing their anti-equality campaign on fear, after spreading misinformation and outright lies, after exploiting the prejudices of voters, after verbally bashing same-sex couples and their children; religious conservatives who pushed through this odious legislation are afraid to testify because of... consequences?

Here's an idea that should satisfy everyone:  Allow the trial to be televised, but let witnesses who support Proposition 8 give their testimony disguised in white sheets with pointy hoods.  In the past this has been an effective means of concealing the identity of bigots.

FWIW:  Although I wouldn't use the term 'bigot' to describe every single person who voted against marriage equality, it most certainly applies to those who mounted last year's Yes On One campaign - in particular the soul-dead individuals associated with the National Organization For Marriage.  These folks are not well-meaning.  They are not "misguided."  People who would lie in order to deny the rights of others are consumed with a special sort of malignant fervor. 

I want to watch them defend their actions in a court of law.  I want to see them take the witness stand.  When asked if they swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, I want to hear them say "I do."

Gay Rights and Death Penalties (with Global Map)

Seven nations around the world allow same-sex marriage:  The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and South Africa.  Seven other countries have laws that punish gays and lesbians with the death penalty:  These include Iran, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Nigeria, and Mauritania.  (Uganda may soon be added to that list.)

From World Focus:  This week, two men in Argentina became the first same-sex married couple in Latin America.  The gay rights activists from Buenos Aires were married in Ushuaia, the capital of Tierra del Fuego state.  Argentina’s constitution does not define marriage as strictly between a man and a woman, allowing local officials some flexibility.  A bill to legalize gay marriage nationwide is now stalled in Argentina’s Congress. 

You'll notice a light blue area to the south of West Texas, bordering on the Rio Grande River.  This is the Mexican state of Coahuila, where civil unions have been recognized since 2007.  (They're called, engagingly, Civil Pacts of Solidarity.)  Below that you'll see a tiny dark blue dot representing Mexico City, whose legislative assembly recently approved gay marriage.  The new law will take effect in March of 2010.

Look at South America.  The large swath of blue indicates that, territorially at least, the continent is more accepting of same-sex couples than the United States. 

Australia and New Zealand, moving in the right direction.

Then there's Africa, where long prison sentences (and even execution) await gays and lesbians.  It gives new meaning to the term "Dark Continent."  The Middle East is equally barbaric when it comes to human rights.  Since LGBT persons are human - despite what religious extremists might believe - gay rights ARE human rights.

From AFP.com:  A Malawian court Wednesday ordered a gay couple arrested for holding the country's first same-sex public wedding ceremony to stay in jail for a further police probe.  "I want the two to remain in custody for police to make thorough investigations," police prosecutor Dickens Mwambazi told the court.  Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, the first Malawian gays to publicly wed in a symbolic ceremony on Saturday appeared before a magistrate in a packed courtroom...  The couple is facing three counts bordering on "indecent practices." ... If convicted, the couple face up to a maximum of fourteen years in jail as Malawi's penal code outlaws homosexuality and sodomy.

One small planet, so many different interpretations of equality.  I wonder what President Obama would think of this map.  Woud he be proud of the way America stacks up against other progressive nations?  Considering his inaction on LGBT issues, he must be satisfied with the gray.

Illinois Senate Candidate Uses Homophobia To Smear Opponent

Andy Martin, previously known as Anthony Martin-Trigona, is one of those perpetual political campaigners who never seems to win an election or hold a public office.  This might be because many voters recognize a rat when they see one - but even calling Martin a rat would be a disservice to self-respecting rodents everywhere.  Martin is trying his damndest to damage the reputation of front-runner Mark Kirk in Illinois' upcoming Republican primary election for the U.S. Senate.  To that end, he's accusing his opponent of being - gasp! - Teh Gay!  Abdon M. Pallasch writes on the Chicago Sun-Times:  Martin’s source? Statements that some conservative Republicans made on a radio show saying they have heard "rumors" that Kirk is gay.  ...Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a ‘solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual’ ...Mark Kirk, a U.S. Naval Intelligence officer, was unavailable for comment because he is on active duty over the holidays, said spokesman Eric Elk.  (So Martin waits until Kirk is away from home, serving his country, to start hurling these accusations?  Wouldn't this put Kirk's military career in jeopardy?)  But Elk issued this statement on his behalf: "The ad is not true and is degrading to the political process. The people of Illinois deserve better."  In one of the many e-mails Martin sends to Chicago media - often in the middle of the night - Martin offers links to a tape of a radio show in which Roeser (did) make the comments referenced in the ad.  "You’ve got Mark Kirk, who has been so strong on his homosexuals so long that the solid rumor is that he himself is a homosexual,"  Roeser said on the program.  

Here's the transcript of Martin's campaign commercial attacking Kirk:  "I'm Andy Martin, Republican candidate for United States Senator.  I approved this message because Illinois Republicans deserve the truth about their candidates.  I have over forty years of experience and integrity fighting corruption, and fighting for the truth in politics.  I helped expose many of Barack Obama's lies in 2008. Today, I am fighting for the facts about Mark Kirk.  Illinois Republican leader Jack Roeser says there is a, "solid rumor that Kirk is a homosexual."  Roeser suggests that Kirk is part of a Republican Party homosexual club.  Lake County Illinois Republican leader Ray True says Kirk has surrounded himself with homosexuals.  Mark Kirk should tell Republican voters the truth.  I’m Andy Martin, a Republican you can trust for U.S. Senator."

State GOP leaders are not happy with Martin's shenanigans.  From CBS News:  The Illinois Republican Party released a statement condemning Martin and his ad.  "His statements today are consistent with his history of bizarre behavior and often times hate-filled speech, which has no place in the Illinois Republican Party," the statement said.  "Mr. Martin will no longer be recognized as a legitimate Republican Candidate by the Illinois Republican Party."  Martin, who has run for political office several times, was convicted of attacking two photographers in Florida, CBS 2 Chicago reports, and was denied admission to the Illinois Bar for "moderately severe character defect."  He reportedly once ran for Congress to "eliminate Jew power in America." ...He also reportedly attacked Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, claiming he is a Muslim and questioning whether he is a U.S. citizen. 

Frankly, that last part sounds like a lot of GOP candidates.  Still, as  much as it pains me, I must give credit where credit is due.  By censoring Andy Martin, the Republican Party of Illinois has acted with wisdom and honor. 

Yikes!  My fingers just burst into flames!   (Pictured left to right: Martin, Kirk) 

Top Ten Anti-Gay Hypocrites of the Decade

"The hypocrite's hope shall perish"  - Job 8:13

This list doesn't include professional homobigots whose careers are built around spreading hate and misinformation about gay folks - individuals like Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, Tony Perkins, Peter LaBarbera, Shirley Roper-Phelps, Bishop Harry Jackson, Alan Chambers, Elaine Donnelly, Lou Sheldon, Bill Donohue - and the hundreds of others who have discovered that generating H8 can also generate cash.

These are public figures who constantly profess "family values."  They cite their Biblical beliefs as a reason to deny equal rights for LGBT Americans.  Their hypocrisy lies either in their actions or in hateful speech that contradicts Jesus' exhortation to "Do unto others."

Republican senator Larry Craig top-tapped his way into the Bathroom Stall of Shame when he made unwanted sexual advances to an undercover officer in an airport toilet.  He was arrested and charged with lewd conduct.  Craig pleaded guilty, blaming the incident on his "wide stance."  In numerous television appearances, Craig proclaimed, "I am not gay. I have never been a gay."  One year after his arrest, Craig sponsored a federal anti-gay marriage amendment.  He also voted against hate crimes legislation.  The Idaho lawmaker retired from office in 2009.

Republican senator and secret diaper fetishist David Vitter paraded his Pampers-clad booty in front of God knows how many D.C. prostitutes.  After Vitter's kinky pastime was exposed, he called a press conference and told constituents "how very sorry" he was for "causing real pain."  (I hear that stiletto heels on a bare back cause real pain, too.)  Louisiana voters forgave him, and he returned to Washington D.C. where he signed on as co-sponsor to Larry Craig's anti-gay marriage amendment.  Most recently, Vitter vigorously opposed Senator Al Franken's anti-rape law, which should make him even less popular with women.

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina touted his "Christian family values" while cheating on his wife with an Argentinean mistress.  The anti-gay Republican at first denied the affair, but when it became apparent that the media was catching up with him, Sanford held a series of on-camera interviews where he shed many tears.  His constituents also shed tears once it was discovered that their tax dollars had been used to finance Sanford's illicit junkets.

Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern made the news when she announced that gays were worse than the terrorists who killed over 2,700 American citizens on Sept 11, 2001.  The crusty Republican says she believes in "Christian love" - but the words coming out of her mouth are anything but Christ-like.  She simply cannot speak about gays and lesbians without using descriptors like "perverted," "sinful," and "sodomite."  Kern's hypocrisy is revealed in part of a speech she made earlier this year:  "These behaviors should be exposed and attacked; however, we should love the people involved in these behaviors and tell them God has a better way."  Her vicious rhetoric has nothing to do with love, and it creates a climate in which hate crimes flourish.  It's worth noting that Kern's husband, a Southern Baptist minister, thinks gays should be rounded up and "forced into treatment centers."  (Would that be God's Gulag?)

Republican senator John Ensign of Nevada, who regularly condemns the "homosexual lifestyle" and insists that "marriage is sacred," broke his own sacred vows by engaging in a sleazy affair with campaign staffer Cynthia Hampton.  Ensign later paid Hampton $96,000 in hush money to "make it all go away."  His case is currently under investigation.

All the times Reverend Ted Haggard was bashing gays and lesbians from the pulpit, he was secretly using drugs and seeking sexual gratification from a male prostitute.  Despite the pastor's recent attempts at rebranding himself as a non-hater, the boyish Haggard remains focused on his own personal "trials."  He is totally oblivious to his hypocrisy or the hurt he's inflicted on LGBT Christians.  His half-hearted apologies are for the things he did, not for the things he said.  This is what one might expect from a person who's been born again and again and again.

New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate slashed his girlfriend's face with a broken bottle, dragged her by the hair, and slammed her head against the walls of an apartment building.  (The incident was caught on tape and went viral on Youtube.)  Mere days after being found guilty in the attack, Monserrate voted against marriage equality for same-sex couples.  And now this monster says he wants to wed the woman he's been abusing.

Another opponent of gay marriage, Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall, bragged to a fellow GOP lawmaker about spanking his lobbyist girlfriend and how his semen "dripped" out of her during sex.   It was also revealed that he's been cheating on that mistress with another mistress. Unfortunately for the 54-year-old husband and father, a nearby microphone was turned on and the entire exchange was recorded.  Duvall, who promptly resigned, is being investigated for ethics violations since his girlfriend works for Sempra Energy, one of the state's largest providers of utilities.

Pope Benedict XVI told the impoverished citizens of Third World countries that using condoms makes the AIDS epidemic worse.  (Untold thousands will die because of this.)  He said that "saving" the planet from gays and lesbians is as important as saving the rainforests from destruction (even though his own holy church provides cover for pedophile priests).  Pope Benedict claims to love children - and yet he insists that therapeutic abortion is far worse than the rape of a little girl.

Anti-gay Republican leader Newt Gingrich really believes in the "sanctity of marriage."  He must - since he keeps doing it over and over and over.  He admitted to getting oral sex from a campaign staffer when he was still married to his first wife.  He served divorce papers on her while she was in the hospital, immobilized with cancer.  He left his second wife for another woman and didn't even bother telling her in person.  He called her on the telephone, delivered the news, and hung up.  When he married a third time he tossed aside his life-long Baptist faith and converted to Catholicism at the request of his new spouse.  To Gingrich, wives are like religion: disposable necessities.  (Pictured: Vitter, Haggard, Gingrich.)

Gays Excluded From Immigration Reform Bill

Once again the Democratic Party demonstrates that although it is eager to accept votes and campaign contributions from the LGBT community, centrist Democrats (including the president) remain reluctant to enact legislation that might actually benefit gay, lesbian, and transgendered persons. 

American citizens with same-sex partners seeking visas are the latest victims of lawmakers willing to use equality as a bargaining chip.  A new immigration bill ensures that these foreign-born loved ones are not allowed to qualify for visas while their straight counterparts - who are currently living in the United States illegally - will qualify.  Granted, this might not be the most pressing LGBT rights issue before Congress.  However, it is immensely important to those whose relationships are affected by the measure.

Jennifer Bendery from Roll Call:  House proponents of comprehensive immigration reform unveiled an ambitious proposal last week with much fanfare, but lost in the buzz was that their bill isn’t entirely comprehensive.  They intentionally left out protections for gay and lesbian immigrants.  Sam Worley writes on Windy City Times:  Chief among these was an allowance for LGBT people to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration - which would, at least in this regard, put gay couples legally on par with heterosexual married couples.  Back to Bendery:  "All the evangelists, Catholics and churches that are part of this were whacking out" over the gay and lesbian provisions, said a Democratic lawmaker familiar with negotiations on the bill.  The lawmaker said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who has led the House effort on comprehensive immigration reform, initially "didn’t want to deal with it. At all." ...Gutierrez denied that he wanted to keep gay and lesbian language out of his bill.  "That’s just not true," he said, pointing to his long-standing record of supporting the gay community... Suggesting that progress is already under way in uniting the two communities, Gutierrez pointed out that most Congressional Hispanic Caucus members are co-sponsors of legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, a top priority for the gay community.

Yeah, like repealing DOMA is going to happen anytime soon.  David Dayan writes on Firedoglake:  Earlier this month, Nancy Pelosi signaled that, after her chamber of Congress passed virtually the entire Democratic agenda in the first half of the 111th Congress, she’d wait for the Senate to take the lead before passing anything else of note.  So how has the Senate responded?  By begging the White House to let them stop passing anything of note.

As the late political commentator Molly Ivins once said: "If they weren't all scoundrels, liars and idiots, it wouldn't be a representative democracy."   (Pictured:  Rep. Luis Gutierrez)