The Progressive Puppy

Glenn Beck, Hating on Progressives

"The disease in this country is progressivism.  It's a cancer." - Glenn Beck, Virtuoso of Fears and Tears

John Aravosis writes on AmericaBlog:  As someone who has been studying far right bigotry for 17 years now, I listen to this compilation of Glenn Beck talking about "progressives," and I hear the same bigotry used to smear Jews over the years - but instead now the word being used instead of "Jew" is "progressive." Listen to the language. An infection. A disease. A cancer. They lie, cheat and steal. Creeping their way into the system under the cover of darkness. They hate the Constitution, they distort history.  Also, note how Beck is now trying to demonize the word "progressive" the way Republicans spent the last several decades demonizing the word "liberal."

Check out this video of the deranged Fox News host spreading his hate, compiled by David Neiwert at Crook and Liars.

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Who knew progressives were such malevolent, mustache-twirling villains?  Here are a few things progressives don't do (unlike some fans of Beck and other ultraconservative media personalities):  We don't gun down abortion providers and police officers to make a political statement.  We don't blow up government buildings (Oklahoma City) and crash private airplanes into IRS offices (Austin). We don't walk into LGBT-welcoming churches and shoot people during a children's production of "Annie" (Knoxville).  We don't pray for the death of our duly elected President.  We don't assault people whose sexual orientation is different from our own.  We don't join militias and intimidate Hispanic citizens.  We don't send out emails with racist jokes and pictures.  We don't believe in torturing individuals who haven't been charged with a crime.  We don't shove our religious beliefs down other people's throats.  And we don't tell lies in order to deny equal rights to taxpaying Americans.  Have I left anything out?

American Pariahs - LGBT Homeless Youth

In the United States, up to forty percent all homeless youngsters identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.  This means that more than one out of three "street kids" have been cast adrift because parents and guardians wouldn't accept their child's sexual orientation.

On the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, James Causey writes about one such case, a youth named Bailey who was taken away from his mother at aged two and then physically abused by a series of foster parents:  Those physical scars hurt, but the verbal scars hurt even more. It was after a foster mother told him that she was only keeping him for the check that he built up a wall to protect himself. He ran away constantly. Things changed when he became a teenager.  It was then that a new foster mother provided him with a strong stable environment with what he told me was filled with Christian values. (Which inevitably come with strings attached.)  It was at this time that Bailey realized he was gay. His foster mother adopted him and cautiously accepted his sexuality, but she warned him that she didn't want to see him act on it.  ("No parades for you, young man!  I'm sure you'll be quite comfortable in the closet with your Bible.")  So he hid it until a relative caught him kissing another boy... This kiss ruined their relationship. Bailey said things got so bad that he was told to leave. I bet many homeless gay teens have had similar experiences when they came out.  It's one thing to be kicked out of a home for misbehavior, quite another for just being who you are. (Some, I suspect, run away from home rather than submit to damaging "reparative therapy" or the soul-crushing "transformational ministries" favored by evangelicals.)

From About.com:  So why do LGBT youth become homeless? In one study, 26 percent of gay teens who came out to their parents/guardians were told they must leave home; LGBT youth also leave home due to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Homeless LGBT youth are more likely to: use drugs, participate in sex work, and attempt suicide.  Also, LGBT youth report they are threatened, belittled and abused at shelters by staff as well as other residents. 

From USA Today:  Parents with strong convictions that homosexuality is always wrong find it hardest to accept their gay teens... At its most extreme, that means throwing a child out.  Nobody knows exactly how many gay teens meet that fate, but a disproportionate share of homeless young people in the USA are gay, a new report from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force says. Family conflict, including conflict over sexual orientation, is a key reason they're homeless.

You can read that comprehensive .pdf report here.  It's a fascinating  document.  A brief excerpt:  LGBT youth face the threat of victimization everywhere: at home, at school, at their jobs, and, for those who are out-of-home, at shelters and on the streets. According to the National Runaway Switchboard, LGBT homeless youth are seven times more likely than their heterosexual peers to be victims of a crime.  While some public safety agencies try to help this vulnerable population, others adopt a “blame the victim” approach, further decreasing the odds of victimized youth feeling safe reporting their experiences.

From Indypendent:  LGBT youth homelessness is a hidden reality of 21st-century America. The stories of despair, high HIV rates and street murders continue to be under-reported and unaddressed... The confluence of homophobia and poverty puts kids on the streets and keeps them there.

The GLBT National Help Center offers guidance, assistance, assurance, and resources for these homeless gay kids, with a 24/7 hotline staffed by trained volunteers and professionals.  The toll-free number is 1-800-246-PRIDE

Recommended Viewing:  Prayers for Bobby, the heartbreaking true story about a Christian mom who rejects her gay son, which eventually leads to his suicide.  She realizes her mistake after it's too late to make ammends.

How many parents kick their LGBT children out of the house and never bother to learn what happens to them?  And how many of those kids end up on the streets - frightened, friendless, and malnourished?  It's enough to make you weep.

Pat Boone Denies His Homophobia, Then Links Gays to Pedophiles

76-year old Pat Boone, the moth-eaten movie star/treacly warbler whose born-again fervor compels him to dehumanize LGBT Americans at every opportunity, has written one of the most disingenuous commentaries I've had the misfortune to read this year.  He's a frequent contributor on World Net Daily, where homophobic opinion pieces are as common as gay slurs in Uganda.  Some WND writers, like Boone, bash queers in the name "Christian love."  Others take the low road, portraying gays and lesbians as child-molesters, disease-ridden deviants, and fecal matter aficionados.  I actually prefer the latter approach since it lays bear the depraved, sex-obsessed minds of these bigots. But Pious Pat is a more artful homo hater - or at least he thinks he is.

As Christian extremists are wont to do, Boone starts his piece by bragging about his gay friends.  He mentions two, both victims of AIDS, who are no longer around to confirm or deny Pat's self-proclaimed "affection" for them.  About Rock Hudson the creaky crooner writes:  A major, iconic movie star, he too was homosexual. But the world didn't know that, until he was famously revealed to be dying of HIV/AIDS. He, and those close to him, knew well that if his sexual proclivities were known, he could never have been the superstar ladies' man... So he and those who profited from his stardom kept it quiet until almost the end. (Yes, Hudson was forced  to cower in the closet because of organized religion, the Hays Code, and people like Pat Boone.)  My wife, three friends and I were with him the night before he died...  He couldn't speak, and his emaciated body bore no resemblance to the one millions of women had dreamed of. But his eyes shone as our little group gathered by his bed to pray with, and for him. Obeying the admonition in James 5 in the New Testament, I poured a little oil on his bare chest and rubbed it in with my hand, praying for him to be healed and restored.  (If Boone obeyed Jesus' admonitions to "Do unto others" and "Judge not" he would have ended his article at this point.  But no such luck.) I relate the above to make it extremely clear I'm no homophobe. Far from it. I've flourished in the entertainment business for over 50 years now and I've always had good friends who were, and are, homosexual.

Like homophobes everywhere, Pat Boone is reluctant to use the word "gay."  By repeating homosexual, homosexual, homosexual, homosexual, homosexual he defines our humanity by a libidinous act.  And here the mask of Christian kindness slips away:  Based solely on what they do to please each other sexually, they demand special rights, privileges and entitlements. By their own pronouncements, they are no different in any other way from other Americans – the only things that set them apart from the other two men I describe are the things that satisfy them sexually.  (No mention of the profound love gays and lesbians feel for their life partners and children, or the selfless acts they perform for others.  To fundies like Pat, it's all about carnal gratification.  That is his focus, not ours.)

After dwelling on the sheer "wickedness" of marriage equality, Boone throws his prayerful support behind the military's discriminatory Don't Ask Don't Tell policy.  Pat rejects Admiral Mike Mullen's recently stated reason for overturning the ban, which is "because it forces gay troops to compromise their integrity by lying." Boon-dawg never served a day in the armed forces, yet he thinks he knows better than Mullen, General Colin Powell, and other military leaders who currently oppose DADT: The obvious, expressed purpose of the policy is that the subject never come up or be discussed. Sexual proclivity, if not violent or a menace to someone else, should be a private matter. If a soldier has a "foot fetish," is attracted to young boys or feels compelled to masturbate frequently, should he volunteer – or be required – to confess those urges, for "integrity's" sake? 

Wow, it sure didn't take long for this non-homophobic "family values" guy with his dead "homosexual friends" to link sexual orientation - a natural biological variance - with pedophilia and fetishism.  Mr. Boone, like most of the columnists on World Net Daily, is a relic from a bygone era where wives were treated like chattel and small children were beaten with leather belts.  He is a cultural curiosity, a grim exhibit appropriate for display in the Creation Museum, alongside the fake velociraptor and that mannequin of a young girl merrily grinding her wheat. 

Pat Boone is singularly unqualified to discuss LGBT issues, regardless of how many closet cases he encountered during his blessedly brief career in Hollywood. His knowledge of gays and lesbians is as deficient as his empathy for others, his Christian compassion as phony as a plastic Jesus wobbling on the dashboard of a Buick.  Did I mention that he starred in a 2005 documentary called "Fuck?"  Peddle your make-believe tolerance elsewhere, old man.

Palin, The Wisdom Dispenser

To Fox News addicts, Sarah Palin's observations no doubt seem erudite and infinitely fascinating.  The "fair and balanced" network has provided Caribou Barbie with the perfect platform for her rambling style of punditry. 

Sarah knows what's wrong with America, and she's always eager to share her wingnut wisdom in this non-threatening environment.  There are no annoying reporters like Katie Couric asking her about books and magazines and stuff, or Charlie Gibson quizzing her about that gosh-darned Bush Doctrine. She is given the respect she demands, the dignity her legions of fans believe she deserves, and free reign to pontificate until everybody's eardrums burst.    

As an official contributor for the official anti-Obama Newsy Channel, Palin has become philosophical superciliousness personified.  In the sad languorous minds of Fox viewers, she is Rousseau, Socrates, Kant, and Machiavelli all rolled into one winking, twinkling sugary confection.  Today, after informing fellow progressive-hater Sean Hannity that the president's Health Care Summit was a "major victory" for Republicans, she popped out her breathless convictions like a political Pez dispenser...

"Now a simple answer to a challenge we face today with the tea party movement -- and I believe that I'm a part of that because I'm such a believe in freedom and that's what the tea party is all about -- a simple answer to the challenge that they face and not knowing kind of where we belong right now is to essentially pick a party because we are a two party system.  It's a heck of a lot easier to get in there and reform one of the parties and get the people in the party to understand what has built this great country and what will allow for a brighter future for this great country than it is to form a whole new machine and a whole new process via a third party.  Let's just get in there and take over one of the parties. I vote take over the Republican Party, tea partiers, and get them to see the light."

I thought they'd already done that.

Priest: No Communion for Gay 'Prince'

Gijs Vermeulen, a 24-year old bartender in the Netherlands, was just selected as Prince of the Carnival, an honorary title bestowed by his hometown of Reusel.  During the Prince’s four-day reign, he's expected to wave at crowds, engage in prescribed acts of tomfoolery, and dole out free beer to citizens.  He is also required to participate in a traditional mass on the Saturday before Carnival.  And therein lies the rub.  Not only is Vermeulen gay, he's currently in a committed relationship with another male.  So when the local priest was informed that this openly gay "prince" would be attending services at his church, things went sour fast.

From NRC:  According to Catholic teaching, people who live in sin are excluded from holy communion. It is public knowledge in Reusel that Vermeulen lives together with his boyfriend. Therefore, Father Luc Buyens of the local church told the prince before the ceremony he would receive "a cross on his forehead but no communion wafer."  The incident has caused uproar. Gaykrant, a Dutch gay magazine, called on its readers to descend upon Reusel and visit last Sunday’s mass. Confronted with a deluge of homosexuals, father Buyens called upon the bishop of Den Bosch for guidance, before deciding to send his entire flock, regulars and new arrivals alike, home without granting them the communion.  Now, an even larger crowd looks set to descend on the Cathedral of St. John, an historic monument that has long been home to the bishop of Den Bosch. Several gay rights organizations have embraced the initiative, as has the Labour party chairman, Lilianne Ploumen. 

Vermeulen says he never intended to be a poster boy for gay rights and that the local press got wind of his sexual orientation through friends and colleagues.  After that, the issue took on a life of its own.  "What annoys me as well is the lack of uniform policy. Other so-called sinners - not that I would call them that - do not have this problem. If the church were consistent, nobody could receive communion." 

Father Buyens accused Gijs of committing the "grave sin" of loving another man and said that granting him communion would be "sacrilege."  Bishop Antoon Hurkmans has announced that from this point on his diocese will be "more careful" in granting holy communion. He said pastors will start asking people who have remarried or don't attend church regularly to refrain from communion, as well as banning suspected gays and lesbians from receiving the sacrament.

The Catholic Church is facing death by a thousand cuts, all self-inflicted.

Sorry, Harold. It's Not Going to Work Out.

Why would a politician who voted to enshrine anti-gay discrimination in the US Constitution decide that he's suddenly seen the light and now supports marriage equality?  Here's Harold Ford's answer: "I was wrong before and I think I’m right now."  (Well. As long as he thinks he's right, I suppose that makes everything okay.)  This is the correct answer: "In Tennessee I had to pander to Christian conservatives. But I've moved to the Big Apple where homophobia is frowned upon, and I must pretend to be tolerant. So who wants a hug?"

Harold Ford Jr. is considering running against the highly-respected US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the primaries.  Gillibrand has been an aggressive and consistent supporter of gay rights, and she has no hurtful Senate votes to apologize for.  Unlike our current President and those snarling southern Blue Dog Democrats, Kirsten is a genuine "fierce advocate" for LGBT Americans - and she deserves our loyalty.

From New York Magazine:  Maybe because he's a glutton for punishment, Harold Ford Jr. decided to go speak to the gay-advocacy group the Stonewall Democrats last night. The reception was less than welcoming, perhaps because, though he recently became a supporter of gay marriage, Ford not too long ago was one of only a few Democrats in Congress to vote for a Constitutional amendment banning it. Throughout his address and the Q&A session that followed, during which Ford admitted that his past positions were wrong, the audience heckled ("Anti-choice, anti-gay, snake-oil Harry go away!") and held up signs ("Liar")...

The website Queerty has decided to scold the protesters.  The event wasn't just unfriendly to Ford; it was rude.  So, allow us to take a moment to address that: Shouting over the invited guest? Demanding he "go home," when you're the ones who bothered showing up to an event you knew he'd appear at? If you want to protest him, fine, but at least let him speak. We'd expect the same for our own. This was uncalled for and makes New York's gay community look intolerant and juvenile - the same things we accuse others of being.  The issue of gays serving openly in the military was addressed.  From TPM:  Lt. Dan Choi, the National Guardsman who has become a vocal opponent of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, was at the meeting and questioned Ford on the policy.  Ford said he fully supports repeal.  But for Choi and others, that may not be enough -- especially since Gillibrand has become a public opponent of the policy, which bans openly gay men and women from serving in the military.  "You'd be punishing our only advocate in the Senate," Choi said.  "You can count on me to do the same thing" as Gillibrand, Ford responded.

During the question and answer session, Ford actually said he was unfamiliar with Lawrence versus Texas, the 2003 landmark Supreme Court decision that decriminalized homosexuality in America.  It had to be explained to him by a member of the audience.  Do much homework, Harold?

Gays and lesbians in the Empire State are still stinging from a crushing defeat at the hands of politicians who behave exactly like Ford.  They are understandably angry and suspicious of fair-weather Democrats.  They've been kicked in the teeth by public officials who promised to vote for equality and then jumped ship at the first sign of stormy seas.  So I'm willing to cut them some slack over their "rudeness" - especially since Mr. Ford hasn't come up with a plausible reason for his abrupt change of heart.  I expect he'll keep trying to think of one, though.  And there are always other elections.

As Streisand said to Omar Sharif in Funny Girl:  "There's no harm in waiting. Some people do it all the time."