The Progressive Puppy

Rowdy's Roundup - Bite-Sized Pieces

Dominionist Bryan Fischer has declared that Medicare and Social Security are "unGodly."   Fischer is fortunate that his wealth prevents him from needing them.

At the NRA's annual convention in Pittsburgh, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich took a break from bashing Obama to inform gun advocates that their right to bear arms comes directly from God.

Donald Trump is such a noble guy, dontcha know.  He says he wishes he "didn't have to consider" running for president.  (So do we.)  Time Magazine recaps The Donald's Top Ten Failures.

It will surprise nobody that "Christians reconstructionists" are anti-union, or that Gary North is hopelessly deluded.

Pope John Paul II is beatified by the Holy See, nudging his carcass a step closer to sainthood.  Pass the peas.

One of the wealthiest members of Congress, Republican Denny Rehberg of Montana, claims that he and his wife are "struggling like everyone else."  The conservative whines that he is "land rich and cash poor."  Rehberg and his spouse both own businesses.  I assume these people have top-notch health care and don't miss many meals.  Even so, we're supposed to feel sorry for their "struggle." 

According to the Gallup organization, public perception of the Tea Party has reached an all-time low.

Conservative Christians despise Planned Parenthood so much they're willing to let babies go hungry.

"Porno" Pete LaBarbera of the hate group AFTAH is calling Alvin McEwen an "extremist."  (When LaBarbera finishes donning leather attire for his "undercover" S&M excursions, he should perhaps look in the mirror.) 

During a speech on Affirmative Action, Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern said that women and African-Americans make less money than white men because they're lazy.  After issuing an apology, the Republican blamed the press for taking her remarks "out of context" - the well-practiced excuse of racist GOPers.

Pat Robertson is still banging on the Sodom and Gomorrah drum.

A gay Bollywood film is being financed by donations via Facebook.

Texas Rep. Blake Farenthold likens unemployed Americans to alcoholics. 

Fox News executives apparently thought it would be a grand idea to have Congressman Ron Paul debate an Obama impersonator.  The results are, to put it mildly, bizarre:

Non-Traditional Families Matter, Too (video)

In the following award-winning video from COLAGE, children living in non-traditional families share their stories and plead for equality.  (Hat Tip:  Pam's House Blend)

As you watch this moving film, know that some religious leaders are still comparing gays and lesbians to terrorists.

Virginia AG Drops Law Firm That Supports Equality

Amanda Terkel reports for the Huffington Post:  Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) is terminating his office's relationship with law firm King & Spalding after the firm decided to drop its defense of the controversial Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) last week...  On Monday, King & Spalding announced that it was filing a motion to withdraw its representation of DOMA, saying that "the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate."  Shortly after the firm announced that it would no longer take the case, Paul Clement, former solicitor general under President George W. Bush and the partner charged with leading the firm's defense, submitted his letter of resignation and announced he would be going to a smaller firm and would continue to represent the House Republicans.

Ken Cuccinelli has often demonstrated an irrational antipathy for LGBT Americans.  You will recall that in 2010 this overreaching "family values" pol ordered Virginia's public universities to "rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."  His pious posturing was viewed by voters as mean-spirited and backwards - and the move to sanction bias on college campuses proved unsuccessful.  Although much of Cuccinelli's rhetoric mirrors that of Old Dominion's chief executive, Governor Bob McDonnell; the state's top legal adviser pursues his homophobic agenda with a zest remindful of disgraced conservatives Larry Craig and Mark Foley (both of whom turned out to be self-loathing closet cases) or - similarly hypocritical - GOP serial adulterers like Mark Sanford, Newt Gingrich and John Ensign. 

Responding to King & Spalding's decision on DOMA, the churlish Cuccinelli composed a snooty diatribe to law firm partner Joseph Lynch which has just been obtained by the Washington Examiner.  Hold yer noses, Pups!  "King & Spalding's willingness to drop a client, the U.S. House of Representatives, in connection with the lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was such an obsequious act of weakness that I feel compelled to end your legal association with Virginia so that there is no chance that one of my legal clients will be put in the embarrassing and difficult situation like the client you walked away from, the House of Representatives."

The House? The entire governing body? Please. This desperate and intensely partisan lawsuit was conceived and initiated by congressional Republicans who inevitably feel obliged to appease the basest of their Base - anti-gay hate groups like NOM, the Family Research Council, and Focus on the Family.  Cuccinelli himself bashes LGBT Virginians at every opportunity.  He has worked diligently to thwart adoption and fostering by same-sex couples in his state, thus depriving many special needs youngsters of a loving home.  He has called committed gay and lesbian relationships "intrinsically wrong."  Cuccinelli simply radiates hate, as do many religious zealots held captive by intransigence.

FRC's Solution for Gay Teen Suicides: Stay Closeted

From the Associated Press:  Suicide attempts by gay teens — and even straight kids — are more common in politically conservative areas where schools don't have programs supporting gay rights, a study involving nearly 32,000 high school students found...  The study's social index rated counties on five measures: prevalence of same-sex couples; registered Democratic voters; liberal views; schools with gay-straight alliances; schools with policies against bullying gay students; and schools with antidiscrimination policies that included sexual orientation.

This research, conducted by Mark Hatzenbuehler and Columbia University, was deemed significant enough to be published in the American Journal of Pediatrics.  The results of the study are hardly surprising.  But leave it to Peter Sprigg of the nauseating Family Research Council (an organization recently designated as a Hate Group by the Southern Poverty Law center) to promote the idea that gay students should be ashamed of themselves and continue cowering in the closet - y'know, so conservative Christian kids won't be tempted to bully them.  Writes the slimy Sprigg:  "The most effective way of reducing teen suicide attempts is not to create a positive social environment for the affirmation of homosexuality.  Instead, it would be to discourage teens from self-identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual."

Sprigg regurgitates the myth that teenagers are being "encouraged" to "come out at younger and younger ages," which reinforces the discredited stereotype of gays and lesbians as predators.  He doesn't realize how difficult it is for an adolescent to admit a same-sex orientation to friends and family members.  Sprigg has never experienced the pain of being ostracized and slandered and even physically assaulted because of an immutable characteristic. 

But of course he wouldn't, being a common propagandist for the American Taliban.

In Anti-Gay Hate Crime, Horses Burn to Death

Eight horses in rural Ohio have burned to death in what authorities are calling a hate crime.  The horses were stabled on the private property of a gay man, who found anti-gay slurs spray-painted on his barn.  From Whiz News:  Seven adult horses and one foal died as a result of an arson fire at 874 West Richards Road in McConnelsville just after 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Owner Brent Whitehouse said he woke to discover the barn engulfed in flames and immediately called 911, but it was too late.  "I couldn't get the door open I could still hear the horses kicking and I tried as hard as I could to get them out and I just couldn't get them out in time," he said.  Those who know Brent believe this was a hate crime, explicit words relating to his sexuality were spray painted in large white letters on the side of the barn before the fire was started.  "They obviously don't know him very well, because he's a sweet-hearted person and how he lives his lifestyle is nobody's business but his own," said Friend Bobbie Nelson.  "Whatever his sexual orientation was it had nothing to do with him as a person and to take it out on these innocent horses was beyond any fathom of what anybody should ever do to anybody," said Yvette Yeadon.  Yeadon worked closely with many of the animals on a weekly basis. She said the foal was only a-week-old and one of the other horses was expected to give birth any day now.

Chris Crook and Kathy Thompson report for Zanesville Times Recorder:  Whitehouse, a horse trainer and breeder, and owner of an insurance company in McConnelsville, said he is still in shock over losing Elvis, Barney, Floyd, Princess and her week-old foal, Buddy, Love, Bella and Ethel. The value of the horses was hundreds of thousands of dollars.  “Each one of them was so special,” Whitehouse said. “I’d come home from a long day at the office and go to the barn and be with them for hours. They just knew how to relax me and make me laugh.”  ...M&M Volunteer Fire Department Chief Gary Woodward said it took his firefighters almost two hours to put out the flames after getting the call from Whitehouse.  "We stayed through the night after seeing the painting and called the fire marshal's office," Woodward said. "We felt it was a crime scene at that point."  Whitehouse said he has gotten so much support from neighbors and friends in Morgan County...  "I just don't understand someone wanting to kill innocent animals," Whitehouse said. "It's like killing a child. Those horses never did anything to hurt anyone."

I predict that the perpetrator(s) of this horrifying crime will eventually be caught - especially if the story is picked up by our not-always-alert main stream media.  I'll also predict that the arsonist is a person (or persons) who's aware of how much these animals mattered to Brent.  The Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association is offering a $5000.00 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever torched the barn and killed the eight horses.

You will recall that back in September of 2010, a lesbian couple living in rural Tennessee had their dream house burned to the ground by a homophobic neighbor.  The word "Queers" was painted on the home's detached garage.  (At this point, the women's insurance company is refusing to pay for damages.)  The couple have been together for 16 years.

These are not isolated incidents.  WHZNews provides disturbing video of the scene in Ohio:

Like Brent Whitehouse, I also can't comprehend the sort of intense hatred that would inspire people to do something like this.  But part of the blame must rest with leaders of the Religious Right and those anti-gay orgs and politicians who spread fear and toxic lies about LGBT Americans.  They fan the flames of bigotry with their hate.  They poison the well.  They have set the stage for the countless tragedies we see playing out across the country.  The gay youth suicides, the vicious assaults, the cold-blooded murders.  It. Must. End.

Backlash from Church's Gay-Welcoming Billboard

The Central United Methodist Church in Toledo, Ohio, has erected a billboard that proclaims "Being Gay is a Gift From God."  Dan Rutt, a member of CUM's lead team which is responsible for the billboard, says he expects "a vigorous conversation in this community in many forms."  (That's putting it mildly.)  David Yonke reports for the Toledo Blade:  The Rev. Bill Barnard, Central’s part-time pastor, said the billboard message will be linked to a four-week sermon series, and the overall campaign goal is “to make a leap beyond tolerance.”  “Members of the congregation have experienced places and times where being lesbian or gay was tolerated — kind of 'don’t ask, don’t tell,' I know God forgives you,” Barnard said. “We’re saying, This is the way God created you. There’s nothing to forgive.“  Both Mr. Rutt and Mr. Barnard, who described themselves as “straight allies” of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, pointed out that Central has had a long history of supporting gay rights.  

Evangelical leaders in the area, appalled at the thought of a Supreme Being who doesn't loathe queer individuals, are objecting to the billboard.  Among those who take issue with Central's inclusive message is the Very Reverend Scott Ocke, pastor of Maumee United Methodist Church:  "Our denomination says all persons are of sacred worth. It also says the practice of homosexuality is not compatible with Christian teaching. So we try to distinguish between what a person is and what they practice."  Ocke added that gays and lesbians are welcome in his church as long as they're prepared to "move to a more biblical lifestyle."  (Sigh.)  Pastor Adam Read of Bethany Baptist Church is shocked, shocked!  "The scriptures clearly condemn homosexuality as being a perversion of God’s plan as is stated clearly in Romans 1:26-27,” Preacher Read ejaculated. “God states that homosexuality is wrong, so it is impossible for homosexuality to be a gift from God.”

This is UMC's official position on gays and lesbians, according the General Conference's "holy" Book of Discipline:  "While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals1 are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church... Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches." 

More than a few visitors to Toledo Blade's website expressed similar sentiments - and worse.  From those comments:

"God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve."  (Bible thumpers are still saying that?)
"People are under the delusion that they can just live however they want with no consequence. Homosexuality is a sin. There is no other way to say it.  I do not hate homosexuals.  The Bible says to love the sinner but hate the sin.  That's what I do."  (How noble and smug of you.)  "It's no different than loving an alcoholic, but hating the addiction."  (Spare us.)
"I find it interesting how a Christian church can read the Bible and come up with this stance.  Either the Word of God is the truth or it isn't.  You can't pick and choose."  (Pass the scallops.)
"We are talking about a so called church with a so called pastor making up his own so called Bible.  I already know that anyone can call themselves a pastor."  (This applies to many politically conservative preachers.)
 "The last thing Toledo needs is to become a 'progressive' city."  (Oh, the horrors!)  "That word is just a fancy way of introducing all of the despicable society destroying lifestyles that NICE places don't want to be associated with.  If you want progressive MOVE TO SAN FRANCISCO."  (Or Canada. Or the European Union. Or really anyplace where religious zealots don't set themselves up as morality police.)
"Looky here, gay people. Now you too can buy a ticket on the stairway to heaven. We'll twist that Bible any way you need to, as long as it frees up that basket hand."  (Fundie sarcasm. How cute is that?)
"Well, I don't think I want to shake hands in that congregation.  There isn't enough sanitizer on the earth that would get that icky feeling off my hands!"  (Christian love just radiates from this guy.)
"How wrong they are!  Homosexuality came from the sin that was brought into this world by Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God and ate of the Forbidden fruit from the tree of life!  Which they where not supposed to eat!  Had they listened there would be no sin!"  (You can never use too many exclamation points.)

And these same folks are astonished when their children grow up to commit hate crimes.  Jesus wept.