Friday, May 27, 2011

NOM continues its game of lies in New York and Minnesota

In his legendary book, The Art of War, Chinese general Sun-Tzu said that all war is based on deception.

If the National Organization for Marriage has that quote written prominently at its headquarters, I wouldn't be surprised.

Brian Brown and the NOM are both trumpeting a poll which supposedly shows that a majority of folks in Minnesota actually favor the amendment against gay marriage. There is just one problem though. The pertinent part of NOM's post is highlighted:

A new Survey USA poll shows Minnesotans favors the marriage amendment 51 percent to 40 percent. Local ABC News reports:
The vote on the gay marriage amendment in 2012 could be a close one, according to our exclusive new SurveyUSA poll. In our survey of 552 registered voters on May 23 and 24, 51% say they support the amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Another 40% say they oppose the amendment, while 8% say they wouldn't vote on the issue and 2% are undecided. This is a significant change from our last poll in March when 62% favored the amendment banning gay marriage and 33% were opposed. Both sides anticipate multi-million campaigns, including television and radio ads and a major social media effort.

In just two months, 11 percent moved from favoring the amendment. Seven percent moved to not voting for the amendment. Don't let anyone fool you about this. It represents the simple fact that the momentum seems to be on the side of those opposing this awful amendment. And if they work it right, they won't lose this momentum. Part of this is knowing what is coming in terms of NOM's game plan.

In a long-winded letter to supporters, Brown doesn't even address this crucial fact regarding the poll. Of course he doesn't address the controversy involving NOM's partner in Minnesota - the Minnesota Family Council and its claims about gays being into bestiality, pedophilia, urine, and feces - but that's to be expected from Brown and NOM.

But Brown does try to pull a fast one on folks:

A reporter for a local news site interviewed people on the streets of Bed-Stuy, a Brooklyn neighborhood. "Most Bed-Stuy residents we spoke to were in favor of traditional marriage," according to the Bed-Stuy Patch:
Jason, a 26-year-old computer tech walking along Fulton Street back to work, concurred. "I don't care what the next man does, but God didn't intend for two men to get married nor two women. That just makes everything untraditional. After you pass same-sex marriage you're just throwing religion out the door."

"I don't believe in same-sex marriage, but to each their own. If that's what the people want to do... but I don't believe that it should be a law," said another Bed-Stuy resident who declined to give her name.

That sounds terrible, except for one thing. According to Jeremy Hooper from the blog Goodasyou.org, NOM is making a huge mountain out of a small molehill:

. . . wherein reporter Cleon Alert quotes eight people who he spoke to on a neighborhood street corner. No, I'm not kidding you: That is literally all they are working from here. NOM is taking this one random report, in which five Bed-Stuy locals say they are against same-sex marriage and three express support, and using it to say that this Brooklyn neighborhood is opposed to marriage equality for gay couples. 

It's going to be a long haul when one takes into account how the depths that NOM will stoop to. I would suggest that those in New York keep calling their legislators to advocate for marriage equality. Those in Minnesota shouldn't be disheartened.  Organize now. Know the tactics of NOM, spell out reasons why this awful amendment is damaging to the state, support organizations fighting the amendment, and above all, tell your friends and neighbors.

That last message particularly goes out to lgbts in Minnesota. Come out and tell your stories as often as possible.


For those wishing to donate their time or funds, go to Minnesotans United for all Families.


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4 comments:

Henriet said...

Good point though your math is not completely right. You say that "In just two months, 11 percent moved from favoring the amendment to opposing it." You can't say this based on the poll numbers (you might be right but this particular poll doesn't lend support to this claim). The number supporting the amendment went from 62% to 51%, a 11 percentage point drop indeed. But not all 11% seem to have moved over to the opposing side since that number only increased with 7%. So there is 4% unaccounted for and most likely, these people switched from supporting the amendment to saying they would not vote on the issue or being undecided.

BlackTsunami said...

U r right. I meant to say that support for amendment dropped by 11 percent. I will make the correction.

BlackTsunami said...

Correction made.

Anonymous said...

I've caught NOM out on their lies a few times, the most recent their assertion that 80% of Rhode Island residents want to see a referendum on gay marriage.

If you work the voter db numbers, there's now way in holy hell 80% of RI'ers would go for it.

But rest assured, if someone from NOM has their fingers flying across the keyboard or are appearing in public, it's probably a good sign that they are telling a mistruth, half truth, or outright lie.