Conservatives throwing tantrums at black community over Obama support

I must say that I am getting a kick out of reading and watching those on the right, particularly the religious right, predict how African-Americans will desert President Obama come election day due to his support of marriage equality.

It's hilarious to me to read the right-wing publications and blogs give room to a supposed angry black pastor/pastors who whines about how Obama has betrayed the black community, of course omitting the fact that said pastor/pastors never really supported Obama in the first place and that these individuals live off of the attention given to them by the religious right.

I get a kick out of the pundits who are predicting the same in their all-white panels (yes I said it) or panels with just one African-American pundit who can't seem to get a word in edgewise. Of course why should the black pundit get a word in edgewise? His words don't matter. Only the fact that he is seen on television as a token so that the news program can claim that they weren't being racist or omitting black folks.

And don't even get me started on the absence of lgbtq of color pundits.

I find it funny because when push comes to shove, these so-called concerned individuals don't give a flip about the black community. They look at us as monolithic Borg type creatures who are motivated by solely by pastors with big titles and even bigger mouths.

God forbid that they actually sit down with a group of us to have a real discussion on the matter. Some are only interested in driving a narrative. And when how we act doesn't suit their narrative, they show their true colors, such as Media Research Center director of media analysis Tim Graham. This is what he said on twitter recently:

So apparently if African-Americans vote for Obama, we are not Christians anymore because Graham sits on the right hand of God. Who would have thought?

And it gets even funnier when one takes into account the words of Harry Jackson, a black pastor who has done really nothing for the black community (consistently sucking at the teat of the religious right doesn't count as something which moves the black community forward,):

"The black community is in an adulterous relationship with President Obama," Jackson said. "He is asking us to stray from the most basic tenets of Scripture – that marriage is an institution made by God for man and woman to become one and procreate. He's telling us it's fine to hold onto our beliefs but that it's also okay to accept his stance on a position that goes against that core belief."

"This is no different than a married person having a relationship with someone other than their spouse," said Jackson.

So according to Jackson, black people who vote for Obama is akin to having a sexual relationship to one who is not your spouse.

All Jackson's and Graham's comments come down to are the real reasons why African-Americans will probably still support Obama in massive numbers. We are not a monolithic community and our actions are not dictated by whomever is the pastor of what church we attend.

We are people who will vote for the person who we feel will do right by our community and country, just like any other voter. And as such, we should be treated like any other voter. Not like people who are dominated by father figures, and not like folks who are willing to cut off our noses to spite our faces in pursuit of a single issue.

Perhaps if we were treated like such by folks like Graham and Jackson, more of us would be inclined to vote their way.

But we all know that's not going to happen. Because they, like so many other conservatives and pundits in general, seem to think that they know us better than we know ourselves.

'Donna Summer now dances in Heaven' and other Thursday midday news briefs

It is sad news that I have to report:

  Donna Summer Dead: Queen Of Disco Dies At 63 - She will be missed BIG TIME:


 


 

 In other news:

 Anti-Gay Virginia Lawmaker Explains His Decision To Block Gay Judge: ‘Sodomy Is Not A Civil Right’ - My God, what is with these people! Why are they constantly reducing the value of the lgbtq community and our lives to sex acts. 

 Tenn. School Must Stop Censoring Students for Supporting LGBT Rights - Go get 'em, Southern Poverty Law Center! 

 Fox News distorts its poll – are they liars or just really stupid? - A little from column A and a little from column B. I've said more than once that Fox News is potentially one of the biggest hurdles the lgbtq community could face to equality in that they would give a voice and microphone to folks like Tony Perkins and Maggie Gallagher to spout their inaccurate homophobic talking points without courtesy of an opposing voice. And we know that many fake journalists on the network are in the tank with the anti-gay industry.  

Harry Jackson Warns 'Radical Gay Activists' are bringing America back to 'the times of Hitler' - Geez what a hyperbolic dumb ass. 

Maggie Gallagher, NOM eyeing new fake victim of the gay community?

Maggie Gallagher

Last night, a Facebook source of mine indicated that the National Organization for Marriage may be eyeing another supposed victim of the alleged gay agenda for its failed Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance project:

This guy posted his blog post on Maggie Gallagher's wall and she asked him to message him with more info. Its about someone in Australia on the EOC allegedly having to resign because he supports 1 man 1 woman marriage. In case any of the bloggers in here want to follow up with the real story, since Mags may be writing about it eventually. Or maybe someone from Australia in here knows the true story?

The piece in question is entitled Equal Opportunities Are Only For Some written by a man named Bill Muehlenberg. Muehlenberg runs a blog entitled CultureWatch.

The piece makes the accusation that member of Victoria's Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC), Professor Kuruvilla George was forced to resign because he was one of 150 doctors who wrote a letter to a Senate inquiry opposing marriage equality. Muehlenberg's piece is filled with innuendo and ad hominem attacks against the gay community:

As one news item reports: “A member of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission board has resigned after stirring controversy by signing a petition opposing gay marriage. Professor Kuruvilla George is also Victoria’s deputy chief psychiatrist and one of a group of 150 doctors who wrote to a Senate inquiry on marriage equality.

“The doctors’ submission argued children with a mother and father were healthier than children with same-sex parents. The petition has drawn criticism from other doctors and families of same-sex couples and yesterday prompted Victoria’s chief psychiatrist to issue a statement defending Professor George.”

The Greens, the homosexual lobbies, and other militants all demanded his blood, and they have got what they wanted. As but one example, the former head of the AMA, lesbian activist Kerryn Phelps said the doctors should “hang their heads in shame” and that an immediate review of Prof George’s position on the board should be undertaken.

So now he is gone, barely 24 hours after the furor erupted. Yep, another scalp for the gaystapo and their intolerant colleagues in arms. This is yet another example of the pink mafia in action, with yet another good and honourable man forced out of his job.

So no doubt when Muehlenberg placed his post on Gallagher's Facebook wall, one could almost picture her salivating of the chance of pushing false claim yet again of how marriage equality could damage someone's religious liberty and freedom of speech.

Wipe your mouth, Ms. Gallagher. Don't even think about attempting to push this piece.

Like all of the times in the past that NOM has made specious claims about the alleged gay menace, there are extenuating circumstances which refutes the charge.

According to an interview conducted with the World Today, the chairman of the Human Rights Commission, John Searle, said that Professor George was thinking of resigning long before this controversy took place. Searle also defended George's right to sign the letter:

JOHN SEARLE: Today Professor Kuruvilla George has tendered his resignation by way of letter to the Governor. His resignation from the board is something that has been weighing on his mind for some months and indeed he first discussed it with me toward the end of last year because he has time constraints and personal issues that he was dealing with and today he has decided is the appropriate time to tender his resignation.

ALISON CALDWELL: He has only been in the job since June last year.

JOHN SEARLE: I think that's correct and perhaps he didn't quite realise what the time commitment involved was - that is something that you'd need to take up with him - but as I said, he did raise concerns about the time commitments and personal issues with me towards the end of last year.

ALISON CALDWELL: Speaking of timing, the timing of his announcement is rather coincidental given the controversy regarding him signing that letter in the submission from Doctors for the Family about same sex marriage.

JOHN SEARLE: Well, of course he signed that letter in a personal capacity and people are entitled to have their personal views and their private views and the views that he expressed in that letter are obviously not the views of the commission, neither are they the views of the board. But I think the timing has been brought to his attention and the need for him to consider his position on the board. He felt this was the right time to do so.

ALISON CALDWELL: Do you think he has resigned because of the controversy? I mean, it was in the newspapers, it was on the news.

JOHN SEARLE: Oh look, I suspect the controversy helped focus his mind on his issues in remaining on the board, the issues that had been around for some period of time and this was therefore a focusing point that allowed him to come to a conclusion.

ALISON CALDWELL: Yesterday the State Government actually said that he had no case to answer.

JOHN SEARLE: Well, look as I said, he has expressed his personal views, he has expressed his private views and he is entitled to do that.

So basically Professor George was not forced to resign after signing that letter and should NOM attempt to push this idea, we have proof of it beforehand.

This is what you call slaying the dragon before it has a chance to breath fire. And the lgbtq community do this more often.


Editor's note - And to make matters worse, the letter in question is fraudulent, using studies which have nothing to do with same-sex couples raising children (i.e. HIV statistics) and also citing information from Mass Resistance, a known anti-gay hate group in Massachusetts.

Related post - Doctors for the Family – Debunked

Discredited anti-gay researcher Paul Cameron reveals alleged past attraction to men

Paul Cameron

A day after his awesome interview with anti-gay spokesman Michael Brown, radio host David Pakman sat down with another figure from the anti-gay industry, Paul Cameron.

Cameron can be called the religious right's dirty little secret. It was he who in the 80s came up with the idea of aggressively using science to prove that homosexuality is a "dangerous lifestyle." The problem is to do this, Cameron attained a reputation for either distorting legitimate science or distorting his own work to gain the conclusions he wanted from his "studies." He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.

Of course the religious right still cites his work, but are very careful not to mention him by name. Of course there are some, such as Peter LaBarbera, who will deliberately cite Cameron's work, even though he knows that the work is flawed.

And there are others, like the National Organization for Marriage who, when caught citing Cameron, will turn backflips in order to distance themselves from him.

Cameron found himself in the news recently for comments he made regarding President Obama's recently announced support of marriage equality. During an interview with Christian radio station, Cameron asserted that Obama was gay. He also said that one of the prime goals of the gay rights movement was to introduce homosexual sex acts to children.

Naturally, Pakman pressed him on these claims, revealing an interview which is was at times pathetic, infuriating, and sad.  Cameron, in an offhand and flippant manner, reveals a terrible childhood incident which most likely put him on the road to destroying so many lives in the lgbtq community with his lies. And although the interview did not delve into the specificity of these lies in a manner which I would have liked to, it is still an excellent job by Pakman at deconstructing the sad mind of a man consumed with reducing the gay community to wanton sex acts.

I came out of it feeling a twinge of pity for Cameron, but not enough pity to ignore the damage he has done to the lgbtq community over the years:

'Anti-gay group sues to give false information to children' and other Wednesday midday news briefs

PFOX Complains to School Board - Imagine that. Suing a school district so that you can peddle inaccurate and negative information about the gay community to children.

 Video: Pastor treats local sewer to tasty Starbucks - Rule One about boycotting a company - you don't buy the company's product to demonstrate that you are boycotting against it. 

 Talk Honestly to Black Opponents of Gay Marriage - Excellent piece by Keith Boykin. And remember that not every black opponent of marriage equality is a Harry Jackson or Patrick Wooden.

 Obama Confronts GOP’s Anti-Gay Agenda, Threatens Veto Of ‘License To Bully’ Bill - Good for him. The bill needs to include same-sex couples.

 Congressman Maintains It Should Be Legal To Fire Someone For Being Gay, Attacks ThinkProgress - Think Progress got him dead to rights and yet he still says he was unfairly attacked. And now he says he is being threatened. Blah, blah, blah. Bear in mind that I am not trying to trivialize any threats but come on now. That's always the defense of homophobes. - i.e. that they are being attacked for beings "Christians" and then "someone" is threatening them. 

Homophobic Maine group may help cause of marriage equality

From Equality Matters:

Earlier this month, the Portland Press Herald announced the creation of a third anti-gay group fighting this November’s voter initiative to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine – the Maine Marriage Allies PAC, which will be a project of the ironically named Maine Equal Rights Center (MERC). On its Facebook page, MERC is described as a “grass roots campaign to educate voters on same sex marriage.”

Equality Matters also points out that while this group is fighting marriage equality, its presence may actually help the cause of marriage equality because of the information it is trotting out to smear the lgbtq community:

MERC’s website, however, is a deluge of misinformation, confused political analyses, and some truly cringe-worthy writing.

The website is organized into a number of tabs meant to provide visitors with information about the proposed marriage initiative. Each tab varies wildly in content and tone; some inexplicably focus on criticizing the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) while another includes an image of President Obama riding a unicorn.

That would be this picture:

Equality Matters also points out that the founder of this group, Erik Bennett, is a failed politician with a penchant for bizarre youtube ads and vicious homophobic slurs:



One wonders what the National Organization for Marriage thinks about Bennett. All in all, it promises to be a very interesting time in Maine.

Anti-gay spokesman can't handle the pressure of serious questions

Chalk another one up for radio host David Pakman.

Pakman, who has interviewed such  anti-gay "luminaries as Peter LaBarbera, Paul Cameron,  Bryan Fischer, and Gordon Klingenschmitt, today interviewed Truth4Time member and wannabe anti-gay activist Michael Brown.

Apparently Brown thought he could boggart the interview, thereby turning it into a monologue of his anti-gay views.

Truth Wins Out breaks it down:

As usual, David’s done his homework, calmly citing, among other things, the oeuvre of prominent Yale historian John Boswell, who wrote prolifically about the intersection of LGBT issues and religion. Brown’s only response is to dismiss Boswell completely, because after all (as Brown says), he “practically died of AIDS.”

And it only goes downhill from there. When Pakman challenges Brown’s tired (and totally discredited) talking point about the immutability of the historical definition of marriage, Brown resorts to condescension. Check out the video below — he tries to lecture Pakman on how to prepare for an interview, seizing the opportunity to hawk his self-published book (which, apparently, must be a respectable source, despite the fact that no publishing house — reputable or otherwise — would print it, because it includes “1500+ endnotes and massive research.” (Hmmmm, overcompensating much?) When Pakman presses Brown further to cite the specific sources he drew upon to formulate his exclusionary “historical definition of marriage,” he suddenly chickens out remembers that he has something else to do, saying that he didn’t realize this wasn’t a “serious interview” and mischaracterizing Pakman as a ‘gotcha’ journalist out to “[set] people up for quotes.” Then, after essentially telling Pakman again to read his book before he interviews him again, Brown hangs up.

It just goes to show that when religious right figures are asked serious questions about their claims, they can't handle the pressure