The time when the religious right used to scare people with anti-gay ads . . .

Last weekend, various groups of the religious right gathered together for huge events and marches in Washington where they did the usual "God is going to punish America because it's disgusting how women can make their own healthcare choices and LGBTQ are all out in the open" rambling which so many of us have come to know them for.

This time though, it was different. According to People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch, they included praise of Donald Trump:

Speakers lavished praise on Trump and thanked God for his presidency; Trump returned the favor, sending a supportive “presidential message” that was read from the stage to cheers from the crowd, which covered most of a two-block stretch of the National Mall. Trump’s message quoted a phrase from George Washington, a favorite of religious-right leaders, in which the first president said that the “propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained.” ​To that quote, Trump​ added, “As a country and a people, let us renew our commitment to these abiding and timeless principles.” 

Knowing what we know about Donald Trump and his many lies, assorted incompetence, and the basic fact that he is a generally hideous person, it's a miracle that the religious right's weekend Trumpalloza didn't end as one of those Biblical stories did. You know, the ones in which God gets so angry at a group's blatant hypocrisy or open sinning that he smites them with fire or causes the ground to collapse under their feet. Or at least at the very least, sends a disembodied hand to write a message on the wall in front of them basically saying "y'all getting on my nerves."

At any rate,  my point in bringing all of that up was because it reminded me of the time when things weren't so dramatic. When the religious right used to openly use television ads to scare people about us instead of  just solely fire and brimstone.

First there is this 2012 ad from the Campaign for American Values which attempted to attack Obama during his re-election campaign because he supported marriage equality. Gee, I wonder why it didn't work.

 

'Secretary of State Pompeo to speak at a fundraiser linked with anti-LGBTQ hate group' & other Mon midday news briefs

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo is speaking at a Christian hate group-linked fundraiser right before the election - Isn't his speech illegal due to his office? Just asking. 

California will house transgender inmates by gender identity - A possible step in the right direction.

The Single Biggest Risk Factor for Gay, Bi Men Becoming HIV-Positive - Ugh. This "party and play" mess is a disaster.

How Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court could affect LGBTQ rights - Barrett most likely will be a SCOTUS justice and things after that may not look good for us. BUT do NOT give up hope. Ever.

New York Times bombshell - Trump paid only $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017

 

As if we needed more news explosions as the 2020 election approaches.

From the Associated Press:

President Donald Trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times. Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid $750 in taxes to the federal government the year he was elected, 2016, and $750 again his first year in office. 

 Speaking at a news conference at the White House, Trump dismissed the report as “fake news” and said he has paid taxes, though he gave no specifics. The disclosure, which the Times said comes from tax return data it obtained extending over two decades, comes at a pivotal moment ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday, and weeks before a divisive election. A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, and a spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on the report.

Garten told the Times that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.” He said in a statement to the news organization that the president “has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.”

Admit it. You're practically on the edge of your seat waiting to hear the excuses Fox News and the right-wing media make up for Trump.  No doubt, there will be many as the story progresses.

Meanwhile I know that somewhere,  Hillary Clinton is enjoying all of this

Related post - REVEALED: Trump’s taxes show huge losses and tax dodging schemes

'Senator attacks trans youth in desperate election bid' & other Fri midday news briefs

 

Sen. Kelly Loeffler Attacks Trans Youth in Desperate Election Bid - What a pathetic and sad person she is. 

 Angela Walker is a proud bisexual truck driver promising to bring “trouble” to the White House - Bring it, gurlfriend. Bring it!

Biden to LGBTQ advocates: 'You deserve a partner in the White House' - Hell yeah!

15 Black-led LGBTQIA+ organizations to donate to right now - Break out the wallets and pocketbooks.

Video - How Fox News helped Donald Trump kill of over 200,000 Americans

 

 

 Donald Trump is responsible for the COVID-19 deaths of over 200,000 Americans. But no matter how incompetent his response to the pandemic was, he didn't cause the deaths alone. As this short video shows, he had a lot of help from various media personalities at Fox News.  

Related post - A decade after screaming about nonexistent “death panels,” Fox News is downplaying the deaths of 200,000 Americans

'Kierra Johnson will become first black executive director of National LGBTQ Task Force' & other Thur midday news briefs

 

Kierra Johnson

Kierra Johnson will become the first Black executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force - Not bad! Not bad at all! 

 Grenell defends progress in global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality - Whatever, fraud.

N. Dakota city temporarily bans flags after heated pride flag debate - For crying out loud, North Dakota!

It's Time To Talk About The Way We Portray Bisexuality On TV - I agree.

Trump supporting evangelicals prioritize Supreme Court vacancy over Americans harmed by coronavirus pandemic

 

Trump supporting evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress thinks the coronavirus pandemic is 'background noise' when compared to the new SCOTUS vacancy. The pandemic had claimed almost 200,000 lives at the time of his tweet. It has now claimed over 200,000 lives

On the same day Americans coronavirus deaths reached over 200,000, Franklin Graham put out this tweet. He did not ask that anyone pray for the families of those who died.  

If there is one positive consequence coming from a Trump Administration, it's that he took only four years to reveal something which I have been trying to do for 14 - the fact that the religious right/anti-LGBTQ industry is comprised of lying soul-sucking charlatans. And he did that by simply giving them what they wanted in terms of power.

On Tuesday, an ugly milestone was reached during the coronavirus pandemic. Over 200,000 Americans have died from the virus. And almost seven million have been infected. However, this wasn't important to the group of Trump loving evangelicals  Their minds were elsewhere, i.e .the fight over Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement on the Supreme Court.

According to Christian author John Fea:

For many American evangelicals, Christian witness in the political sphere comes down to overturning Roe v. Wade. This is why the court evangelicals are so gleeful about Trump getting another Supreme Court nomination. This is also why they say virtually nothing about the president’s mishandling of COVID-19 (nearly 200,000 dead), his separation of families at the Mexican border, his environmental policies that will one day make the planet incapable of sustaining life, and his racism. Look for yourself. The silence is deafening. 

Start your research with these names: Franklin Graham, James Robison, James Dobson, Jenetzen Franklin, Jack Graham, Paula White, Greg Laurie, John Hagee, Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer, Johnnie Moore, Ralph Reed, Robert Jeffress, Eric Metaxas, Jim Garlow, Jack Hibbs, Harry Jackson Jr., Luke Barnett, Richard Land, Jim Bakker, David Barton, Steve Strang, Samuel Rodriguez, Charlie Kirk, Lance Wallnau, and Jenna Ellis.

 I imagine (again, I only imagine) that some of these people were on a conference call the moment Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. They no doubt started the session with prayer for the Ginsburg’s family and perhaps even threw-out a prayer or two for those suffering through COVID-19. And then, when the pleasantries were done, they got down to strategizing about how to best support the president’s forthcoming Supreme Court nomination and the most effective ways of spinning their 2016 claims that President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee–Merrick Garland–did not deserve a hearing in the Senate because it was an election year.

Fea also points out that there was one Trump evangelical who did in fact say something about the coronavirus pandemic before the 200,000 milestone was reached:

Robert Jeffress said that COVID-19 is mere “background noise” now that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is dead and Trump can appoint another conservative justice. Background noise? Tell that to the families who lost lives from COVID. What kind of world do we live in where a Christian pastor can say that the loss of 200,000 lives is unimportant and get virtually no push-back from his followers, all men and women who name the name of Jesus Christ?

Fea's post is worth a read, if you can stomach reading instance after instance of supposed Christian leaders practically drooling over themselves as they ruminate over a SCOTUS seat while Americans suffer from a pandemic in the backdrop.