August 30, 2009

ACLU Mourns Passing of Larry Frankel, Former ACLU-PA Legislative and Executive Director

PHILADELPHIA — August 30, 2009 — It is with great sadness that the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania marks the passing of Larry Frankel, who served as Legislative Director to the organization from 1992 through 2008 and Executive Director from 1996 to 2001. At the time of his death, Larry was the State Legislative Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in its Washington Legislative Office.

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Gay ACLU Lobbyist Larry Frankel Found Dead “Under Mysterious Circumstances”

One source, and one source only for this story — but that source is Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Cohen:

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August 26, 2009

Formal Request for Investigation of Money Laundering Filed in Maine Gay Marriage Election

AUGUSTA, Maine — August 26, 2009 — Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, an LGBT watchdog group, sent a letter detailing alleged election law violations by Stand for Marriage Maine to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The request for an immediate investigation was sent yesterday to the Jonathan Wayne, the Commission’s Executive Director and a copy to attorney General Janet Mills.

The nine page complaint (below) and fourteen attachments spell out how the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Knights of Columbus of Washington, DC and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family had contributors give the money to their organizations, and then they in turn gave the money to the Stand for Marriage Maine in order to hide the identity of the donors.

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R.I.P. Ted Kennedy (1932-2009)

Mass. Sen. Ted Kennedy Dies at 77,
After Cancer Battle

Edward M. Kennedy, one of the most powerful and influential senators in American history and one of three brothers whose political triumphs and personal tragedies captivated the nation for decades, died at 77.

Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, was the last survivor of a privileged and charismatic family that in the 1960s dominated American politics and attracted worldwide attention. As heir through tragedy to his accomplished older brothers — President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.), both of whom were assassinated — Edward Kennedy became the patriarch of his clan and a towering figure in the U.S. Senate to a degree neither of his siblings had been. …

More… everywhere. Google. Blogs. TV. Everywhere.

Man, this hurts. Bad.

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August 20, 2009

Lockerbie Lunatic Loosed: The FBI Says It A Lot More Nicely Than We Ever Will

There are no words to express our disgust with Scotland’s decision to release this evil bastard. “Compassionate grounds“? Where was the “compassion” of this living trail of catsick when he blew 270 human beings to pieces? He should have been left to rot in prison.

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August 18, 2009

Yep, We’re Experiencing Technical Difficulties

We’re in the midst of moving databases and doing a bunch of other backend work, which probably won’t be finished for a few days. In the meantime, the Newswire (and Conservative Babylon) may error out intermittently.

So, it’s not you… it’s us.

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How Do You Apologize to a Dead Man for Chemically Castrating Him and Driving Him to Suicide?

We don’t know, but they should do something:

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In the End, Mr. Novak, Was It Worth Endangering National Security for a Scoop?

No crocodile tears from us:

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August 17, 2009

Got Another Copyright Violator: WilliamKostric.com

Copy and paste the link — because I refuse to up this abuser’s PageRank:

http://www.williamkostric.com/2009/08/is-william-kostric-nut-bucket.html

Now compare to my original post:

Yo, “Crystal,” a.k.a. Leslie Turner of Eureka, Montana: I’ve already got a complaint in to your ISP; tomorrow, I telephone them — and I won’t shut up until I get action.

You are stealing my traffic. Do your own goddamn research, and write your own goddamn articles. TAKE THE POST DOWN.

You’re ripping me off, as well as CBS News, the New York Times, and all the other sources of the reprinted-in-full-without-permission posts on your brand-new, let’s-take-advantage of the Rabid William Kostric Lovers Brigades blog.

It figures; your sort has never had an original thought in its collective life. And a great many of you think you’re above the law.

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Big Whoop, Barry: You’ve Said It Before, and Continue to Do Nothing

Pretty words don’t do a damned thing. Put your bully pulpit where your mouth is. Until then, it’s just that much more verbal diarrhea:

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Hateful Homophobe of the Day: Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan

If we were the praying sort, we’d pray for the day this hater is caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy:

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August 16, 2009

One Good Thing About Obama Abandoning Public Option

At least a few more Democratic voters are finally beginning to understand the way we liberals/progressives have felt about Obama since the day he arrived on the scene and started making promises no rational person ever believed he could, or would, keep.

That is all.

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August 14, 2009

To Hell With Whole Foods

You’re not getting another dime out of us. Ask my lovely wife why.

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Paul Broun (R-GA): Idiot or Moron? You Decide.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has said a few outrageous things in his political career, but this one may take the cake. …

“He […] spoke of a ’socialistic elite’ — Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — who might use a pandemic disease or natural disaster as an excuse to declare martial law,” reports The Athens Banner-Herald.

He added, “They’re trying to develop an environment where they can take over. We’ve seen that historically.” …

In November, the Georgia lawmaker told a Rotary Club that President Obama was a “Marxist” and said his suggestion of a “civilian security force” made him eerily like Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. …

If stupid people are going to say stupid things, can’t they at least learn the difference between socialism and Marxism?

Not to mention the fact that Barack Obama is even less a socialist — or a Marxist — than Lucille Ball was a Communist. But to hope for that much to get through the cement skulls of goofballs like Paul Broun would be asking far too much from the Attention-Deficit Sound-Bite Generation.

More of Broun’s lunacy (”death panels” and all) at Raw Story.

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August 13, 2009

R.I.P. Margaret Bush Wilson (1919-2009)

We grieve only for our own loss, and we thank you, Ms. Wilson, for everything:

Margaret Bush Wilson, who died Tuesday at age 90, was remembered by her family as an woman whose unassuming manner belied a strong passion for social justice and lifelong love for bridge and books. She was the first woman to head the board of the national NAACP and held that post for nine terms, starting in 1975. Among the many tributes to Mrs. Wilson, U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, summed it up when he called her “a giant” and “a dear friend.”

Full biography and obituary at the St. Louis Beacon.

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GOP: Pay No Attention to Our Crazy Supporters Who Want to Kill Obama

These death threats aren’t threats—they’re challenges. They’re attempts to inject into the public debate the sense that violence is a legitimate response to political defeat. As someone in the blogosphere whom we can’t presently recall wrote yesterday, the appropriate response to a president who advocates rounding up the elderly and sending them before death panels is—if it seems like he’s on the cusp of achieving that goal—to kill or rebel against him. And each publicized call for Obama’s death adds to the public perception that we’ve reached a decision-point about whether it’s time for killing. Every sign—even if the bearer is merely an angry loon who could never get close to Obama—is an inducement to someone who is willing to try. It’s a message to fellow travelers, a signal that they are not alone in their rage, a promise of glory to come if they actually manage to get the job done. As we said before, there are always people who want to kill the president. The question is how many give it a shot. And the more of these signs there are in the background of Fox News’ live report from some town hall in Missouri saying that someone should give it a shot, the more people actually will. And the more people that give it a shot, the more likely someone is to hit the jackpot.

Excellent piece at Gawker by John Cook that deserves the full read.

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“Death to Obama” Sign Man Detained - And is That a Gun on His Hip?

Is that a gun on his hip?

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D. James Kennedy’s Daughter, Kicked Out of Daddy’s Church, Joins War to Oust New Pastor, Billy Graham’s Grandson

From the Eating Their Own Dept: The daughter of dead gay-hater and radical fundaloon D. James Kennedy has been branded a “dissident” and been 86′d from the church Dearly Departed Daddy founded — by one of Billy Graham’s seven grandsons, who, as the new pastor of Coral Ridge, is apparently too liberal for the old-time religionists:

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Speaking of Doug Manchester’s Money Troubles…

…and we were, the boycott of Manchester properties only continues to gain momentum.

Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it, Doug?

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Dear Rush: If This Were About “Abortion and Euthanasia of the Undesirables,” You Wouldn’t Exist

“That is not to say there is no place for a Nazi analogy in this debate. The Nazis rose to power by mastering the art of propaganda, repeating lies so frequently and so widely that eventually people took them as truth. Hence the importance of seeking out the truth, and exposing those who would engage in such deceit.

“Freud taught us about projection: Those who would compare Obama to Hitler or his policies to Nazism ought to look in the mirror.”

Michael Berenbaum (who knows a thing or two about Nazism) on healthcare reform, Nazis, and the out-of-control fearmongers who lie like rugs:

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Karger Warns Maine of Money Laundering by NOM, Mormons, Dobson, & Others

LOS ANGELES, CA / AUGUSTA, ME — August 13, 2009 — Californians Against Hate founder Fred Karger sent a letter today warning top Maine election officials of possible money laundering by opponents of same-sex marriage.

The organization trying to overturn Maine’s same-sex marriage law, Stand for Marriage PAC recently turned in 100,000 signatures to place the question on the November ballot. These gay marriage foes hope to repeal LD 1020 — the law passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor allowing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Of the $343,689.50 raised to pay the Brighton, Michigan-based National Petition Management, Inc. to collect the signatures, only $400, or a mere .001 of that total came from individuals. The remaining $343,289.50 was given by various religious organizations and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave nearly half of that total, $160,000. The remainder came from Catholic organizations ($150,000) and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family ($31,000).

“It sure looks like they are trying to hide the donors in their latest effort to strip away marriage equality,” said Fred Karger. “There is no way these organizations like NOM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland had all this money sitting in their treasuries (except for possibly Focus on the Family). They went out and raised it expressly for this campaign. It’s very expensive to hire these signature gathering firms to collect 100,000 signatures in a short period of time.”

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Karma Strikes: Marriage “Defender” Doug Manchester in Midst of Ugly Divorce

We’ve been hearing the rumors (and so have many of you, judging by the number of Google queries for “Doug Manchester” and “divorce” we’ve been getting for months), and now we have the facts: Doug Manchester — the hotelier who donated a whopping $125,000 to Proposition 8, who has been suffering the backlash via a boycott of his properties (by gay folks and union workers and lawyers and other groups who don’t cotton to propping up the bigot brigades with their hard-earned money) for more than a year (and he is suffering), and who tried to buy off the LGBT community with a token donation to HRC (which was rejected; well done, HRC) and hotel credits for queers — is getting a D-I-V-O-R-C-E from his wife (and $1,000 Prop H8 donor), Elizabeth:

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There’s Only One Word for Atwater, CA, Councilman Gary Frago

Gary Frago: Thinks the assassination of Barack Obama is a funny joke.

But even we don’t use language like that.

One constituent did call him a “disgusting, humorless, racist sad sack of sh*t” (directly, in an email), but we think the fellow was being generous.

So we’ll just call Gary Frago what he is — a Republican — and let the news (which shows that Frago is hardly the only “joker” in Atwater seemingly oblivious to his own vile racism) tell the story. Video after the jump.

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August 12, 2009

Scumbag Calls for O.D. Death of Chris Dodd, Glenn Beck Acts Out Poisoning of Nancy Pelosi, and More from the Insane Right-Wing Posse

We have no words. No words. Just watch:

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Nevada Pols Get Smart, Replace Town Halls With Conference Calls

I’ve been wondering why everyone hasn’t switched to conference calls — the format is fine, and it circumvents the troublemakers whose sole purpose is to disrupt and deny others the opportunity to speak, listen, and learn:

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