A little gay-bashing from the Republican party

(Argh, this is actually JOHN, but I'm at Michael in NY's computer and didn't realize all of these posts say they're from him! Anyway, I'll figure this out soon, just thought I'd let you know.)

Apparently, even speaking to the gay community now makes you evil according to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Hey, I admit we're not as much fun as public cage-sex, but still... Read More......

See how long that photo stays up

(This is really John too)

From the National Republican Senatorial Committee Web site. Apparently Dick Cheney is a big fan of Jack "Off" Ryan. Let's count the hours that photo stays up.

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WTF?

(This is John too)

The Republican National Committee home page has this messed up ocean sound thingy running in the background when you visit their site. I kid you not. It's just very weird, and you can't shut it off. What can it mean?

- Republicans are all washed up?
- Gonna wash that cage-sex man right out of my hair?

Geez, now I have to pee. Read More......

Ryan: The worst that can be said about me is that everything is true

(John in DC)

I took three paragraphs out of a local ABC story that are priceless. The first is about how Ryan is now shit back in IL, even though the national Republican party still loves him. Guess public cage sex isn't as big a deal in the Republican cloakroom as it in back home in Chicago.

The next quite is a great one from Ryan. Just read it.

And finally, Jay Leno weighs in!

The Cook County Republican party is bailing on Jack Ryan. Two major newspapers, including the Sun-Times, want him out of the race. The Tribune is questioning his credibility and the Herald is comparing him to former Governor George Ryan. And one of the Illinois Republican party's key fundraisers is accusing Ryan of a cover-up.

"The worst that can be said is I propositioned my wife in an inappropriate place. We had people elected to office who have done things that are much worse than that," said Jack Ryan, U.S. senate candidate.

Leno said that "See, democrats, they cheat on their wives. Republicans cheat, too, but they bring their wife along. They make it a family event."

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Iraq, my ass

(John in DC wrote this too)

House Speaker Denny Haster cancels a fundraiser for Jack "Off" Ryan because he was "suddenly" invited to the White House for a nothing-burger meeting where he supposed Iraq will come up. Uh huh. You better believe the Hastert's people BEGGED the White House to invite him to something so he could cancel. Read More......

More family values Republicans run to Ryan's defense

(John wrote this too) Family values mean NOTHING to these people. Novak in particular is just bizarre - "Jack Ryan, unlike Bill Clinton, did not commit adultery and did not lie." First off, Ryan lied, a lot. And most of Illinois' Republican political establishment and press is pissed as shit about his lies over this entire affair. As for adultery somehow being unacceptable, but coercing your wife into having public cage sex is okay, well, I guess we know which way the Novaks swing.

Slate:

Phyllis Schlafly, one of the chief agitators for Clinton's impeachment, told the Sun-Times she still supports Ryan because the charges are unproven and were made during a custody fight. 'Sure they're disturbing. They're unpleasant,' said Schlafly. 'But considering where they're coming from, I would wait for the proof before judging him.'

Robert Novak, the conservative commentator, said on Crossfire, 'The judge allowed joint custody of their now nine-year-old son to the two parents. Number two, it was Mrs. Ryan, not Jack Ryan, who was guilty of adultery. Jack Ryan, unlike Bill Clinton, did not commit adultery and did not lie.'
House Speaker Dennis Hastert 'still has a Thursday fund-raising event for Ryan on his calendar,' according to Wednesday's Sun-Times. Hastert's spokesman told reporters Hastert had no comment.

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Ok, eeeew

This story is just bizarre. A 7-month old kid who has a genetic mutation that makes him a superman. More from AP.

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Texas Does Good

A new EPA report says toxic releases of chemicals that you, I and our children are breathing have increased by five percent in 2002, only the second increase since they began measuring it in 1987. Thanks, Bush!

Industry officials said it's a bunch of hooey and EPA folks themselves blame the increase almost solely on one Arizona copper-smelting operation. Take that out and there would have been a decrease by their standards. (In other words, if it wasn't for the increase in pollution, there would have been a decrease.)

But two environmental groups released reports saying that even those rising figures are grossly underreported because the Bush EPA lets industry use outdated measuring standards. They say the actual figures are "4 to 5" times higher. One of their main sources for this? The great state of Texas, the first one in the country (!) to analyze reporting data from chemical refineries and plants in its jurisdiction. Good for Texas. (We knew the election in 2000 had to be good for something.) But why doesn't any OTHER state do their own checking on the air quality in their states and the claims of these companies? Those that do the polluting have every reason to hide the facts behind a smokescreen. Read More......

Aren't We At War?

Hate-mongers like Senator Bill Frist and Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney continue to push for a vote on the anti-gay, anti-American, anti-marriage amendment that would keep some 20 milion to 30 million Americans from EVER having committed, monogamous marriages. They would assault states rights. BUt you know all this. What's annoying is that the New York Times -- and many others -- describe the upcoming struggle as "an uncomfortable debate" for Democrats.

Why? Any politician worth their salt should have a field day with this. (Paging Senator Kerry.) Our soldiers are bogged down in two different foreign countries. We're at war fighting terrorism and crippled internationally by the shame of our human rights abuses in Iraq. The White House just admitted they screwed up and, no, we're NOT winning the war on terror -- terrorist acts continue to rise. And in the midst of all this, some partisan Republicans want to waste our time by putting up for vote a Constitutional amendment that poll after poll shows most Americans don't support? Bring it on. Read More......

Bush Caves Under UN Pressure

Bush finally dropped the US attempt to exempt our troops from reasonable international laws against war crimes after giving even China, that bastion of human rights, an upper moral hand in the UN debate. Maybe instead of trying to exempt our soldiers from laws against rape, torture and other crimes against humanity, Bush will focus on simply not breaking those laws. Read More......

Bush Plays Politics With AIDS

As widely reported, President Bush decided to extend a helping hand to Vietnam, a country ravaged by AIDS. Bush also tossed $20 million at a funding crisis affecting AIDS patients on waiting lists all across the country.

Obviously, $20 million is a pittance by government standards. But the sad truth is that health organizations say $40 million is needed immediately to fend off the crisis. Bush won't do that, letting people suffer and die instead.

The reports also mention Bush's widely lauded pledge to spend $15 billion fighting AIDS around the world. What they don't mention: Bush has failed to keep his funding pledge this year. Further, instead of using the money through effective and fair international relief organizations, he has DEFUNDED many of those groups and insisted any international groups emphasize abstinence. The result is a net LOSS in the money the US has pledged to fight AIDS around the world this year.

This makes his reference to the policy of ABC (abstinence; be faithfu; use condoms) insultingly disingenuous. If Bush truly believed condoms were a reasonable tool in fighting the spread of AIDS, he wouldn't be defunding the groups that promote their use.

Further, Bush is kowtowing to deep-pocketed pharmaceuticals by insisting the US money that has gone out be used only for name-brand drugs (AZT, etc.) instead of the generic counterparts that had been purchased in the past. These name brand drugs cost literally three times as much. For every person saved, two people will die who didn't have to die. Bush has literally got X number of dollars that could save X number of lives and he'd rather let two-thirds of those people die than go against Big Business. Shameless. Read More......

Ok, this is interesting...

Bush is touting his "healthy marriage" initiative, and guess whose Department is running the program? Tommy Thompson's Dept of HHS. That makes Thompson fair game in the "how are YOUR family values" sweepstakes. I of course can't print rumors here, so I'll make this paragraph short, but I can print facts. If anyone can get me any facts about Mr. Thompson's commitment to family values and good solid honest healthy monogamous relationships, that would be just swell. Read More......

"It's the lying, stupid"

More about Jack "Off" Ryan.

Chicago Sun Times:

....Frankly, the point isn't whether he did or didn't equate romance with clubs that provide mattresses in cubicles. The point is that he lied. Whether he lied about the sex clubs is something that only he and his ex-wife know. What we know is that he lied -- consistently -- to voters and to Republican Party officials.

Throughout his campaign, he has maintained there was nothing embarrassing in the file. The only reason he wanted to suppress the documents was to spare his son any unnecessary embarrassment, he said over and over. Perhaps he was referring to the portions of the documents that were blacked out by California Judge Robert Schnider?
I must admit, I have been wondering for some time now how a man who appeared to be such a concerned father would take the risk of running for Congress. If the court documents contained revelations so harmful to his son, wouldn't a father choose to forego his own political aspirations--or at least delay them until a time when the child would be old enough to weather the storm?

Now we know the truth. The only male to be injured by the release of these court documents is the candidate himself. And the biggest injury here is self-inflicted....

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Whatever happened to that "sarin gas" shell?

Remember the supposed artillery shell they found in Iraq that we were told contained Sarin gas? Funny how we haven't heard anything about it since the day it was found.

Now, this is administration that is not shy about touting its successes, even when most of them are nonexistent. So you'd think the very first REAL and BANNED chemical weapons found in Iraq would be a talking point they'd beat to death. Yet, they've let it go, mysteriously, so now no one eve remembers it.

Pray tell, was that a lie too? Read More......

From Jack "Off" Ryan's Web site

The breakdown of the family over the past 35 years is one of the root causes of some of our society's most intractable social problems--criminal activity, illegitimacy, and the cyclical nature of poverty.

As an elected leader, my interest will be in promoting laws and educating people about the fundamental importance of the traditional family unit as the nucleus of our society. - Via Wonkette

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Rick "Dog Sex" Santorum defends public sex

Several leading Republicans lambasted Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) yesterday for calling on GOP candidate Jack Ryan to exit the Illinois Senate race in light of sexual allegations made by his ex-wife.

“Congressman LaHood is out of line,” said Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, adding that “this is an allegation in a messy custody case.” He called the media “outrageous” for making more out of the case than, he said, it warrants. - The Hill

Good to know that anti-gay far-right and cute-as-a-button Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) is now defending the Republican US Senate candidate from IL, Jack "Off" Ryan. Ryan, as you'll recall, has been accused by his former wife of trying to coerce her to have public sex in various sex clubs around the world, including ones that had people in cages with whips.

Santorum, who is a lead family values advocate in the Senate (and who compared gay relationships to bestiality), has no problem bashing gay families in the US Constitution, but he suddenly loses his family-values fervor when the sex involves coercing women and/or doing it in public with other couples watching.

Perhaps it's time to call Mr. Santorum's office and ask why the Senator is such an advocate of public sex:

(202) 224-6324 Read More......

Militants Threaten Iraq PM After Beheading Hostage

Islamist militants vowed on Wednesday to assassinate Iraq's interim prime minister, hours after saying they had beheaded a South Korean hostage in the violent run-up to a U.S. handover to Iraqi rule. - Reuters

And I strongly suspect they'll be successful. That's the real question here, namely, how can we ever have success in a place this screwed up - and a place where we've contributed to the screwed-up-ness of the situation? Read More......

Orange jumpsuits

Did anyone notice that the Korean hostage who was just beheaded in Iraq was forced to wear an orange jumpsuit by his captors? Coincidence? Read More......