Open Thread

Have at it... Read More......

Spokane's Anti-Gay Mayor, former State Senator...yep, you guessed it

We got a lot...an awful lot....of posts in the comments about this one.

So, here's another family values Republican....one with a strong anti-gay record: Spokane Mayor Jim West. The Spokane Spokesman-Review found out that Mayor, and former State Senator, West is a big closet case:

In an Internet chat room last New Year’s Eve where he discussed his recent date with an 18-year-old man, Spokane Mayor Jim West criticized the “sex Nazis” who try to regulate private sexual behavior.
For years, that’s exactly what West tried to do in Olympia.

Over two decades, West rose to power in the Washington Legislature with a carefully cultivated image as a fiscally conservative Republican opposed to gay rights, abortion rights and teenage sex.

His abrasive style and temper were legendary in Olympia. But even his opponents speak highly of his legislative and budgetary skills, which have made him one of the state’s most powerful politicians.

Because of his clout as the former Senate majority leader and his reputation for attacking his enemies, no one has publicly confronted West about any discrepancy between his private sexual behavior and his political stances, people in politics and in Spokane’s gay community have said.

It's not like people didn't know:

"It’s the worst-kept secret in Washington politics,” said Christian Sinderman, a top Democratic political consultant.

Sinderman helped run the campaigns of Sen. Maria Cantwell and Spokane’s Laurie Dolan, who challenged West for his state Senate seat and lost in 2002. Dolan is now a policy adviser to Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.

The Dolan campaign decided not to use the issue of West’s sexual orientation for political advantage, Sinderman said.

“We decided his personal life wasn’t germane to the campaign because his private life is his private life. It’s not a public issue unless it involves the abuse of power. He was an incumbent with a record. We addressed that, and we lost,” he said.

“Spokane wouldn’t have believed us” if her campaign had tried to bring up West’s sexual orientation, Dolan said.

“People wanted to believe that Jim represented family values,” Dolan added.

So why is it even relevant? West was a fierce and committed gay basher during his tenure in the State Legislature. In 1986, he sponsored a bill that

"would have barred gay men and lesbians from working in schools, day-care centers and some state agencies. It called for screening prospective employees for sexual orientation and firing employees whose homosexuality became known."

That's ugly. And, of course, he was opposed to the gay rights legislation in Washington State. (Back then, Microsoft supported the bill.):

As a Senate leader, West consistently opposed efforts to expand civil rights protections for gays in jobs and housing. In an interview Wednesday, he said he’s philosophically opposed to legislation that creates “special classes” of rights for minorities, including gays. “I don’t think you should discriminate against anybody. I have never been outspoken against gays, and I’ve never discriminated against gays,” West said, adding that he felt the gay rights bills were unnecessary.

In February 1998, West voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, a ban on gay marriage. Gov. Lowry vetoed the measure, but the veto was overridden and Washington became the 27th state to enact such a ban.

So Spokane thought Jim represented family values...and Jim hasn't quite figures out who Jim is. This is a text-book case of a self-loathing, screwed up Republican homophobic homo:

In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday night, West acknowledged he’d recently begun to seek out young men on the Internet and said he couldn’t explain why. “I don’t want to go into the whole issue, but I wouldn’t characterize me as ‘gay,’.” West said.

I would characterize you as a nasty, pathetic loser. Other suggestions for how to characterize West? Read More......

Open Thread

Tony Blair won again...but with a reduced majority....

What else is going on? Read More......

Don Sherwood Hearts the Ten Commandments, kinda

Well, well, well....a hypocrite in Congress....what a surprise....

According to various press reports, 1999 was the year that Ms. Cynthia Ore met Congressman Don Sherwood at a Young Republicans event. 1999 was Don Sherwood's first year in Congress.

Also in 1999, June to be specific, according to CNN, Don Sherwood voted to show his support for the Ten Commandments:

The House Wednesday approved an amendment that allows the Ten Commandments to to be posted in public schools and other government buildings. The measure was part of the juvenile justice bill that passed the House Thursday night....

PENNSYLVANIA

Republicans: English, Yes; Gekas, Yes; Goodling, Yes; Greenwood, No; Peterson, Yes; Pitts, Yes; Sherwood, Yes; Shuster, Yes; Toomey, No; Weldon, Yes.

As I recall, that amendment was the House GOP's answer to the horrific Columbine shooting which had happened two months earlier.

As you can see, Don Sherwood voted for that amendment. He wanted those Ten Commandments displayed.

Sherwood also voted for the amendment to protect the "sanctity of marriage" (a.k. the gay-bashing political stunt amendment) last year.

Hey, Don, here's an idea, you sanctimonious bastard: Read the Ten Commandments. You might find one applies to you.

Republican Family Values in Action. Read More......

Open thread

La la la Read More......

Religious-bigot ABC breaks own rules by accepting Focus on the Family ad but denying UCC ad

It's so fashionable nowadays to be a corporate bigot.

First, Microsoft caves to anti-gay radicals in the name of diversity, and before that, ABC refused to run a pro-diversity ad for the United Church of Christ. The reason ABC gave the UCC for denying their ad:

"The network doesn't take advertising from religious groups. It's a long-standing policy," said Susan Sewell, an ABC spokeswoman

You can therefore imagine everyone's surprise when ABC months later accepted an ad from the radical right religious group Focus on the Family.

Let's take a look at the Focus on the Family mission statement, shall we?

Our Mission

To cooperate with the Holy Spirit in disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible, and, specifically, to accomplish that objective by helping to preserve traditional values and the institution of the family.

Hmmm... let's put on our ABC lawyer caps here... cooperating with the Holy Spirit... disseminating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible... sounds like a religious institution to me (or our foreign policy). And for a really fun reading, check out the FoF guiding principles.

Now let's look at the latest article on ABC accepting the Focus on the Family ad:

The conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family plans to advertise its child-rearing Web site and toll-free number during the ABC reality show on Monday.

The ad is the first national television spot purchased by the group and is part of an effort to bring its faith-based advice on parenting and relationships to younger families, said Jim Daly, the group's president and CEO.

So, a "conservative Christian MINISTRY" is using these TV ads to spread its "faith-based advice" but that has NOTHING to do with a religious group or religion.

If I were the UCC, I'd be setting ABC up for a massive federal lawsuit based on religious discrimination. TV networks like ABC can't pick and choose which religions they like based on the political flavor of the day. Even more worrisome, we are witnessed the exact same thing Microsoft did to gays a few weeks ago. Corproate America, the media, our politicians, are chucking liberalsim, civil rights, progressive values and advocates thereof overboard in an effort to suck up to the radical right and their administration currently in power.

The only way to stop it is to make the radical right and their benefactors lose at the ballot box and the schoolhouse door, and to ensure that companies like ABC and Microsoft pay such a high price for their bigotry that it is never repeated again.

UCC, sue ABC's ass of, and join us in challenging their licenses. Read More......

"Start Making Sense"

I'm in San Francisco for work....Last night, I got to go to a very cool event: a panel and party for Alternet's "Start Making Sense: turning the lessons of elections 2004 into winning progressive politics."

The book is a collection of essays from key players about how we can win again -- includes a piece from Markos at DailyKos. The panel was very impressive: George Lakoff, Wes Boyd from MoveOn, Adam Werback from Common Assets, Van Jones from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Lakshmi Chaudhry from Alternet.

The panel did give me hope. There are some great thinkers working on how to build a progressive movement -- and they mean a real movement. I have to say, it is great to get out of DC and feel real energy.

And, I got a copy of the book so I can read it on the flight home. Read More......

Morning open thread

Ugh Read More......