Gays

The Christian Right Loses Its Power And Influence In 2012 Elections

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The Christian Right, known in the past as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition, was a very powerful force from the late 1970s until 2012, having an impact on the election of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and effectively hijacking the Republican Party, effectively promoting their biased agenda.

But now they have suffered a major defeat in 2012, and the influence over the party is waning. The Republican Party is well aware that if they allow the Christian Right to continue to wage war against women, immigrants, and gays, then they will disappear as an effective political opposition to the Democratic Party.

The majority of American women do NOT want anyone controlling their reproductive lives, and telling them that rape is not a reason for abortion.

The majority of immigrants, whether legal or undocumented, do not want minority groups to be profiled, have to fear the police, be told to leave the country with their children who are born in America, and have religious leaders display hate and prejudice toward them.

The vast majority of gays and lesbians, and their straight allies, want discrimination based on sexual orientation to be ended, and to have the same legal rights to basic civil rights, including the right to marry.

So those Christian pastors who preach hate, including those who rail against Barack Obama and wish him harm, are only undermining the legitimacy of their being ministers of Jesus Christ, who would, most certainly, be advocating the totally opposite view of all of these groups, and promoting love and tolerance, rather than hate!

It is a good thing that the Christian Right is declining in its influence, as the South and Great Plains decline in significance in population terms, and as older white males in particular, who refuse to understand the need for change and moving forward, grow older, and will soon pass on, as a bad memory of the ugliness of extremist religious values!

Separation of church and state needs to be reaffirmed! Theocracy is against what the Founding Fathers advocated!

The Republican Jewish Coalition, Israel, And Barack Obama: A Total Failure To Change The Jewish Vote

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The Republican Jewish Coalition made every effort to defeat President Barack Obama, but failed miserably!

In 2008, 78 percent of American Jews voted for the Democratic nominee; in 2012, after spreading lies and mistruths about Obama and Israel, the end result was that Obama received 70 percent of the vote, a total smack to the deception practiced by the RJC!

Why did 7 out 10 Jews remain loyal to Obama and the Democrats? The answer is that they knew that Obama had given more aid to Israel than any other President, including the IRON DOME missile system; that the Democrats were the party of social justice, as shown through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and ObamaCare, along with civil rights legislation, environmental legislation, and stood for women’s rights; and also that the Republican Party wished to cut back on all these accomplishments, including wiping out ObamaCare.

Additionally, many American Jews do not trust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it is now known that even people within his own government and military feel Netanyahu is too trigger happy, wanting to start a war with Iran before diplomacy has played its course, and that Netanyahu favored the Republicans and Mitt Romney from the beginning. So the question was: Should our President have to bow to every demand and detail that Netanyahu insists upon? Is he our President, instead of Barack Obama? And is it not true that Defense Minister Ehud Barak (former Prime Minister) and President Shimon Peres have raved about the support of Israel by our President?

Face the facts: The RJC was more concerned about preserving the wealth of Boca Raton Jewish residents and others elsewhere who are extremely wealthy, and do not wish to pay their fair share of taxes, as evidenced by the meeting in Florida of wealthy Jews where Mitt Romney said his famous “47 Percent” statement that harmed him greatly in the end result!

Also, Orthodox Jews as a group have a problem with socially tolerant views of abortion and gay rights, and are not seen as great advocates of civil rights for other minorities, other than themselves, sad to say!

And it is not just the RJC that was disgraceful!

It was also House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, the only Jewish Republican on Capitol Hill, who has made it his mission to destroy ObamaCare and privatize Medicare, and is very mean spirited in his relations with the President, and is also well known for his attempts to undermine House Speaker John Boehner, who he would love to replace!

And also, House Republican candidate Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, who lost to Lois Frankel, has the same agenda as Cantor. And Josh Mandel, the GOP nominee who lost to Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, ran a nasty, undignified campaign, and made clear that his goal was to promote the Tea Party radicalism of his party, rather than be part of the great majority who see their faith as connected to social justice!

Fortunately, both Hasner and Mandel lost handily, and it would be no loss to the nation if neither ever runs again, with their agenda to help the rich and powerful, and ignore the needs and wants of women, labor, minorities, gays, and senior citizens!

The “Old Confederacy”, Republicans, Health Care, And HIV AIDS Infections

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The “Old Confederacy”, the states that broke away from the Union during the Civil War, remain the poorest part of the nation even in 2012, in all social and economic statistics.

Once held back by the Democratic Party before the era of civil rights, now it is the Republicans who dominate in these states, and are holding back progress through their propaganda on race and religion, and resentment of the federal government.

So it is the governors of these states that refuse to move ahead on health care coverage for their poorer citizens, of all races, rejecting Medicaid expansion and forming health care exchanges to enforce ObamaCare in 2014 and beyond. They have no concern about the welfare of their less fortunate men, women, and children, while always professing their ‘Christian values”!

In the midst of this hypocrisy, Dan Rather, former CBS News anchor and journalist, has revealed new evidence that HIV AIDs infections are spreading most rapidly in these states, much more than in New York City and San Francisco, the typical stereotype that it is only gays that have this disease, when it is actually spreading among uneducated white and minorities and in the heterosexual community at a far greater rate.

Does one think that these state governments and their representatives in Congress have any concern or interest in combating this epidemic?

The clear answer is NO, as long as race and religion can be manipulated for political power by the GOP!

The Economy Issue Outweighing Foreign Policy And The Supreme Court: The Ultimate Tragedy For The Nation

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It has often been said that people vote their “pocketbook”, that is, how they are affected economically, including having employment, the inflation rate, the housing situation, and the ability to plan for their children’s college education and their own retirements.

So if the economy is in bad shape, the President or party in office loses the election, and that possibility now rears its “ugly head”, due to the downturn in the stock market this past month, and the slowing of job growth that hints at a stall, if not a reversal, in job growth.

The facts are that all economic conditions are much better than they were when Barack Obama took the oath of office, but since people tend to think of the moment, not of the previous few years, Barack Obama is seen as in danger of being defeated.

The odds are still that he will win re-election, but it is going to be a “nail biter” at best, and that is a true tragedy, considering Obama’s accomplishments in foreign policy, national security, and constitutional issues.

There is no question that, despite Republican propaganda to the contrary, that Barack Obama has accomplished a lot in these areas, but it is being overshadowed by the economic situation, which, no matter who is President, is going to take years to repair after the Great Recession that began under George W. Bush.

If Mitt Romney is elected President, we are not going to see a magical economic recovery! We are, instead, likely going to see austerity that will make things far worse! One can be assured that within six months of taking the oath, Romney’s honeymoon will have ended, and there will be “buyers’s remorse”!

And we will likely see the “necons” take back control of the White House, and decide on a new war with Iran, which will only further damage the deficit and the national debt!

And we will see up to three appointments by President Romney, turning the Supreme Court to the extreme right for a generation, the greatest tragedy of all, as it will set back gays, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, women, labor, the environment, and government regulation of Wall Street!

So the economy may be in bad shape, but the country will be in worst shape if Obama loses because of the economy!

Confessions Of Dirty Deeds By Those On The Right Politically, But Cowardice By Many Republican Leaders!

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In the midst of obscene racism and misogyny and bashing of labor and gays by right wing extremists in the media and the Republican Party, every now and then, we get some who feel guilt and confess to their horrific work and ask to be forgiven.

Examples include Lee Atwater, who mastered the concept of the political smear for the campaign of George H. W. Bush in 1988 against Michael Dukakis, and later confessed and asked for forgiveness on his death bed, dying from cancer.

Another such case was David Brock who smeared Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas controversy in 1991, and did other dirty deeds for right wing hate mongers including smearing Bill Clinton, but later confessed and works to expose Fox News Channel and others who distort and smear, through his leadership of Media Matters For America.

And a third is Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the George W. Bush re-election committee in 2004, who helped to promote an anti gay agenda that year, and yet is himself gay, and has now apologized for what he did eight years ago.

This kind of conservative dirty tactics, as practiced by Atwater, Brock, and Mehlman still is very widespread, so we find Republican leaders unwilling to condemn Rush Limbaugh, for his description of a college student, who testified for the right of women to have contraceptive coverage on health care plans sponsored by employers, as being a slut and prostitute, who should produce sex tapes for Rush and others to watch! Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have no ethics that allows them to openly condemn such outrages by Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and other propagandists.

At the same time, there are conservative commentators who are decent and principled enough to condemn these kinds of statements and actions, including David Frum, Kathleen Parker, and Chris Buckley.

What a disgrace, that there is no standard of decency past or present on the right, in the mad rush to condemn, besmirch, and smear those they oppose, rather than criticize based on issues and viewpoints alone!

Can Mitt Romney Survive A Loss In Michigan Primary? His “Competition” With George Romney’s Image And History!

Ronald 2 Comments

The biggest crisis in Mitt Romney’s privileged life is coming in Michigan, the state of his birth, the state which elected his father George Romney Governor for three terms in the 1960s, the state which he fundamentally abandoned when he called for the ordered bankruptcy of the auto industry, the state in which there has been a major turn around and drop in unemployment due to the intervention of the federal government to help General Motors and Chrysler survive. General Motors has seen its best growth in 25 years, and Michigan and the Midwest, as bad as they are in economic terms, are far better off because of what Barack Obama did, as opposed to what Romney wished to do for the area–NOTHING!

Romney is about to be paid back in spades, as the odds are now heavy that he will lose his “home state” to Rick Santorum, who can relate to blue collar workers on a fundamental basis, as compared to the filthy rich Romney who has no clue as to the struggles of auto workers or anyone else, and lives off investments but can joke about being “unemployed”!

If Romney loses the Michigan Primary, he is doomed, and will not be able to survive and win the nomination. And even if, by some intervention by “establishment” forces on Wall Street, he gets the nomination, he will have a flaw that will be enough to cause his defeat in November. He is simply too plastic, to stiff, too elitist, for the average American, and by catering to the extreme right in his rhetoric, he is causing the loss of major groups of voters–women, Hispanics and Latinos, African Americans, labor, the struggling middle class, independents, conservative Democrats, gays, etc. Does anyone NOT get the point?

Mitt Romney is NOT electable; he may have the lifelong desire to be what his father failed to be–President of the United States! But in a way, he is competing with a ghost, as George Romney was a much more genuine candidate, a man who knew what it was like to be poor, a man who really built up the auto industry, rather than live off buying up companies and firing workers, and making money on the resale of those companies.

George Romney was genuine, compassionate, principled, and honest to a set of values! Mitt Romney is none of these attributes of his father!

In a way, this reminds us of the struggle between father and son of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, another case of son trying to overcome the achievements of the father, but never matching up in any way, shape or form.

The difference is THIS time, it is not going to work out that this country has to deal with the psychological effects of the father-son battle for supremacy, as Mitt Romney is NOT going to be President of the United States, and is highly unlikely, as things stand now, to be the GOP nominee chosen at the Tampa Republican National Convention in August.

It is actually humiliating and embarrassing to see Romney trying to pander to Michigan now, talking about his old high school, the height of the trees, loving the lakes of the state, loving cars and Detroit! Such phoniness and catering to voters who know better than to be suckered by a rich guy who does not care about the “very poor”, the middle class, but only the rich, despite his protestations to the contrary!

Defense Of Liberalism And Progressivism: All Major Reforms Brought About By The Political Left!

Ronald 2 Comments

Lawrence O’Donnell on THE LAST WORD on MSNBC this evening utilized an episode of the old series, THE WEST WING, to defend liberalism and progressivism, demonstrating what all people of those persuasions know, but sometimes forget to use in defense against conservatives: that ALL major reforms in this country have come about due to those defined as on the political left!

Liberals and Progressives, (interchangeable names) brought about the following, whether Democrats or Republicans:

Anti Slavery Movement
Woman Suffrage
Social Justice Reforms
Labor Reforms
Voting Rights
Civil Rights Laws
Social Security
Medicare and Medicaid
Environmental Reforms
Consumer Reforms
Women’s Rights Movement
Gay Rights Movement
Disability Rights Movement
Immigration Reform
Anti Vietnam War Movement

What can conservatives claim, except to help the rich get richer; help corporations monopolize; undermine labor; exploit and condemn the poor; support religious groups that wish to restrict human rights; work against consumer rights and environmental regulation; deny voting rights; support slavery and segregation of blacks; deny woman equality in all ways; exploit immigrants and deny them equality; deny the “safety net”; work against equal rights for gays and the disabled; and support military adventures overseas that enrich corporations.

Would any conservative wish to deny the above? If so, write and comment on this post!

The Total Hypocrisy Of Evangelical Christian Minister Pat Robertson: Divorce Mate If He Or She Has Alzheimers Disease!

Ronald 1 Comment

Evangelical Christian Minister Pat Robertson has long been a leader in the Christian Right Movement, having been involved in the Moral Majority and Christian Coalition groups in the 1980s and 1990s. along with others, including the late Jerry Falwell.

Robertson has long been controversial for his statements and actions, regarding liberals, environmentalists, feminists, gays and other groups. And he also ran for President in the Republican primaries of 1988, claiming that God was behind him.

He has always emphasized “family values” on his Christian Broadcasting Network, and continues to have millions of followers, despite his controversial stands on many issues.

Now 81, he made the controversial statement after the Mid Atlantic Earthquake in August that it was caused by people who “act gay”. He had earlier blamed September 11 on the various groups mentioned above.

He has been known for statements far greater in number than the above, all of which would make anyone wonder about his sanity and his ethics!

But now, in the latest controversy, he suggests that IF a person has a mate who has Alzheimers Disease, it is proper to divorce and find someone else!

Imagine that: forget the vows one takes in marriage regarding being there in sickness and in health, till death do us part. Instead, pursue one’s own selfish interests, and give up all morals and ethics, as long as you put yourself first!

What kind of a religious leader would preach such outrageous ideas to his followers, many of whom are young, and already live in a society where marriage is not valued, and divorce is looked at as something to be expected?

Pat Robertson should give up his ministry and his television network and stop speaking out, as everything he professes is simply poison, hate, and insanity!

And one has to wonder if he has the early signs of Alzheimers Disease himself! What a disgraceful “good Christian” this man is, an embarrassment to the concept of Jesus Christ and religion!

64th Anniversary Of Jackie Robinson Breaking Major League Baseball Color Barrier: The Battle For Civil Rights For All Americans Goes On!

Ronald 1 Comment

Today, in the year 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and started all major league sports toward full integration!

Sixty four years later, the battle for civil rights goes on! There is still discrimination, much of it hidden, against African Americans.

But also, we have widespread discrimination against Hispanics and Latinos, as well as against Muslims, and gay Americans! And there are still remnants of prejudice against Jews and Catholics as well!

Native Americans, Asian Americans and women also still face prejudice and denial of equal opportunity!

So as we celebrate Jackie Robinson on this anniversary, which revolutionized major league baseball, remember that the battle for civil rights endures in a nation where too many people still have no problem with racial, ethnic, gender, religious or sexual orientation discrimination!

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Coming Closer To An End!

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Yesterday, a step was taken that should soon bring the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the US military!

Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, an Iraq War veteran, introduced an amendment to the military appropriations bill, which is also cosponsored by Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee!

It calls upon Congress to pass repeal, but the amendment provides a delay in implementation until December, after a full study has been completed by the military, headed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff head, Admiral Mike Mullen.

It seems as if the only barrier now to passage is two fold: Some Democrats seem unwilling to endorse the idea, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Evan Bayh of Indiana, and Jim Webb of Virginia. Also, there is a search for a few Republicans to sign on, including Scott Brown, who so far seems resistant, even though his state (Massachusetts) allows gay marriage and is highly in favor of the end of the military ban on gays.

Additionally, House Republicans and many Senate Republicans seem willing to vote down the military appropriations bill if the amendment proposed by Murphy, Lieberman, and Levin is included in it!

It is absolutely amazing how most Republicans will constantly vote against anything that favors minorities or gays! How can they call themselves representative of the American people when they demonstrate so much bias, and willingness to discriminate? 🙁

The hope is that the ban on gays in the military is, indeed, nearing, its end!