Fundies have a really funny commercial running...

[Ninong]

...against gay marriage in the New England states and California.

Night of the Living Dead



Actually, I believe they called it "Gathering Storm." See all the dark storm clouds and lighting bolts. Scary, right?

You can watch the full 60-second commercial here. All of those good people are being forced to get gay-married because they live in one of the four states where gay marriage is now legal. They say they have no choice. What is this world coming to?

If they want to defend marriage, they should push for a Constitutional Amendment banning divorce. Fundamentalist Christians have the highest divorce rates, by far! I don't see them pushing for a law banning divorce.

I wonder if the Mormons (the second 'm' is silent) are going to contribute $40 million to support these hate-mongering zombies? Maybe they're too busy collecting religious art and classic cars? Or asking their husbands to drown them in the bathtub so that they can be with Heavenly Father.

Where's the funny part? I thought this was going to be a funny post?

Oh, right, I almost forgot. Here's the funny part. Some gay guy inside their ad agency leaked the casting tapes. Some of these actors are just awful. Check it out here.

You too can be a Massachusetts doctor a zombie.

[Ninong]

The Human Rights Campaign exposes the lies in that ad.

“The Real Truth Behind the Fake Ad”

The general argument of the ad is that the push for marriage equality isn’t just about rights for same-sex couples, it’s about imposing contrary values on people of faith. The examples they cite in the ad are:
(1) A California doctor who must choose between her faith and her job
(2) A member of New Jersey church group which is punished by the state because they can’t support same-sex marriage
(3) A Massachusetts parent who stands by helpless while the state teaches her son that gay marriage is okay

The facts indicate that (1) refers to the Benitez decision in California, determining that a doctor cannot violate California anti-discrimination law by refusing to treat a lesbian based on religious belief, (2) refers to the Ocean Grove, New Jersey Methodist pavilion that was open to the general public for events but refused access for civil union ceremonies (and was fined by the state for doing so) and (3) refers to the Parker decision in Massachusetts, where parents unsuccessfully sought to end public school discussions of family diversity, including of same-sex couples.

All three examples involve religious people who enter the public sphere, but don’t want to abide by the general non-discriminatory rules everyone else does. Both (1) and (2) are really about state laws against sexual orientation discrimination, rather than specifically about marriage. And (3) is about two pairs of religious parents trying to impose their beliefs on all children in public schools.

The real facts of each case are:

The California doctor entered a profession that promises to “first, do no harm” and the law requires her to treat a patient in need – gay or straight, Christian or Muslim – regardless of her religious beliefs. The law does not, and cannot, dictate her faith – it can only insist that she follow her oath as a medical professional.

• The New Jersey church group runs, and profits from, a beachside pavilion that it rents out to the general public for all manner of occasions –concerts, debates and even Civil War reenactments— but balks at permitting couples to hold civil union ceremonies there. The law does not challenge the church organization’s beliefs about homosexuality – it merely requires that a pavilion that had been open to all for years comply with laws protecting everyone from discrimination, including gays and lesbians.
• The Massachusetts parent disagrees with an aspect of her son’s public education, a discussion of the many different kinds of families he will likely encounter in life, including gay and lesbian couples. The law does not stop her from disagreeing, from teaching him consistently with her differing beliefs at home, or even educating her child in a setting that is more in line with her faith traditions. But it does not allow any one parent to dictate the curriculum for all students based on her family’s religious traditions.

[Ninong]

This Sure Didn't Take Long

The first remix of the Fundies' Zombie ad is already online: here.

[Ninong]

You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

The fundies are now "announcing an ambitious new nationwide '2 Million for Marriage' (2M4M) initiative."

They plan to spend $1.5 million on their 2M4M campaign!

I didn't call it that, they did. The '2' in front of the 'M4M' adds a certain level of kink to it, doncha think? Gay three-ways! Who knew?

Obviously those morons are not familiar with CraigsList.

Speaking of kink and morons, the Goppies are staging "teabagging" rallies around the country on April 15.

"Teabagging." :eek3:

If you don't know what it means, do like I did and look it up on reference.com. I was wondering why it was getting so many grins and snickers on certain teevee programs. Will there be on-stage demonstrations? Can they show that on TV?

Poor Michael Steele, the alleged Chairman of the Republican National Committee, asked if he would please be allowed to address the Chicago "teabagging" rally and they told him that he was free to attend but not speak because they were not interested in anything he might have to say.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), a kinky-sex expert, is one of the featured speakers at one of the main "teabagging" rallies.

The guys at FOX Noise are all excited about this teabagging stuff.

[Ninong]

What's up with all this "teabagging?"

That's the question someone asked me in a message this morning. Here is what I replied:

They say they are protesting constantly rising taxes and socialism. They're carrying signs that read: "Teabag Obama before he teabags you." :eek3:

In other words, they are protesting against the taxes imposed by the Bush-Cheney administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Taxes have not risen in the past 16 years. Bill Clinton did raise the maximum bracket from 36% to 39% back in 1993 but George W. Bush reduced it to 35% in 2001.

Obama is not going to change any taxes until the end of next year. He is trying to reduce taxes for 95% of Americans right now but he is running into resistance from the Goppies because they don't like the idea that he will increase taxes on 5% of Americans (next year) to a maximum rate (probably 38% but no more than 39%) that will still be 10% below the maximum rates during the administration of St. Ronnie of Reagan. That will only affect couples with a taxable income above $250,000 and individuals with a taxable income above $125,000. And, of course, only that part of their income above those levels will be taxed at the highest rate. The people who are really upset about this pending increase, are people like Boss Limbaugh, who make millions of dollars a year.

As far as socialism is concerned, we have had some amount of socialism since the New Deal in the mid-1930's. Social Security, as the name implies, is clearly socialism. Medicare is definitely socialism.

You probably don't remember this, but back in the 1960's when the Medicare bill was being considered, Ronald Reagan made a TV ad saying that we needed to "stop socialized medicine." He was fighting against Medicare. No politician, including even the Goppies, is dumb enough to oppose Medicare now. They would never be re-elected.

The Goppies, with financial support from their pharmaceutical and oil industry overlords, have convinced their dumb-as-dirt followers that their taxes will be raised under Obama and that Obama is a secret Muslim who is coming to take their guns away and make them pray five times a day while facing Mecca.

The typical Goppie follower is someone like Joe the Plumber. They're working against their own self-interest all in the name of stopping socialism, and abortion, and gun control, and gay marriage, and the United Nations, and anyone who says climate change is a real threat. In other words, the Goppies appeal to the lowest common denominator and convince them that they should support the really rich guys because the really rich guys and the oil and gas industry guys are really interested in what the hell happens to them in their pathetic little lives.

That's what teabagging is all about. It's being promoted by Rupert Murdoch's FOX Noise as a way to boost ratings. Maybe they can attract a few more lunatics.

[Ninong]

Truth in Advertising



Who convinced this mentally handicapped woman that it was a good idea to walk around with a sign declaring that she is actually poop?

[Ninong]

Steven Colbert Has His Own Version of the Zombie Ad

Check it out here.

I don't know how long it will stay up. He used that on his program on Comedy Central last night. It probably won't be long before Comedy Central receives a threatening letter from the zombies at NOM. So far they have forced all of the other take-offs to be taken off the Internet, including Rachel Maddow's spoof.

Apparently they don't appreciate all this free publicity.

[Ninong]

Goppies Trashing Levi Johnston

Gee, that was fast. He went from Brooks Brothers model to redneck trash in less than six months. Here.

[SPasse]

Ninong,

That "Gathering Storm" commercial really is a load of crap.

Despite the obvious distortions & outright lies, the homophobes really need to get something strait, the difference between marriage as legal institution/contract sanctioned by the state, and a religious marriage ceremony.

Here is an example:

If a man and wife are married by a Buddhist priest, that "marriage" is considered just as binding as a Christian ceremony, at least by the government. But if you asked a Christian "man of the cloth" he would consider the Buddhist ceremony a "pagan ritual" and the couple would be "living in sin"

The above example demonstrates that it is not up to any particular religious establishment to decide what religious tradition is legally empowered to join two people. Therefore, before the government, any two people that decide to form a "domestic partnership" should be entitled to do so.

Maybe what really needs to happen is the government needs to stop using the word "marriage" and replace it with a civil union contract that contains the legal contractual obligations and benefits of the present institution of civil marriage. In other words, they need to understand is all that the government should really be in the business of is granting domestic partnerships, to Strait, Gay, or whatever kind relationship/partnership.

I miss my Gay friends that I had in Denver. Where I presently live, the Gays are so scared/closeted that I have people that I work with that might be Gay, but they are too scared to admit to it.

The good news is the my son's generation has had enough of this crap, and the Gay and Straight kids are getting along, more or less without incident.

Regards,

Scott

[Ninong]

Scott,

One of the reasons the state has to call it "marriage" instead of "civil union" is because there are many different laws and regulations that use the word "married" in reference to benefits, etc. I remember reading an article about that happening in Oregon after they passed a domestic-partnerships law that was supposed to grant all of the benefits of marriage in that state (except for federal benefits). A few large companies refused to comply with the new state law citing federal regulations that use the word "married" in reference to who is eligible for health care, retirement and other benefits. Anyway, I remember reading that a few companies were refusing to pay certain benefits to domestic partners even though the new Oregon state law said that domestic partners were entitled to all of the benefits of marriage.

For whatever reasons, the state of Vermont decided to make same-sex marriage legal three weeks ago (by more than a two-thirds vote in both houses of the legislature) after nine years of civil unions. They had to override the Republican governor's veto.

It appears that New York is on the verge of making gay marriage legal. The house there will pass it easily, just as they did the last time, but the senate is the problem. The Democrats have only a two-seat majority (32-30) and there are four Democratic senators who will vote against it again just as they did the last time. The difference this time is that the Republican leadership has given in to demands by several of their members in both houses of the legislature that they be allowed to "vote their conscience." In this case that means they want to vote for it this time. The last time the GOP forced all of their members to vote against it. Gov. Patterson's office is confident that they have enough Republican senators on their side this time to offset the four Democrats who will vote against it. Unlike the Republicans, the Democratic leadership has never forced their members to vote one way or the other on this issue. They have left it up to their conscience and their desire to be reelected. New York would be the fifth state to legalize gay marriage.

There is a wild card in the deck in New York that Governor Patterson may be overlooking and that is the new Catholic Archbishop, Timothy Dolan. There is no telling what he might do or say in an effort to stop gay marriage from becoming legal in New York. Some Catholic prelates go to the extreme on matters of abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. The Vatican leaves it up to the local diocese or archdiocese to decide what steps to take in dealing with Catholic politicians who vote in favor of any of these three issues in spite of their church's strong opposition. As I'm sure you remember, the Goppies and the fundies were pushing very hard in 2004 to get the Boston archdiocese to publicly ban John Kerry from receiving Communion. It didn't happen but it has happened in a few dioceses. And, in a couple of widely publicized cases, a few lone priests have made a public display of denying a local Catholic politician Communion because of his or her votes on abortion or stem-cell research.

In her last campaign for reelection a couple of years ago. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) had a Republican female opponent who was also a Catholic and also from the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Landrieu's Republican opponent publicly said that Landrieu was not a "good" Catholic because she supports a woman's right to choose and she publicly called on the archbishop to ban her from receiving Communion. Nothing came of it but that didn't stop the GOP from making religion an issue in the campaign even though both candidates were Catholic. Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is another famous local Catholic politician who parades his entire family down the aisle at church every Sunday he's in town. More than any other local politician, he used religion and "family values" in his campaigns for political office, taking his wife and kids on stage with him at every campaign stop. He was my congressman for a couple of years before winning the Senate seat vacated by John Breaux. Both Vitter and his wife serve as lectors at church. At least they used to before his little hooker problem popped up.

Rudy Giuliani, who is already running for governor, has recently announced that he will make gay marriage a major issue in his campaign. This is probably the best thing that could happen to the Democrats. It will highlight the hypocrisy in the GOP. Giuliani, who has been married three times and who has cheated on all of his wives with his future wives (not counting other publicly flaunted mistresses), will now be the GOP's defender of traditional marriage. Giuliani's two friends -- the two gay guys he lived with for six months -- have announced that they are about to get married in one of the neighboring states, since New York already recognizes gay marriages performed in other states. When Giuliani campaigns against gay marriage, will he do it in drag or will he leave his lipstick and Marilyn Monroe wig home?

California would have been the second state, after Massachusetts, to legalize gay marriage but Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill when it got to his desk. Then the very conservative California Supreme Court legalized gay marriage by a one-vote margin, with the Republican chief justice writing the majority opinion. The governator publicly announced his acceptance of the court's decision. The fundies mobilized with their Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Schwarzenegger came out publicly against Prop. 8.

The Mormon church in Utah told all of their members that it was their religious obligation to sent money to California in support of Prop. 8. Some wealthy Mormons contributed as much as $1 million but thousands of them contributed $1,000 or more. Many Mormons who aren't all that wealthy contributed $5,000 to $10,000 because their church told them they had an obligation to do so. The Mormons contributed $30-$40 million compared to only about $3 million from a few Catholic groups, like the Knights of Columbus.

What happened in California on the Prop. 8 campaign is that it was failing by at least 15 points early in the campaign before all the Mormon money poured into the state. The Prop. 8 supporters didn't start to make it a race until the last three weeks, when they poured millions and millions of dollars into scary, misleading TV ads similar to the fundies' new zombie ad against gay marriage. The opponents of Prop. 8 failed to run an effective, aggressive campaign, fearing that they would alienate voters who were on the fence. Prop. 8, a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, passed with about 52% of the vote. One of the things the Prop. 8 people had going for them was that Barack Obama was running for president and that brought out a very large African-American vote. African-Americans voted 70% in favor of Prop. 8. Hispanics voted 53% in favor of Prop. 8. The majority of white voters voted against Prop. 8. That was an instance where an issue that was heavily supported by the Democratic party ended up being defeated by voters who usually vote with the Democrats.

The California Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the legality of Prop. 8. Most people expect the court to affirm Prop. 8. It would be a real shocker if the court threw out Prop. 8. Assuming the court allows Prop. 8 to stand, the proponents of gay marriage will then have to decide whether they want to put a proposition to overturn it on the ballot in 2010 or 2012. By that time, all of the New England states will have legalized gay marriage.

The gay marriage issue could work to the advantage of the Democratic party nationally because the Republicans will probably look ridiculous and out-of-touch with reality in opposing it. States in the Deep South that are strongly opposed to abortion and gay marriage, aren't in play anyway in 2012 if Obama runs for reelection because no matter how good a job he does, he won't get the votes of a large percentage of white voters. In Louisiana, for instance, 60% of white Democrats voted for McCain -- only 38% of them voted for Obama. Obama carried more than 90% of white Democrats in states that are not still living in the 18th century.

The GOP lost badly in 2006 and again in 2008. Normally the party that is out of power picks up seats in the mid-term elections but that may not happen in 2010 unless Obama's approval ratings drop substantially from their current stratospheric heights. Looking at the Senate seats that will be vacant in 2010 and a couple of first-term GOP senators who may be vulnerable in their bids for reelection, it looks like the Democrats will pick up at least two or three seats and possibly as many as four or five. They have 59 now if you count Franken. Unless things change dramatically, it looks like the Democrats are a lock to have at least 61 or 62 Senate seats following the 2010 elections.

If the Republican party continues to drift to the radical right, there's no telling how many seats the Democrats might pick up in the House. Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin are a true blessing from for the Democrats. Who could ask for anything more? Both are only taken seriously by their hardcore supporters. Both are a complete turnoff to independant voters and many moderate Republicans. It is clear that the Obama administration is thrilled that Dick Cheney has decided to make himself the voice of the failed Republican policies of the past eight years.

As you probably know, Cheney and Bush aren't even talking to each other any more. He refused to attend the little reunion they held for Bush administration staffers in Texas recently. He's still pissed that Bush fired Donald Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense (Rumsfeld used to be Cheney's boss) and really, really pissed that Bush reneged on his promise to grant Scooter Libby a full pardon at the end of his term. There were published reports quoting senior GOP officials that Bush had promised privately to pardon Libby and former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards but he apparently changed his mind at the last minute. In his final week, he pardoned those two border guards in Texas who shot a couple of illegals and that was it. No pardons for Libby or Edwards. High ranking Republicans in Louisiana were saying privately that they had succeeded in getting Bush's approval for an Edwards pardon, or at least a commutation of sentence. I think he has already served six years of his ten-year sentence and he's in his 80's. Bush commuted Libby's prison term, so he didn't do a single day in jail or prison, but he left him with the $250,000 fine (which was more than covered by donations from filthy-rich Goppies like Cheney), but Cheney was pushing for a last minute full pardon and rumors were all over the Internet that Bush had agreed to that months in advance.

It's nice to see the Goppies taking shots at each other. And it's nice to see that they appear to be swinging hard right following their loss of the White House in 2008. Pennsylvania is a good example of this. Arlen Spector would probably win reelection in the 2010 general election but he is being opposed by a right-wing Republican in the GOP primary and might lose the primary. If Specter loses the primary, the new GOP candidate has absolutely no chance against any Democrat. He's too far out there for Pennsylvania.

Another gift to the Democrats is Sarah Palin. Again! Mitt Romney will probably win the nomination but she will force him to the right. Hey, wouldn't it be fantastic if the GOP nominee ended up taking Palin as his running mate? Oh, I forgot, you're still a Republican. At least I think you voted for McCain-Palin in 2008 in spite of knowing that Palin would be a disaster for the country if McCain died in office. Oh, and just for the record, I would like to remind you that I called McCain as the GOP nominee two years in advance. I called the Democratic ticket as Clinton-Obama but it turned out to be Obama-Biden. I am now calling Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee in 2012. I can't believe they are stupid enough to nominate Sarah Palin but who knows.

You are going to have to wake up and realize that today's Republican party is not really conservative in any true sense of the word and they are still being influenced by the crazies on the far right. As proof of that, they don't dare say anything bad about Boss Limbaugh. And when they do, they apologize publicly the next morning.

I think it's great that Glenn Beck is doing so well on Fixed News. The guy's an idiot but he has a certain amount of personal charm, like Sarah Palin, that appeals to the right-wing of the party. Between Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Steel, Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber, how can the Democrats lose?

[Ninong]

Miss California

Apparently Miss California is the new martyr for the fundies in their campaign against gay marriage. She has been all over the teevee machine saying that the only reason she lost the Miss USA contest (or whatever it's called) is because she voiced her honest opinion that she is opposed to gay marriage. She said she would rather be "Biblically correct than politically correct."

Well, I think it's a shame that poor Miss North Carolina, who won the damn contest, is being overshadowed by Miss California's constant whining. Miss California lost, plain and simple. She had already lost the swimsuit competition and the evening gown competition. Miss North Carolina won both the swimsuit competition and the evening gown competition. Miss North Carolina was clearly the favorite to win the whole thing, not Miss California.

It's one thing to lose. It's another thing to be a loser.

[Ninong]

Congrats to Miss California on Her New Gig

NOM, the people who made the zombie ad, have hired Miss California, Carrie Prejean, as their new spokesperson. She's already making some new TV ads in support of traditional marriage.

I guess she needs the money so that she can get some newer, bigger implants. The Miss California Organization's co-executive director, Shanna Moakler, just happened to let it out that the organization paid for Prejean's breast implants just a few weeks before the Miss USA competition.

Shanna Moakler was Miss USA in 1995. When asked if she had ever gotten any implants herself, she said no, but that most of the girls do get them now.

Somehow or other I seem to detect a certain amount of friction between Prejean and the folks at the Miss California Organization.

:eek3:

P.S. -- The other co-executive director of the Miss California USA organization told CNN today (May 1) that they didn't actually pay for Carrie Prejean's new boobs, they "sponsored" them. When asked to explain what that meant, he said it means that they "arranged for her to get them." I think it means the plastic surgeon donated his services.

If Nike sponsors new boobs for female athletes, does that mean they have to wear the Nike swoosh?

[Ninong]

NOM: Prejean Not Official Spokesperson

NOM (also known as 2M4M) said today that Carrie Prejean is not an official spokesperson, just a concerned citizen who offered to appear in their TV ads. They didn't say whether they had offered to "sponsor" her next boob job or not.

I think Carrie Prejean is a wonderful spokesperson for the fundies. Maybe they're going for a more hip image? Check out this photo of the only virgin in the world with breast implants. Are those the new boobs or the old boobs? I wonder if the NOM people realize that Prejean has reportedly posed for nude photos and those should be hitting the web any day now? She and A-Rod have something in common. They've both used performance enhancers to boost their figures.

I think the NOM people are fighting a losing battle. New Hampshire's legislature has just approved gay marriage and the bill will be going to the Democratic governor soon. He's opposed to gay marriage but he has never said that he would veto the legislation if it passed both houses of the state legislature, which it just did.

Maine is on the verge of passing a gay marriage bill and the California Supreme Court will decide in the next few weeks whether to overturn Prop. 8 or let it stand. That's a difficult decision to predict. If you read the majority opinion, written by the Republican Chief Justice, when they overturned the ban on gay marriage, you would think that they would be inclined to overturn Prop. 8 but there's no telling if his opinion was stronger than the other four justices in the majority. It was a 5-4 decision. California's state supreme court is a conservative, majority-Republican court and it's difficult to predict. They tend to have a libertarian streak.

The betting has been that the California court will affirm Prop. 8 but that the vote will be close. On the other hand, there are those who think that the same five justices who voted to overturn the previous ban will vote to overturn Prop. 8 on the basis of the inalienable rights argument. The chief justice's majority opinion stated that marriage equality (meaning same-sex marriage) was a "fundamental right" guaranteed by the California state constitution. Fundamental rights cannot be abridged by referenda. In the 1960's, when the people of California passed a constitutional amendment that would have allowed racial discrimination in real estate, the state supreme court overturned it.

Another thing going in favor of the California court overturning Prop. 8 is the fact that other state supreme courts (Iowa, for example, unanimously!) have recently approved gay marriage. And public opinion has changed over the past several months. In California, if the election were held today, Prop. 8 would lose. Opinion nationally has shifted on this question. The most recent Washington Post/ABC News national poll shows that more Americans now favor gay marriage than oppose it: 49% favor making gay marriage legal, 46% believe it should be illegal. This gap will continue to widen as the population ages because people under the age of 30 support gay marriage by a margin of more than two to one. People over the age of 50 are strongly opposed. This is why it's a losing issue for the Republican party.

White evangelicals are strongly opposed to gay marriage. They're big supporters of divorce, unjust wars, torture, the death penalty, and a TV show called '24.'

[Ninong]

Another Thing the Fundies Are Against

They're against President Obama being invited to speak and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame's commencement ceremony on May 17.

Catholics approve of the invitation, 50% to 28%. White evangelicals disapprove, 39% to 33%.

If you listen to CNN you would think that Catholics are strongly opposed to Obama speaking at Notre Dame. That's absurd! And the faculty and student body at Notre Dame strongly support the invitation. It's just a vocal minority that are opposed. Most of the Catholic bishops are opposed because they're following the official Vatican line. They say it's against their moral principles to allow someone who is pro-choice to speak at a Catholic institution. What a bunch of hypocrites! The Church is against torture and against the war in Iraq on moral principles yet they embraced George W. Bush with open arms. If the Vatican wants to rant and rave about somebody they can start with Fernando Lugo. Or how about Padre Alberto?

Domestic terrorist Randall Terry got ahold of a list of names and addresses of 50,000 Notre Dame alumni and he has his little terrorists-in-training mailing out anti-abortion letters to the Notre Dame alums asking them to write letters to the Vatican demanding that Notre Dame's president be fired. What a creep that guy is. After the courts ordered him to pay damages to the women's health clinics he had terrorized, he filed bankruptcy. Then he sent out letters to all of his followers asking for donations so that he could buy a $432,000 house. The Democrats tried to get an amendment to the bankruptcy bill in 2003 that would have prevented anyone from having judgments awarded by the courts for terrorism against women's health clinics dismissed in bankruptcy court but the Goppies refused to go along with it. The Goppies support terrorism against women's health clinics.

Randall Terry is the hypocrite who rants and raves about saving the unborn and saving traditional marriage and yet he dumped his first wife and kids and was accused by the court of not paying his "fair share of child support." The Catholic Church does not allow divorce either but that's not somthing Terry is interested in talking about. This is the douchebag who was down in Florida representing Terri Schiavo's parents, or so he claimed. His best friend and co-terrorist is now doing time for murdering a doctor. And I'm not talking about Eric Rudolph.

P.S. added May 6, 2009: I said "most" Catholic bishops are opposed to Obama speaking at Notre Dame but only 20% of U.S. Catholic bishops have spoken publicly on this issue. All of those who have expressed an opinion publicly have criticized Notre Dame's decision to invite President Obama. Maybe the other 80% support the decision???

[Ninong]

Nude Pics of NOM Spokesperson Now Online

The fundie group that put out the zombie ad is running into some bad press. Topless photos of their new spokesperson, Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean, are all over the web and even Matt Lauer talked about them this morning on NBC's Today show. At first Prejean claimed that she was only 17 when the nudie pics were taken but that's a lie. Now she's saying that she was "a teenager."

NBC continues to repeat Prejean's ridiculous claim that her answer about marriage cost her the Miss USA title. That's not exactly fair to the young woman who actually won the contest, Miss North Carolina Kristen Dalton, who was way ahead of Prejean on points, having already won the swimsuit contest and the evening gown contest. Now no one remembers who won the stupid contest. All they remember is that Carrie Prejean was robbed of her title because she's a Christian. That's BS!

Carrie Prejean went to all the trouble of changing her hair color, getting new hair extensions and new boobs just a few weeks before the contest and she still lost to a natural blonde. That's because The Donald has a thing for blondes. Miss USA 2009 Kristen Dalton.

[Ninong]

NOM President Sympathizes With Carrie Prejean

NOM president Maggie Gallagher issued a statement Tuesday sympathizing with Prejean over the release of her modeling picture and saying it did not disqualify her as a traditional marriage advocate.

"Of course Carrie is not perfect," Gallagher said. "On a personal note, as a former unwed mother, I want to say to Americans: you don't have to be a perfect person to have the right to stand up for marriage."

Unfortunately for Ms Prejean, the Miss Universe Organization, is not quite as sympathetic.

Meanwhile, the Miss Universe Organization, which also owns the Miss USA pageant, confirmed Tuesday that it had sent a letter demanding the National Organization for Marriage remove the Prejean ad from the air and the group's Web site. The disputed ad includes footage from the April 19 pageant.

And the Miss California USA Organization is accusing Prejean of lying on her application and of violating several terms of the contract she agreed to as the winner of the Miss California USA title. Apparently she lied on her application when asked if she had "ever been photographed nude or partially nude." Her 12-page contract also forbids her from making any personal appearances, giving any interviews or appearing in any commercials without advance permission from pageant officials. In the past 10 days, she has violated those terms several times.

Prejean is ignoring the two co-directers of the pageant. It's obvious from her behavior that she wants them to yank her title so that her martyrdom will be complete. That way she can continue to appear in commercials, make public appearances and grant interviews. Heck, she may as well accept the almost certain $1 million offer from Playboy, too. Although that might be a bit much for the fundies to swallow.

What the Miss California USA people should do is NOT yank her title but enforce her contract instead. They should force the NOM people to pull their ads and they should force Prejean to renounce her title rather than having it revoked by the organization. Prejean wants them to revoke her title so that she can gain even more notoriety and claim that she's being persecuted for her Christian faith.

If she renounces the title, does that mean she has to give back the boobs?

[Ninong]

NOM Will Have to Start Running the Zombie Ad in Maine

NOM has been running the zombie ad in New York because Gov. Patterson is pushing a marriage equality bill that is expected to pass the state Senate this time. Both houses of the state legislature in New Hampshire passed a same-sex marriage bill last week and now both houses of Maine's legislature have passed similar legislation. Both bills are awaiting action by the states' governors, both Democrats who have opposed gay marriage in the past. The national Democratic party is putting pressure on both governors to sign because they want the party to be united on this issue. More importantly, they want to force the Republicans into making this a campaign issue so that they will remain the party of out-of-touch bigots that appeals to a shrinking minority of Americans. And the Democrats would be thrilled if this helped Sarah Palin's chances of winning the Republican nomination.

NOM will have to send Carrie Prejean to Maine and New Hampshire to lobby the governors to veto the bills. She can bring her portfolio with her.

P.S. added May 6, 2009: NOM can save their money and not bother lobbying Maine anymore. Maine's governor, John Baldacci, signed the bill. Gay marriage is legal in Maine.

Here's a quote from today's NYT:

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland will be among the groups lobbying Mr. Baldacci, a Catholic, to veto the bill, as will the Maine Family Policy Council, an affiliate of the Family Research Council in Washington. “We’re going to be on his case,” said Marc R. Mutty, director of public affairs for the diocese.

Looks likes Bishop Richard Malone and Daddy Dobson will both be disappointed. Gov. Baldacci acted before they could get "on his case." Let's see if Bishop Malone retaliates against Baldacci. The Vatican leaves it up to local bishops to decide if a Catholic politician's actions violate church teachings in such an eggregious way that he should be disqualified from receiving the sacraments. It will be difficult for the bishop to sanction the governor without having done the same to all of the Catholics in both houses of the Maine legislature who voted for this bill.

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And the Miss California USA Organization is accusing Prejean of lying on her application and of violating several terms of the contract she agreed to as the winner of the Miss California USA title. Apparently she lied on her application when asked if she had "ever been photographed nude or partially nude." Her 12-page contract also forbids her from making any personal appearances, giving any interviews or appearing in any commercials without advance permission from pageant officials. In the past 10 days, she has violated those terms several times.

Oops! She did it again!

The lies never stop with fundie spokesmodel, about to be ex-Miss California USA Carrie Prejean. After lying on her application about ever posing nude or partially nude, Prejean assured the organization earlier this week that the one topless photo of her posing in very scanty panties and nothing else was the ONLY photo like that. Just one. Period!

The same website that posted the first picture has now posted a second one. Apparently they intend to continue posting a new one every few days until they run out. Rumor has it that they have at least six pics.

The Miss California USA Organization was in talks with The Donald's attorneys today about what they could or should do about this. Apparently they had decided not to go after her for her unauthorized interviews since that would be a touchy issue because of the topic. As for the commercial she made for the zombie people, they are demanding that NOM discontinue running it and remove it from their website. That's because footage of the Miss USA contest was included in the ad.

After talks with The Donald's attorneys, another rumor has it that they called the runner-up in the Miss California USA contest. I guess they want to find out if she has any semi-nude pics floating around before they make a decision on what to do about Prejean.

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From CNN:

Another racy Prejean photo emerges; site promises more

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A second lingerie-modeling photo of Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has appeared after she assured pageant officials this week that the earlier shot was the only one she had appeared in.

[...]

"We have been told by Carrie Prejean there are no other photos other than the one circulating in existence. She should know better than anyone," Miss California USA Director Keith Lewis said Wednesday before the latest photo was released.

From TMZ:

Miss California -- Pants on Fire!

Carrie Prejean has lied to the pageant that feeds her.

TMZ has obtained an email Carrie sent to Keith Lewis, Co-Executive Director of Miss California USA. The email, sent yesterday, refers to the topless photo of her circulating on the Internet. The email reads: "This was when I was 17 years old. I was a minor. It was when I was first getting into the modeling world, being naive, and young. I shouldnt (sic) have taken the photo of me in my underwear. There are no other photos of me. This was the only one I took."

Carrie is not telling the truth. Last Sunday, someone sent TMZ 4 -- FOUR -- photos of Carrie without her top and in her panties. We did not publish the pics after her rep contacted us and said she was 17 when the pics were taken.

We told Keith Lewis about the 4 photos. His reaction: "I'm absolutely stunned. This completely changes things for us. Yesterday we thought she had explained things accurately. We need to revisit this issue with her."

P.S. -- Prejean is now claiming that she was only 17 when the topless photos were taken. Why would her mother give her permission to have such racy photos taken if she was a minor at the time?

Two of the topless photos have already been posted on that other website. That same website claims that Carrie Prejean's "real father is gay." If so, then she has something in common with Karl Rove. So apparently Miss California USA is anti-gay because her mother was constantly telling her that her father is gay.

There is another photo of her wearing a very filmy, ruffled green negligee that is completely open in the front and falling off her shoulders. I wouldn't call it topless but it's very revealing. Might be a little too revealing for a fundie spokesmodel.

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You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up

The fundies are now "announcing an ambitious new nationwide '2 Million for Marriage' (2M4M) initiative."

They plan to spend $1.5 million on their 2M4M campaign!

I didn't call it that, they did. The '2' in front of the 'M4M' adds a certain level of kink to it, doncha think? Gay three-ways! Who knew?

Obviously those morons are not familiar with CraigsList.

Speaking of kink and morons, the Goppies are staging "teabagging" rallies around the country on April 15.

"Teabagging." :eek3:

If you don't know what it means, do like I did and look it up on reference.com. I was wondering why it was getting so many grins and snickers on certain teevee programs. Will there be on-stage demonstrations? Can they show that on TV?

Poor Michael Steele, the alleged Chairman of the Republican National Committee, asked if he would please be allowed to address the Chicago "teabagging" rally and they told him that he was free to attend but not speak because they were not interested in anything he might have to say.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), a kinky-sex expert, is one of the featured speakers at one of the main "teabagging" rallies.

The guys at FOX Noise are all excited about this teabagging stuff.

Speaking of Teabagging and 2M4M...

...check out this hilarious video clip of comedian Andy Cobb from Countdown With Keith Olbermann.