Because it’s the end of the week and because the answer to the question, “What on earth is wrong with wingnuts?” is always basically the same, I’m just going to simply say “they’re weird,” and move on.
Ousted former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce went On the Record With Greta Van Susteren last night to discuss his getting booted from office — and piss and moan about Jerry Lewis, the man who beat him in Tuesday’s historic recall election.
Van Susteren asked Pearce whether he and Lewis are friends. He responded by launching into a tirade about recall elections, boy scouts, and homosexuals.
“That’s a stretch. We’re not enemies, but that’s a stretch. It’s just not true. He opposes SB-1070, he supports the Dream Act. He supports gays in Boy Scouts. He’s endorsed by the Democrats. We are at opposite ends of this issue. So that’s a stretch,” Pearce says.
Jerry Lewis, of course, is also a Republican. Russell Pearce is a wingnut who is a sore loser, but I repeat myself.
Andy has the video, which apparently does not wish to be embedded over here, which is just as well because it’s from Fox News.
Last night on Facebook, I gave Jan Brewer a hair of credit for vetoing a birther bill that would require candidates to prove their US citizenship, either through a birth certificate or perhaps, a circumcision record [really], to Arizona’s Secretary of State before being allowed on the ballot. Apparently even Jan Brewer is weirded out by the idea of a candidate bringing his ritual penis cutting certificate to the State House.
But let us not get too excited, please? Jan Brewer is still one of the world’s worst wingnuts, and the goalposts of “too crazy” have been moved so far to the right in the past several years that she really deserves no credit for doing one sane thing. Moreover, on the same day she vetoed that birther bill, she signed this one:
Yesterday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) signed Senate Bill 1188, requiring state-funded and private adoption agencies “to give primary consideration to adoptive placement with a married man and woman, with all other criteria being equal.” This doesn’t mean that gay couples wouldn’t be able to adopt in the state, but they would have to fall to the back of the line simply because of their sexual orientation.
Absent any evidence that straight adoptive parents are better than gay adoptive parents [religious dogma is not evidence, fools], and flat against the needs of her state’s children, she decided to go ahead and sign this bigoted bill which simply seeks to make gay and lesbian couples’ lives more difficult.
“The governor’s action today is harmful to children in foster care and group homes who are seeking a permanent home and the support of a loving, caring family,” Mann said. “SB 1188 takes the focus off of what’s in the best interest of a child when adoption decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis, according to what’s in a child’s best interest. Each case is unique. For example, adoption authorities may have the choice between placing a child with a beloved single aunt — or complete strangers. The only consideration should be determining what’s in the best interest of the child.”
Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday signed into law House Bill 2443, which makes it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion based on the sex or race of the fetus.
Opponents of the measure have questioned whether such a practice was really occurring.
Haha, Republicans confronting a problem that actually exists? Riiiight.
Republican supporters had said that statistics show a high percentage of abortions are being sought by minority women and that abortion clinics intentionally locate in minority areas.
They said statistics show that some populations are increasingly seeking abortions based on the fetus’ sex.
Democrats argue that statistics show that neither is happening.
Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, said he pushed the legislation because of fears women would choose to abort because they didn’t like the gender or the race of the baby.
Rep. Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, said the only proof Montenegro offered was a magazine article on such practices in China and India.
Okay, now you know how asinine this story really is. It’s very simple. Just as Maggie Gallagher only talks about black people when black churches are riling people up to vote against gay people, these wingnuts only “defend” black people [term applied very loosely] when it serves their patriarchal goals. I could say more about this, but I don’t need to, because Angry Black Lady’s rant on the subject is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen on the internetz:
First of all, how dare these Teabilly assholes pretend to care about the plight of the Negro, when the very same Teabillies are gutting and intend to further gut the social programs on which black and brown women rely in order to keep their babymakers in check? I mean, Jesus F. Bieber—how can they defund Planned Parenthood on the one hand but then deem the abortion rate in the black community to have reached such critical levels that it should be called genocide? How can they not see that these issues are directly related?! What the hell is wrong with them?! (That’s a rhetorical question.)
Second of all, how in THEE hell are they going to get inside an abortion doctor’s head to determine whether or not s/he would have been less inclined to perform the procedure had the fetus been of a different race? Are there scads of “Black Baby B’Gone” clinics from which this law is intended to protect black ladies?
Looky here: You’re not fooling anyone, assholes. It is plain that you are using this “black genocide” angle to push your anti-abortion agenda. How stupid do you think we are?
Furthermore, how stupid are you? If your little plan works, and brown women have fewer abortions, we’re just going to outbreed you! Yeah, let that little nugget of OMG! sink in for a while. You need to decide which you hate more: Brown people or dead babies.
I swear, I’m going to go have a half dozen babies tomorrow – out of spite.
“Black Baby B’Gone” = genius.
I’ve often pointed out that wingnuts are never wingnuts about just one thing, but that they tend to have insane beliefs about several things at a time. I’m upping that, in light of The Way Republicans Are These Days. Wingnuts are just insane all the way around. All of ‘em. And they’ll believe absolutely anything their Daddies tell ‘em, ‘cuz they’re dumb like that.
While the world focused on the tragic Arizona shootings, another horrific crime took place in New York City. The New York Post reported today that a Portuguese male model tortured and murdered his “sugar daddy” in a Manhattan hotel. For more than an hour, Renato Seabra, 20, beat Carlos Castro, 65, before he castrated the older fashion journalist with a wine corkscrew.
Seabra (pictured) said he murdered the jounralist “to get rid of Castro’s homosexual demons”. The suspect then declared, “I’m not gay anymore!”
Like the Arizona assassin, Jared Loughner, there is no doubt that Renato Seabra is profoundly disturbed. However, that does not absolve those who placed the dangerous idea that homosexuality is attributable to demons in Seabra’s head. Where might he have gotten such a notion?
We can start with the “ex-gay” organization Exodus International, where its President, Alan Chambers, once wrote, “One of the many evils this world has to offer is the sin of homosexuality. Satan, the enemy, is using people to further his agenda to destroy the Kingdom of God and as many souls as he can.”
Chambers also told a crowd of social conservatives, “We have to stand up against an evil agenda. It is an evil agenda and it will take anyone captive that is willing, or that is standing idly by.”
Given this harsh rhetoric, it is understandable that an unbalanced individual distressed about his sexual orientation might resort to violence. After all, Chambers clearly states that homosexuality is evil and then offers a remedy, which is to “stand up” against the perceived evil spirits and not stand “idly by”.
In Jeff Sharlet’s latest book, “C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy”, a Ugandan man justifies supporting the death penalty for gay people because, “They” – the gays – “are trying to end the human race.”
His comments sound strikingly similar to Focus on the Family’s founder James Dobson, who once told The Daily Oklahoman newspaper that same-sex marriage will “destroy the earth.”
This week, Pentecostal preacher Cindy Jacobs warned that the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell has caused God’s wrath, including the “potential that there is something that actually happened in the land where a hundred thousand drum fish died and also where these birds just fell out of the air.”
It is irrelevant whether Sebra or Loughner were directly influenced by the “spiritual warfare” of these preachers or the Tea Party’s vitriol. What matters is that the constant demonizing of certain groups of people – whether minorities, liberals, or employees of the federal government – sets the stage for bloody reprisals.
Social conservatives would likely counter that sanguinary acts come from the hands of deranged individuals. Technically, this is true – however public figures generally understand that a small percentage of their audience is unhinged from reality. So, providing fiery rhetoric that can incite mentally ill people to take criminal actions is grossly irresponsible and an abdication of moral leadership.
A perfect example of this disconnect is Rush Limbaugh. Even as he defended right wing extremists today from accusations that their rhetoric led to the Arizona massacre, blogger Jim Burroway provided a photograph of a Limbaugh promotional billboard in Tucson painted with bullet holes and the headline, “Straight Shooter”.
Such violent imagery was in line with Sarah Palin’s infamous graphic targeting vulnerable Democratic legislative districts with crosshairs. As we now know, critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was one of the legislators in Palin’s gun sights.
Unfortunately, the media tries to draw a moral equivalence between the rhetoric of the left and right, which is inaccurate and unhelpful. This bogus media attempt at “balance” obfuscates the reality that the vast majority of alarming rhetoric comes from Republicans and Tea Party adherents.
It is House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who allowed the healthcare bill to be portrayed as a step toward communism. It is former House Majority Leader Dick Armey who helped organize the bitter Town Hall healthcare meetings designed to intimidate legislators. It is the GOP that disrespects the office of the President by acting as though Bill Clinton and Barack Obama lack legitimacy.
My intent is not to say that most Republicans are bigots, nor are I implying that the names I’ve mentioned are directly responsible for causing deaths. However, they have soured the political climate in America by consistently catering to bigots, pandering to religious extremists, serving as apologists for militia kooks, and entertaining the wild fantasies of sick conspiracy theorists. Instead of restoring sanity, they have treated these crackpots as if they were legitimate, even respected, constituencies.
It is time America stops living in denial and considers the possibility that over-the-top bombast may lead to a body count.
Also: we talked/argued about the mid-term elections. Go vote, people.
Wayne spoke in Arizona last night, Memphis is having a huge March for Gay Rights on Monday and the message of equality is even being taken to little towns in Arkansas. Lastly, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the big, hilarious “Lift My Luggage” protest against NARTH in Philadelphia on November 6.
Music this week is from one of my favorite artists of all time, Jill Sobule. This is one of her old, old songs, and it popped back into my life a few weeks back, and I’ve kept it in the mix since then. It’s sorta 80′s, and I love it. It’s called “Tell Me Your Dreams,” and the original version is in the player. Below that is a much more recent, acoustic performance of the song, and you can almost tell that Jill and the players sort of feel like they’re winging it, perhaps because she really doesn’t do the song very much anymore. Anyway, it makes for a completely charming performance. So we’ll start with that, hit shuffle and see where we are ten songs later. More videos below the jump.
1. Hot Chip – “I Feel Better”
2. Brandi Carlile – “Dying Day”
3. CocoRosie – “The Moon Asked The Crow”
4. Starship – “Sara”
5. How To Destroy Angels – “BBB”
6. Soul Miner’s Daughter – “With Me” [Soul Miner's Daughter, you will remember, is one of Jennifer Nettles' early bands. She is now, of course with a little outfit called Sugarland.]
7. My Brightest Diamond – “Golden Star”
8. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - “Gray Sunset”
9. Nina Simone – “Compassion”
10. No Doubt - “Don’t Speak”
Yeah yeah yeah, I have Starship on my iTunes, go to hell. I also, to be fair, have all the Jefferson Airplane, so it’s not pure cheese.
Complaints from local residents compelled a billboard agency to remove a P-FOX ad along Interstate 19 in Tucson, Arizona, only three days after the billboard was first noticed.
P-FOX didn’t pay for the billboard, but it was placed in a non-revenue space by Clear Channel Outdoor.
Jason Cianciotto of Wingspan asked KVOA, “What gives? Why in the world as we focus on holidays does Clear Channel support attacking a minority group here in Southern Arizona?” says Cianciotto.
Wingspan is southern Arizona’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community center. Cianciotto has in the past defended gay youth from harassment and attempted censorship by antigay political activists.
Cianciotto told KVOA, “I think Clear Channel needs to answer some questions because who’s to say they’re not going to put up another PSA for conversion therapy.”
As a youth, Cianciotto was subjected by his parents and a “Christian lay counselor” to forced isolation, repression, and eventually abandonment when it became apparent that ex-gay “change” wasn’t really possible.
Columnist Anne T. Denogean wrote about Cianciotto’ difficult adolescence in an article in the Tucson Citizen in April 2008. Truth Wins Out commented on the ex-gay abuse suffered by Cianciotto here.
Because it’s the end of the week and because the answer to the question, “What on earth is wrong with wingnuts?” is always basically the same, I’m just going to simply say “they’re weird,” and move on.
Seabra (pictured)
A perfect example of this disconnect is Rush Limbaugh. Even as he defended right wing extremists today from accusations that their rhetoric led to the Arizona massacre, blogger 
