Posted February 16th, 2010 by Evan Hurst

Last week I posted a piece which noted that the Illinois Family Institute, AKA Laurie Higgins’ Dog and Pony Show of Irrational Hatred, had been put back on the SPLC anti-gay hate group list.  It made sense, as Laurie has spent the last year encouraging Christian children to bully gay kids and making scurrilous Nazi comparisons.  But then in researching a piece a couple of days later, I noticed that IFI was missing again.  Well, for the record, I got a response from the SPLC, and apparently the IFI is still flying just under the threshold of hate required to be designated as a certified hate group, and is thus not on the list.  For the record.

Should she be?  Probably.  But the SPLC has specific criteria, and apparently Laurie has learned how to send her bile out into the world while playing just cute enough with language to sneak by.

Posted February 12th, 2010 by Evan Hurst

I'm too much of a pathological liar to admit how much I like genocide!Cliff Kincaid is a peach.  Really.  He’s one of the only Radical Christian Imams who is honest about the fact that he wants gay people dead.  He made his original statements last week, and now he’s gotten on the internet again to flesh out his explanation for why gay people should be dead.  He also has some harsh words for Senator Tom Coburn, who has joined up with Al Franken and Russ Feingold in drafting a Senate bill condemning the Ugandan legislation.    (Absorb that last sentence before I go on, will you?  Coburn has joined with Franken and Feingold.  That’s how universal the disgust over this bill really is, among evolved, sentient human beings.  Lambs are lying down with wingnuts, for god’s sake.  Apparently Cliff Kincaid is not an evolved, sentient human being, at least not by any rational definition.)  So let’s have a look at what Cliffy has to say:

Echoing the claims of liberals in the media, who have targeted Uganda for isolation and a denial of foreign aid for considering the legislation, Coburn has called it “an absurd proposal to execute gays” that somehow threatens progress against AIDS. Lesbian MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow has repeatedly referred to the legislation as the “Kill the Gays bill.”

But as AIM has reported in a series of articles, this is deliberate distortion. Maddow and her media collaborators, such as Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, have tried to obscure the fact that the government of Uganda is considering passage of the anti-homosexuality bill because of the growing concern by officials and religious leaders that foreign homosexuals and special interest groups are trying to spread homosexuality throughout the country and undermine the country’s return to traditional moral values.  Campaigns and groups promoting the rights of “sexual minorities” have emerged in Uganda and other African countries, with funding from billionaire George Soros, a major financial supporter of “gay rights” in the U.S.

Sadly, no.  It’s too bad Cliff Kincaid is an unrepentant pathological liar, but he is.  There is no distortion in the reporting.  Any literate human being (sorry to exclude you, Cliff) can read the bill.  The fact that certain Christian leaders in Uganda are fools who either truly believe that “foreign gays” are invading Uganda, or are deliberately manipulating the people in order to distract them from the real problems facing that nation is not a proof that the reporting on the legislation is any less than factual.  What’s sad is that Cliff Kincaid apparently is just as easily spooked by gay people as the Ugandan religious leaders, what with all the factual information at his disposal.

Of course, you know you’re dealing with a nutcase when they bring an issue back to George Soros.  The fact that this one billionaire who happens to support progressive causes (like the Right doesn’t have any parallel figures) has become such a villainous boogeyman for much of the American Right exposes just what scaredy-pants ninnies right-wingers really are.

Uganda emphasizes abstinence and monogamy in its fight against AIDS, in contrast to the reckless “safe sex” approach popularized by “progressives” in the U.S. who want to avoid finding homosexuality itself to be a dangerous “lifestyle.”

Uh, actually, the safe sex (scare quotes not necessary for things that actually exist, Cliffypants!) approach is the effective approach.  Uganda used to be a model for HIV/AIDS prevention, but their numbers have actually plateaued (and may be rising) over the last several years, as the emphasis on abstinence began to overshadow a comprehensive approach.  So, wrong again, Clifton!

The Ugandan bill does provide for harsh measures against homosexual conduct, including the death penalty for such practices as pedophilia, facilitating homosexual activity, and deliberately spreading AIDS. As such, however, Ugandan Christian ministers see the legislation as a necessary and continuing part of Uganda’s successful anti-AIDS effort.

Well, if Ugandan Christians think it’s necessary, far be it from us to question them, right, Cliff?  I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a little genocide, as long as the leaders have a rationale, right?

Conservatives were shocked to see Coburn, a conservative leader and medical doctor, jump into bed with Feingold and Franken and other liberals to attack Uganda’s legislative process and pro-family political leaders and activists.

Uh, what conservatives were shocked, Cliff?  It’s not a good idea to refer to yourself in the plural, sir.  It’s a good indicator of mental illness.

Uganda was once ruled by a homosexual pedophile King named Mwanga, who tortured and murdered Christian youth who refused his sexual advances. Their sacrifices are celebrated every June 3, Martyr’s Day in the nation. This terrible period in Uganda’s history has never been forgotten.

Relevance?  The Mwanga thing has been repeated by Scott Lively as well.  Here’s the thing:  As usual, these men are lying.  Even when they keep the general parameters of the story correctly intact, they lie.  Here are the actual details of the Martyr’s Day history.  The young men were killed for their Christian faith.  The timeframe for this was 1885-1887.  Mwanga was born in 1868.  This means that his time of “pedophilia” happened when he was ages 17 to 19.  The martyrs ranged in age from 18-25.  There is no scenario under which sexual advances toward grown men can be considered “pedophilia,” especially when the supposed pedophile is younger than them!

The extent of Cliff Kincaid’s pathological lying is truly stunning.

Anyway, he goes on and on and on, and it gets boring after a while, but at no time does he express any personal problems with the idea of genocide against gay people, and he continues to condemn Coburn for speaking out against it, so we must only assume that Cliff Kincaid actively desires the death of gay people.  I hope the Southern Poverty Law Center* is paying attention.

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

*Incidentally, we reported the other day that the Illinois Family Institute had been put back on the list of SPLC anti-gay hate groups, because they had.  Jeremy Hooper also reported it.  But now their name is mysteriously missing from the list again, and I’d like to know why.  More when I find out.

Posted February 8th, 2010 by Evan Hurst

We knew that, after unceremoniously being stripped of your designation as an SPLC-certified anti-gay hate group last year, you would take that as a signal that you simply hadn’t been applying yourself.  Well, Laurie Higgins, you got that message, didn’t you, and you put in the necessary hours of abject, irrational hatred in order to retake your place on the roster of extremist hate groups. Brava, Laurie!  You are now again officially recognized as the bona fide hate queen you always were in your heart, and have taken back your rightful place in the hallowed halls of organizations which are dangerous to the fabric of this great country!  Now, go take your seat next to the Ku Klux Klan.  They’ve missed you!

(h/t Jeremy)