Bigot of the Week Award: May 10, Right-Wing Response to Presidential Courage

Bigot of the Week

The dominant story in this week’s news has been President Obama’s clear, principled statement in support of marriage equality on Wednesday. Beyond the media frenzy, it is interesting to see how those on the other side of the political spectrum have responded. Setting aside the predictable shrieks from the professional haters like NOM, Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Bill Donahue, and their ilk, what do the key politicians and pundits say? Well, that’s sadly predictable too.

Mitt Romney:

[I have] indicated my view, which is I do not favor marriage between people of the same gender, and I do not favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage other than by name.

Still sounding like a broken robot, Romney stakes out a move-the-rights-backward stance, just like his signing a pledge that makes it legal to discriminate against the LGBT community. And he wants to lead this nation?

House Speaker John Boehner:

I think he made his position very clear. I’ve always believed marriage was between a man and a woman. But Republicans here on Capitol Hill are focused in on the economy.

Nicely put, since it avoids the fact that they are focused on destroying the economic recovery.

Faux News shrieked that the President had declared “War on Marriage!” I don’t think they were listening to the same interview I was. Radio semi-personality Mike Huckster — oops, Huckabee — used the announcement to raise funds for his PAC. Misogynist blowhard Rush Limbaugh, drawing on his four-time success with heterosexual marriage, echoed the Fox WAR talking point. How pathetic that they think they can take our focus off of the real War Against Women and create a war that does not exist. It echoes of the war in Iraq because of those mythical weapons of mass destruction!  I could have entitled this article, “Lies Told By the Republican Party.”

Easily the most tragic responses came from the two LGBT Republican (just typing that nearly set my keyboard on fire) advocacy groups. The Log Cabin Republicans:

That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous.

and GOProud:

It is good to see that after intense political pressure that President Obama has finally come around to the Dick Cheney position on marriage equality.  I am sure, however, the President’s newly discovered support for marriage is cold comfort to the gay couples in North Carolina.

What kind of Big Ball of Crazy do we have here? It takes more than a little gall to use Dick Cheney as your model for civil rights. How sad that these groups cannot celebrate a victory for LGBT rights, even coming from the other side of the aisle. What a tragic display of self-loathing, internalized oppression, and toxic political blindness.

Special dishonorable mention to CNN, by the way, for continuing to go to a certified hate group for “balanced coverage.” Wolf Blitzer brought on Tony Perkins to respond to the President…

Now if you will excuse me, I have to put on my battle fatigues and get on the front line of War, as per the gay agenda to destroy all hetero marriages. BWAHAHA!

Number 1 Bigot of the Year Award 2011: John Boehner

Number 1 Bigot of 2011

For those that have been following TSM for any amount of time, it should come as no surprise that Mr. Fake and Bake, crocodile tears, Mr. 1%, John Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, earns the most dubious honor of the Number 1 Bigot of the Year for 2011.

The congressman from Ohio has consistently demonstrated an abuse of power from a wealthy white heterosexual that rivals some of the super rich white boys on the Supreme Court.  Boehner’s hypocrisy, double standards, misogyny, and homophobia have set his legacy of hate and abuse of power in history!  Rather than working for the American people to balance the budget and get out of a deficit, the ubiquitous obstructionist Boehner said, “we will not raise taxes,” as he was working tirelessly to protect the incomes of the top 1% of Americans–damn the rest of the country.

Yet, while operating out of a deficit, Boehner is spending tax payer dollars to defend discrimination by hiring an attorney to defend DOMA–yes, we must be fearful of the Gay Agenda!  

Pandering to the outer fringe of his party rather than brokering meaningful compromise (how sad is it when you can make Sen. Mitch McConnell look reasonable?) he has made 2011 the year of the do-nothing Congress. Let us hope that his recent capitulation on the payroll tax holiday is the beginning of his downfall–Boehner, another rancid tea bag.

Flashback  2010: The Bigot of 2010 was John McCain.

Bigot of the Week Award: December 23, John Boehner

Bigot of the Week

Well, Boehner finally blinked!  Yes, after all of his self-righteousness and sanctimony over protecting the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% of Americans, he and his fellow 1%ers in the House were unwilling to extend Payroll tax cuts to the average American.  Hypocrisy’s Poster Child is John Boehner.

What caused Boehner to finally blink and agree to extending the Payroll tax cuts? Some type of Epiphany, some enlightenment, some type of moral decency breaking through? No, I fear not.  You know you are in trouble when the likes of Mitch McConnell and the “Bag of Crazy” John McCain are calling for cooperation from the Republicans.  Yes, Boehner did the right thing to save his posterior and for no other reason.  Kudos to President Obama for his response to the bellicose bigot, Boehner, during a phone call when Boehner told the President he would not compromise, “so what should we do,” to which President Obama responded, “pass the bill.” While $40. a paycheck is nothing to Boehner and his cronies, it is a matter of having enough food, or medication for many Americans.

My Husband Married Maude

Me Giving the Look!

When I first started dating my husband, the librarian, I was not certain we could be married. He was a white Presbyterian WASP who had been married to two different women before dating me.  He was truly god’s frozen chosen.  I, on the other hand, am a cross between a “big black bitch” as one of my former students referred to me, and a loud-mouthed liberal Jewish/Catholic who looked and sounded like Maude with a southern accent.

Oy! My poor husband!  Who knew that 12 years later we would make each other so happy, or as he puts it: “We are stuck with each other.”  My poor husband has to endure my tireless political tirades against bigots like John Boehner, Michele Bachmann and her “straight” husband and the rest of the misogynistic, homophobic bigots that get me so angry that I start to spit fire.  Yes, my husband, the calm ever wise librarian, married a strident feminist, LGBT/Black activist Bitch.

Right now we are at our favorite Inn on the Oregon Coast.  We are having a perfect evening, despite the ugly turn our lovely dinner took. You see, the wonderful restaurant at the Inn now has the most horrific homophobic waiter. He refused to come to our table, so the rest of the staff had to do his job. When we talked to the Chef, whom we love, and praised his culinary triumph (I do not exaggerate here) we also had to give the unfortunate feedback that the waiter  was so homophobic that he would not even come to the table.  The Chef was not surprised in the least, but was clearly sad to hear our feedback. We dined at our favorite Inn in Cannon Beach, Oregon.  We will continue to go to this Inn because everyone else there is quite lovely to us. I do hope they take the waiter to task and give him some sensitivity training.  You can’t “catch” gay, just as you can’t “catch” straight.  If he were to walk into any library, he would be attended to regardless of his religion.  He has a job–he is a waiter, as in wait on people. He needs to be able to do his job regardless of people’s sexual orientation!  Just as I would hope a pharmacist would fill a prescription for a woman, regardless of his religious beliefs and not allow her to bleed to death.

Honestly, we had a lovely evening and my husband was quick to remind me that we would not allow the behavior of one homophobic bigot ruin our time.  God will get you for that Walter!

Tax Dollars for Discrimination

We Defend Discrimination

Since we have such a surplus in the budget right now, at least I think I heard Senator Kyl report that, John the Bigot Boehner has made good on his promise to waste tax dollar money on defending DOMA.  Boehner has retained the Services of King and Spalding to take at least $500,000 to defend discrimination.  Please click on this link to tell King and Spalding not to take tax dollars to treat the LGBT community as second class citizens. Share this post and take action to stop Boehner and Kind and Spalding.

The Bullies in America’s Backyard

The Bullies in our Backyard

Since the GOP took control of the House in November, we have seen first-hand what a group of bullies looks like, be it the fake-and-bake tan of John Boehner, the frog-like “patriotic” face of Newt Gingrich, or the used car salesman face of Darrell Issa.

That Bully (GOP) Attack Plan:  First, the Republicans demand that the Bush tax cut be extended to wealthier Americans for two more years, at a cost of more than $60 billion. (I wonder who will help pay for these tax cuts?)

Second: Blackmail seems to work well for these folks: “Either slash close to 40 billion dollars from the budget or we will shut the Federal Government down.”  The close to 40 billion means CRUSHING social services to those that most need it, crushing Planned Parenthood and attacking women’s health (thus causing an increase on the over-burdened healthcare system), attempting to eliminate NPR (keep them stupid and keep them voting Republican).

Third: Listen to Paul Ryan and screw senior citizens by crushing Medicare and Food Stamps to give even more big tax cuts to the rich.

Fourth: Get rid of the bi-partisan health care plan passed before the midterm elections. Who cares about those that don’t have health insurance.  If they were not born wealthy then there must be something wrong with them.

Fifth: Let’s spend taxpayer money in this time of a budget crisis to defend discrimination and make sure those homos can’t have marriage equality–we all know marriage equality would make Republicans appear in droves to divorce court, that is the power we have as homos, bwhahahahaha!

Of course the list goes on and on and yet I see no new jobs, nor do I see anything that helps or protects the American people. Click here to see an article that talks about how the GOP is holding the nation hostage.

10 Most Dangerous States for Women

Misogynistic America

Thank you to my friend Jennifer Lockett for sharing this article with me, as I continue to recruit social do-gooders in my network to take over the world and make it a better place for ALL.  As the war on women intensifies in the United States, thank you John Boehner, there are 10 states specifically that people need to be aware of and not just a little nervous about.  As Republicans believe eliminating Planned Parenthood and NPR will solve the country’s woes, (we all know that women’s health, prevention of STDs, prevention of unwanted pregnancies and educational radio are the Devil’s playground) I would like to call your attention to some of the most heinous anti-woman legislation.  I want to preface this with the question: Are We Paying Attention? The GOP is not creating jobs or helping the disenfranchised. They are clearly focused on an agenda that hurts minorities and hurts women and will ultimately become a larger burden on the healthcare system. Now back to our original program, the most heinous anti-woman legislation.

Minnesota: Lawmakers there are considering requiring minors to get parental consent for any medical care, unless they get a judicial bypass proving they’re victims of incest.  This legislation discourages minors from getting birth control, STD testing, pregnancy test and becomes a serious healthcare danger with costly repercussions.

Indiana: The state that loves misogyny, passed a bill requiring doctors to read scripted anti-choice propaganda to patients before the abortion.

Florida: Home to Rick (the P is silent) Scott, just introduced 18 separate bills restricting abortion rights.

Missouri: Always a heavy contender in the Misogyny Olympics, is trying to ban post-20 week abortions, even after hearing testimony indicating that most of these very rare abortions are performed for medical reasons–this is in direct conflict with the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade.

Kansas: Where Dr. Tiller was murdered in front of his church, (interesting way of protecting life) has passed the ban on post-22-week abortions and a law requiring both parents to sign off on a minor’s abortion, a law that unfairly punishes young women for having a negligent or imprisoned parent.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL ARTICLE and to see  if your state made this list.

My Day With Planned Parenthood

My Day With Planned Parenthood

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of serving as a Lobby Leader for Planned Parenthood. I was incredibly excited to be able to take action against this most recent attack on women and to help fight against misogyny.  Many of the women were rather surprised to see a man as their Lobby Leader. I guess I’m always surprised that more men are not taking action. As a gay man, I am always fearful when I see blatant misogyny, for homophobia and misogyny go hand in hand. I say emphatically that regardless of where you stand on the issue of choice, I firmly believe women should always have the choice to govern their own bodies, as we do as men.

Upon arriving at the state capitol, everyone was quite excited and enthusiastic. I was also struck by how kind everyone was.  Solidarity does a great deal to lift one’s spirits.  For those that are anti-choice, I invite you to a Planned Parenthood meeting to see first hand the contrast of the vitriol I have witnessed from the anti-choice demonstrations to the kind and energetic voices of those that support women’s health.

My biggest disappointment was our visit with a certain female representative (R-OR). In all candor and transparency, I’m rather reluctant to name her at this point. We met with our state senator and two state representatives.  The Republican was the only one that kept us waiting for over 30 minutes. Many of the folks I was with had to leave because it was well past four when we were finally granted an audience. We addressed the specific bills that we are concerned about that effect women’s health and asked if we could count her support. To my shock, she exclaimed that: ” I am not going to let anyone from Planned Parenthood know my views.”  Two of the women I was with asked if they could please know where she stands on the issues as her constituents, to which she replied “no.”  At this point, she went on, quite excitedly, about how Planned Parenthood deliberately tried to smear her campaign–I should comment that there is no substantiation here to support anything of the sort. Planned Parenthood is exceedingly careful to vet all volunteers and those of us that staff the phone banks during election time–we have to stick to the script provided.

I was also disappointed to see how partisan women’s health is currently.  Over 13 Republicans refused to even engage in a conversation with us–really?  Really? Elected officials can feel good about refusing to meet with constituents regarding laws over their own bodies?  One state senator told us that there are a couple of Republicans that are pro-choice, but are too fearful to publicly go against their own party. What leaves me nonplussed is how a woman, or any minority could identify as a Republican right now.

I want to thank all of the “do-gooders” that were in my group and to thank all of the people at Planned Parenthood for fighting the good fight. I now ask all of you to take action. Please support Planned Parenthood! Write a check or volunteer. Get involved. If you need to find a contact email me and I will point you in the right direction.

Celebrating Women’s History Month: March 19

My Lunch with Cecile

Today I would like to honor and pay tribute to Cecile Richards. I must confess that before I fell in love with Cecile Richards, I was in love with her mother, Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas.  I remember weeping in the car listening to Morning Edition on NPR as I learned of Governor Richards passing. Obviously, we know now that NPR’s Morning Edition is nothing less than a terrorist plot to educate Americans!

I had the great honor of meeting and talking with Cecile Richards at a Planned Parenthood luncheon a year ago. We did talk about her late mother, Texas, and issues around social justice. Cecile thanked me for supporting Planned Parenthood and we talked about the problem of overarching misogyny and patriarchy. She thanked me for seeing the connection between homophobia and misogyny. I remember thinking how gracious she was and how kind. Her dedication to women’s health is tireless. I can only think about how proud her mom must have been of our Cecile. I also have to thank her for allowing me to be a little star struck and for taking a picture with me.

I am just simply amazed at how compassionate and loving she is able to be while being attacked by John (must have been hatched) Boehner and the House of Representatives. I can work myself up into a lather regarding the systematic attack on women and have to take inspiration from Cecile to remain calm, yet passionate and dedicated. I don’t think Planned Parenthood could have a better President. Here is my little soap box moment: Yes, I am strongly pro-choice and believe that a woman should be allowed to govern her own body, but LEST WE FORGET, Planned Parenthood is also about WOMEN’S HEALTH! Planned Parenthood offers counseling, pap smears, STD/HIV testing to myriad women that can’t afford any other resource. Can anyone imagine how this national conversation would go if someone were to try and control Boehner’s health: “You will not be allowed a prostate exam.”  Yeah, that would go over real well.  This soap box moment was brought to you by an outraged citizen and if you are not outraged by this attack on women, you are not paying attention. On behalf of Americans for social justice, I thank you, Cecile.

Hero of the Week Award: March 18

Hero of the Week

What a success the mid-term elections were! Look at all the jobs John Boehner has created.  Look at the true leadership taking place–leaders like Jan (I love guns) Brewer, Scott (I love the People) Walker, and Rick (the Felon) Scott. Yes, I’m glad to see our taxpayer money being used so wisely in creating jobs and solving the ever growing homeless population, rather than attacking women and NPR.  Thank you House of Representatives.  Our Hero of the Week Award goes to Rep. D-NY, Anthony Weiner, for taking a stand against a bunch of yahoos in the House. I’m so glad the House is trying to do the real work of protecting us from Click and Clack and the most dangerous of all, Carl Kasell!  Click here to see the video.  (Carl if you read my blog, please, pretty please will you do our answering machine?)