The Boston Globe and ABC broached the subject. We didn't. But we can't help commenting. Having a family member with MS (multiple sclerosis), which Ann Romney has, makes us wonder about Mitt Romney's decision to run for President. It obviously made the Romney family wonder too, for a while at least, though they obviously decided to roll the dice.
If you have a regular job and a spouse with this condition, it's hard enough on both of you. But if you're running for President? Or become President? It's simply hard to imagine how the Romneys came to this decision. Chronic illnesses don't do well under stressful conditions. Imagine the stress of being First Lady while coping with a degenerative, unpredictable disease...
The Globe reports ("Romney's wife opens up on campaign issues," 2-16-07):
... this week, Ann Romney delved into some of the most private and charged issues facing her husband's campaign. In an extensive and surprisingly frank interview with ABC News, she described her battle with multiple sclerosis, saying her husband will forge ahead with his pursuit of the presidency, even if her health declines.
... and disclosed that she did not want him to run for governor in 2002, when the couple was on a high after the successful Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. "It was just this euphoric feeling, and I did not want to step immediately into something that is so negative, with the campaign, after that," Ann Romney told Kate Snow during an interview that aired Wednesday on Good Morning America. "I wanted to take a breath; I wanted to enjoy what we'd done," she said....
Discussing multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with in 1998, Ann Romney said she was weak for several years and felt "completely crushed."
"I was not an example of strength and courage when I was going through it," she said. "I was pretty frightened."
These says, she said, "I'm feeling well. . . . My health is good." She credited yoga, Pilates, reflexology, and acupuncture, as well as a diet low in sugar and white flour. She also loves horses and tries to ride every day, she said.
She said the family has decided that even if her health worsens, her husband will not stop campaigning for the White House.... "We decided that once we crossed that threshold, that he was going forward, that he was making a commitment," she said. She added, "That was a commitment that I made him promise to make."
Web MD: "Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the brain and spinal cord. Its symptoms may include vision problems, muscle weakness, and difficulty with walking, coordination, and balance. Some patients experience relatively mild MS; other cases are severe." (But the course of the disease is unpredictable.)
Friday, February 16, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Weakness of "Marriage-is-about-children" Argument
This story from Washington state points out the weakness of the argument that we must protect marriage so every child will have a mother and father. This is the exclusive line used by Mitt Romney and Massachusetts Family Institute/VoteOnMarriage to justify real marriage.
"Gay marriage" proponents in Washington are pushing a ballot measure "that would require heterosexual married couples to have a child within three years or the marriage will be annulled. They say it is only fair because they are being denied the right to marry because they cannot have children."
All those who don’t want to touch the perverted, unnatural, unhealthy, and immoral aspects of homosexuality cannot satisfactorily answer this line of thinking. Also, note that the pro-homosexual marriage group in Washington state calls itself “Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance”… intentionally sowing confusion.
No Kids, No Marriage?
FOX News, 2-8-07
This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, February 7, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
JOHN GIBSON, HOST: The "Big Buzz" is about the theater of the absurd going on in the state of Washington . Get this: Gay marriage proponents there are trying to get a measure on the November ballot that would require heterosexual married couples to have a child within three years or the marriage will be annulled. They say it is only fair because they are being denied the right to marry because they cannot have children.
Is what's good for gays also good for straights? "Big Story" correspondent Douglas Kennedy has the rest of the story in this in-your-face ballot initiative.
DOUGLAS KENNEDY, "BIG STORY" CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, even the backers of this are calling it absurd. But they maintain it makes a point, namely, exposing the hypocrisy of those who say the sole purpose of marriage is to procreate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY (VOICE OVER): If you can't have babies, you can't get married. That would be the law in Washington State if voters there pass a possible ballot initiative. It is a proposal its sponsor says is simply trying to make a point.
GREGORY GADOW, WASH. DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ALLIANCE : If same-sex couples can be denied marriage because of that premise, it logically follows that all couples unable, or unwilling, to have children together, should likewise be prohibited from marriage.
KENNEDY: In addition, the initiative would require that couples unable or unwilling or unable to have babies within three years would have their marriage declared unrecognized. The language is in direct response to a July 2006 state supreme court decision, which upheld a law denying gay people the right to marry.
LISA STONE, NW WOMEN'S LAW CENTER : Essentially, that decision, which my organization, the Northwest Women's Law Center , litigated to the Washington Supreme Court said that the state has an interest in procreation, and that that interest is sufficient to deny marriage to same-sex couples.
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: They're lampooning those who are supporting marriage across this country for very legitimate reasons.
KENNEDY: Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council, a national group that does not want the gays to marry.
PERKINS: One of the core fabrics of our society is the family. It's preparing the next generation. It is raising children. It is procreation.
STONE: Families come in all shapes and sizes these days. There are inter-generational families, grandparents raising grandchildren. There are single-parent headed families and there are families for one reason or another that don't have children. There are also same-sex families that do have children and that raise those children in loving households.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY: Supporters of the initiative say they are now gathering the signatures needed to get it on the November ballot. Still, even if it passes they say they are hoping, John, that it will not pass any constitutional muster.
GIBSON: It will be real weird. Douglas , thank you very much.
"Gay marriage" proponents in Washington are pushing a ballot measure "that would require heterosexual married couples to have a child within three years or the marriage will be annulled. They say it is only fair because they are being denied the right to marry because they cannot have children."
All those who don’t want to touch the perverted, unnatural, unhealthy, and immoral aspects of homosexuality cannot satisfactorily answer this line of thinking. Also, note that the pro-homosexual marriage group in Washington state calls itself “Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance”… intentionally sowing confusion.
No Kids, No Marriage?
FOX News, 2-8-07
This is a partial transcript of The Big Story With John Gibson, February 7, 2007, that has been edited for clarity.
JOHN GIBSON, HOST: The "Big Buzz" is about the theater of the absurd going on in the state of Washington . Get this: Gay marriage proponents there are trying to get a measure on the November ballot that would require heterosexual married couples to have a child within three years or the marriage will be annulled. They say it is only fair because they are being denied the right to marry because they cannot have children.
Is what's good for gays also good for straights? "Big Story" correspondent Douglas Kennedy has the rest of the story in this in-your-face ballot initiative.
DOUGLAS KENNEDY, "BIG STORY" CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, even the backers of this are calling it absurd. But they maintain it makes a point, namely, exposing the hypocrisy of those who say the sole purpose of marriage is to procreate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY (VOICE OVER): If you can't have babies, you can't get married. That would be the law in Washington State if voters there pass a possible ballot initiative. It is a proposal its sponsor says is simply trying to make a point.
GREGORY GADOW, WASH. DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ALLIANCE : If same-sex couples can be denied marriage because of that premise, it logically follows that all couples unable, or unwilling, to have children together, should likewise be prohibited from marriage.
KENNEDY: In addition, the initiative would require that couples unable or unwilling or unable to have babies within three years would have their marriage declared unrecognized. The language is in direct response to a July 2006 state supreme court decision, which upheld a law denying gay people the right to marry.
LISA STONE, NW WOMEN'S LAW CENTER : Essentially, that decision, which my organization, the Northwest Women's Law Center , litigated to the Washington Supreme Court said that the state has an interest in procreation, and that that interest is sufficient to deny marriage to same-sex couples.
TONY PERKINS, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: They're lampooning those who are supporting marriage across this country for very legitimate reasons.
KENNEDY: Tony Perkins heads the Family Research Council, a national group that does not want the gays to marry.
PERKINS: One of the core fabrics of our society is the family. It's preparing the next generation. It is raising children. It is procreation.
STONE: Families come in all shapes and sizes these days. There are inter-generational families, grandparents raising grandchildren. There are single-parent headed families and there are families for one reason or another that don't have children. There are also same-sex families that do have children and that raise those children in loving households.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KENNEDY: Supporters of the initiative say they are now gathering the signatures needed to get it on the November ballot. Still, even if it passes they say they are hoping, John, that it will not pass any constitutional muster.
GIBSON: It will be real weird. Douglas , thank you very much.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Romney & His Dad
Lost in the coverage of Romney's announcement on the 13th that he's running for President is this telling contrast between him and his father, George Romney (who ran in 1968).
The Boston Globe's print edition showed a photo of the New York Times story on George Romney's declaration. Part of the headline: "APPEALS FOR MORALITY"
The Globe juxtaposes these quotes from father and son to emphasize their similarity. But we noticed that George refered to God, Mitt doesn't. Maybe that's why Mitt never appeals to "morality" in any of his pronouncements, whether on abortion or homosexuality. For example, his only defense of marriage as one man and one woman is that "every child needs a father and a mother." From the Globe ("Romney to kick off race in Mich.", 2-13-07):
Here's George Romney in his 1967 announcement speech: "We must recognize that the root source of America's strength is the divinely endowed freedom of its people."
And here's Mitt Romney in a speech to a Republican Governors Association conference two months ago: "If you believe that, as I do, that our source of strength is our people, then when America faces a new generation of challenges like we do today, you don't look to government. . . . You look to make the people stronger, because that has always been and will always be the source of our destiny."
But while George Romney was proud to call himself a moderate, Mitt Romney is running as a conservative.
The Boston Globe's print edition showed a photo of the New York Times story on George Romney's declaration. Part of the headline: "APPEALS FOR MORALITY"
The Globe juxtaposes these quotes from father and son to emphasize their similarity. But we noticed that George refered to God, Mitt doesn't. Maybe that's why Mitt never appeals to "morality" in any of his pronouncements, whether on abortion or homosexuality. For example, his only defense of marriage as one man and one woman is that "every child needs a father and a mother." From the Globe ("Romney to kick off race in Mich.", 2-13-07):
Here's George Romney in his 1967 announcement speech: "We must recognize that the root source of America's strength is the divinely endowed freedom of its people."
And here's Mitt Romney in a speech to a Republican Governors Association conference two months ago: "If you believe that, as I do, that our source of strength is our people, then when America faces a new generation of challenges like we do today, you don't look to government. . . . You look to make the people stronger, because that has always been and will always be the source of our destiny."
But while George Romney was proud to call himself a moderate, Mitt Romney is running as a conservative.
A "conservative" who doesn't mention God or morality.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Young Americans for Freedom in Michigan Oppose Romney
Go Young Americans for Freedom! Brings back memories of siblings in college joining and bragging ... Go Goldwater! ...
Now, they're raining on Romney's parade at the Michigan Republic Party convention. What fun, YAF members from U Michigan and Michigan State, holding signs saying:
RINOs for Romney
and
Don't Like Romney's views?
Wait 10 minutes and they'll Flip Flop
and
Multiple Choice Romney
See the video on www.EyeOn08.com:
http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/02/11/more-grassroots-anti-romney-protests/
EyeOn08 has also posted this from the Pro-Life March in D.C. last month:
"Pro-life students against flip-floppers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYvHqgnEi2o
Now, they're raining on Romney's parade at the Michigan Republic Party convention. What fun, YAF members from U Michigan and Michigan State, holding signs saying:
RINOs for Romney
and
Don't Like Romney's views?
Wait 10 minutes and they'll Flip Flop
and
Multiple Choice Romney
See the video on www.EyeOn08.com:
http://www.eyeon08.com/2007/02/11/more-grassroots-anti-romney-protests/
EyeOn08 has also posted this from the Pro-Life March in D.C. last month:
"Pro-life students against flip-floppers"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYvHqgnEi2o
Why No Comments on This Blog?
Peter LaBarbera at AmericansForTruth has pointed us to an excellent answer to the question, "Why don't you allow comments on your blog?" Like LaBarbera and Mr. Cramer (see his blog posting below), we have been subject to vile language, threats, harassment, even a house break-in, by activists in the LGBT community. They do not believe in free speech or the polite exchange of ideas.
Why there are no comments on my blog
Pam Spaulding, a lesbian blogger, posted something about Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, which is run by Peter LaBarbera. Like many blogs, Pam’s blog allows readers to add comments–which soon included Peter LaBarbera’s home address, and a suggestion that the park across the street would be a good place for a sniper.
Comments on blogs can either be moderated (which ends up taking a lot of a blogger’s time) or unmoderated (in which case, the blogger may not be aware of what’s being said in the comments). Once informed, Pam Spaulding removed these comments and emphasized that this was not acceptable behavior.
That’s why I have never turned commenting on in my blog. Who needs the aggravation of letting unhinged idiots post trash like that (and worse) in the comments?
I can’t say that I am surprised by what happened on Pam Spaulding’s blog, however. Over the roughly twenty years that I have been using the Internet to engage in political discussion, I have expressed myself strongly (sometimes even a little too strongly) about a very large number of controversial issues. There is one, and only one group of political activists that have ever made harassing phone calls to me (repeated calls at 6:00 AM with silence at the other end), made lewd phone calls to my children (who fortunately, were small enough to be confused rather than shocked), tried to get me fired from a job, or threatened my safety with threats of violence.
Guess which group that was. Not leftists. Not gun control activists. No Islamists. Not Communists. Not labor unionists. Not history professors. Not environmentalists. Homosexual activists are the only group that has engaged in these tactics in response to my political free speech. Obviously, not all homosexuals––or even all homosexual activists––have engaged in these tactics. But part of why I have joined the ranks of those who think that homosexuality reflects something terribly broken is because there is no other group whose activists become so unhinged in response to criticism that they engaged in these tactics. I have never felt at risk because of my political activity–until the unrelenting campaign of harassment started in the early 1990s, and I started to regularly carry a gun because of it.
Why there are no comments on my blog
Pam Spaulding, a lesbian blogger, posted something about Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, which is run by Peter LaBarbera. Like many blogs, Pam’s blog allows readers to add comments–which soon included Peter LaBarbera’s home address, and a suggestion that the park across the street would be a good place for a sniper.
Comments on blogs can either be moderated (which ends up taking a lot of a blogger’s time) or unmoderated (in which case, the blogger may not be aware of what’s being said in the comments). Once informed, Pam Spaulding removed these comments and emphasized that this was not acceptable behavior.
That’s why I have never turned commenting on in my blog. Who needs the aggravation of letting unhinged idiots post trash like that (and worse) in the comments?
I can’t say that I am surprised by what happened on Pam Spaulding’s blog, however. Over the roughly twenty years that I have been using the Internet to engage in political discussion, I have expressed myself strongly (sometimes even a little too strongly) about a very large number of controversial issues. There is one, and only one group of political activists that have ever made harassing phone calls to me (repeated calls at 6:00 AM with silence at the other end), made lewd phone calls to my children (who fortunately, were small enough to be confused rather than shocked), tried to get me fired from a job, or threatened my safety with threats of violence.
Guess which group that was. Not leftists. Not gun control activists. No Islamists. Not Communists. Not labor unionists. Not history professors. Not environmentalists. Homosexual activists are the only group that has engaged in these tactics in response to my political free speech. Obviously, not all homosexuals––or even all homosexual activists––have engaged in these tactics. But part of why I have joined the ranks of those who think that homosexuality reflects something terribly broken is because there is no other group whose activists become so unhinged in response to criticism that they engaged in these tactics. I have never felt at risk because of my political activity–until the unrelenting campaign of harassment started in the early 1990s, and I started to regularly carry a gun because of it.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Romney Is Not Pro-Life: More Proof
Mitt Romney is not pro-life. If he were, he wouldn't think we could vote on abortion.
Abortion either is, or is not, murder. If Romney believes it is murder -- the definition of "pro-life" -- how can he say it's something that can and should be decided by popular vote? Some states choose to allow baby murder, others don't. Sounds "pro-choice" to us. A pro-life leader would not take this position.
Further, pro-lifers respect the innocence of the baby, and do not make the exceptions that it's OK to abort in cases of rape or incest -- as Romney does. (Plus, Romney views Roe v. Wade as "law" -- when it's an illegitimate court ruling.)
Did President Lincoln think the individual states should be able to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed in their state? Or was slavery a moral wrong that had to be dealt with on a national level? Lincoln acted like a man and provided real leadership. Where are the real men today?
We ask Presidential candidate Romney: Is abortion a moral wrong equivalent to slavery? He apparently doesn't think so. He thinks there's some wiggle room. He recommends leaving it to voters in individual states to decide whether or not they'll allow the murder of innocent babies within their borders. Even with the (unacceptable) exceptions for rape and incest built in, Romney does not support a national right-to-life amendment.
Romney earlier explained this in his December schmooze with Kathryn Lopez at National Review. And he was foolish enough to repeat it here:
NATIONAL JOURNAL
February 10, 2007
Q: You would favor a constitutional amendment banning abortion with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest. Is that correct?
Romney: What I've indicated is that I am pro-life, and that my hope is that the Supreme Court will give to the states over time or give to the states soon or give to the states their own ability to make their own decisions with regard to their own abortion law.
Q: If a state wanted unlimited abortion?
Romney: The state would fall into restrictions that had been imposed at the federal level, so they couldn't be more expansive in abortion than currently exists under the law, but they could become more restrictive in abortion provisions. So states like Massachusetts could stay like they are if they so desire, and states that have a different view could take that course. And it would be up to the citizens of the individual states. My view is not to impose a single federal rule on the entire nation -- a one-size-fits-all approach -- but instead allow states to make their own decisions in this regard.
Abortion either is, or is not, murder. If Romney believes it is murder -- the definition of "pro-life" -- how can he say it's something that can and should be decided by popular vote? Some states choose to allow baby murder, others don't. Sounds "pro-choice" to us. A pro-life leader would not take this position.
Further, pro-lifers respect the innocence of the baby, and do not make the exceptions that it's OK to abort in cases of rape or incest -- as Romney does. (Plus, Romney views Roe v. Wade as "law" -- when it's an illegitimate court ruling.)
Did President Lincoln think the individual states should be able to decide whether or not slavery would be allowed in their state? Or was slavery a moral wrong that had to be dealt with on a national level? Lincoln acted like a man and provided real leadership. Where are the real men today?
We ask Presidential candidate Romney: Is abortion a moral wrong equivalent to slavery? He apparently doesn't think so. He thinks there's some wiggle room. He recommends leaving it to voters in individual states to decide whether or not they'll allow the murder of innocent babies within their borders. Even with the (unacceptable) exceptions for rape and incest built in, Romney does not support a national right-to-life amendment.
Romney earlier explained this in his December schmooze with Kathryn Lopez at National Review. And he was foolish enough to repeat it here:
NATIONAL JOURNAL
February 10, 2007
Q: You would favor a constitutional amendment banning abortion with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest. Is that correct?
Romney: What I've indicated is that I am pro-life, and that my hope is that the Supreme Court will give to the states over time or give to the states soon or give to the states their own ability to make their own decisions with regard to their own abortion law.
Q: If a state wanted unlimited abortion?
Romney: The state would fall into restrictions that had been imposed at the federal level, so they couldn't be more expansive in abortion than currently exists under the law, but they could become more restrictive in abortion provisions. So states like Massachusetts could stay like they are if they so desire, and states that have a different view could take that course. And it would be up to the citizens of the individual states. My view is not to impose a single federal rule on the entire nation -- a one-size-fits-all approach -- but instead allow states to make their own decisions in this regard.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Wall Street Journal: Romney Flip-Flops on "Gay Marriage"
The Wall Street Journal has serious doubts about Mitt Romney. We highlighted their editorial trashing his Massachusetts health insurance plan -- which he was so proud of, until about a month ago. Now, WSJ is voicing hesitation on his free market bona fides:
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, has had some success exploiting conservative unease with Mr. McCain. He has shown he can win votes in a blue state, and he was successful both as a capitalist and as manager of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
However, he too is something of an empty policy slate. The former business consultant made a big deal of the health-care "reform" he steered through the Massachusetts legislature last year, and we suppose he deserves credit for trying. But he oversold the results--to the applause of the national health-care lobby--and imposed an insurance mandate without reforming the state insurance market.
As it unfolds, this law is turning out to be far from a free-market success. And so now Mr. Romney is distancing himself from it--never mind that he upbraided his critics last year for not understanding its virtues. The episode suggests a thin political skin and perhaps a too malleable policy core.
Also, WSJ today noted that Romney's not only a flip-flopper on abortion and gay rights, but also has changed his position on gay marriage ("Election 2008: A Crowded Field Forms Early"):
Mitt Romney
Strengths: The Republican governor from liberal Massachusetts brokered a bipartisan universal health-care initiative last year. The Bain Capital founder's $6.5 million in pledges last month have built early credibility.
Weaknesses: The fact that Mr. Romney is a Mormon could hurt his support among evangelicals. Attempts to woo social conservatives have been hampered by shifting positions on gay marriage and abortion rights.
Hmm... did the WSJ really mean to say this? "Gay marriage" rather than "gay rights"? A big fan of the editorial page told us, "YES -- they have the best editors, and they probably did pay attention to MassResistance's report."
Well, even if it was a slip, here's the truth about Mitt Romney: HE HAS NOT BEEN CONSISTENT ON HIS SUPPORT FOR REAL MARRIAGE. First, in 2001-2, Romney opposed a proposed constitutional amendment in Massachusetts, which would have banned "gay marriage" and also "civil unions". Romney said that was "too extreme". Understand that he thinks we need to respect all citizens, no matter what choices they may make in their lives. So apparently, in 2001-2, Romney supported civil unions. And if that wasn't the basis for opposing the amendment, maybe he just didn't want to ban "gay marriage"? We ask his Mr. Romney to clarify his opposition to the 2002 Mass. marriage amendment. And further, why didn't he make a stink then that the Legislature unconstitutionally threw it into the dustbin? (He became Governor in January 2003, days after that happened.)
Then in 2005-6, suddenly Romney favored the new proposed Mass. marriage amendment, which would NOT ban civil unions, and which would let stand the existing "gay marriages" (since May 2004).
So first he's against a marriage amendment, then he's for one. Is this a flip-flop? Or -- is there some consistency? Romney seems to want to keep open the possibility for civil unions in both instances. Interesting.
Hello, Romney campaign. Please explain!
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor, has had some success exploiting conservative unease with Mr. McCain. He has shown he can win votes in a blue state, and he was successful both as a capitalist and as manager of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
However, he too is something of an empty policy slate. The former business consultant made a big deal of the health-care "reform" he steered through the Massachusetts legislature last year, and we suppose he deserves credit for trying. But he oversold the results--to the applause of the national health-care lobby--and imposed an insurance mandate without reforming the state insurance market.
As it unfolds, this law is turning out to be far from a free-market success. And so now Mr. Romney is distancing himself from it--never mind that he upbraided his critics last year for not understanding its virtues. The episode suggests a thin political skin and perhaps a too malleable policy core.
Also, WSJ today noted that Romney's not only a flip-flopper on abortion and gay rights, but also has changed his position on gay marriage ("Election 2008: A Crowded Field Forms Early"):
Mitt Romney
Strengths: The Republican governor from liberal Massachusetts brokered a bipartisan universal health-care initiative last year. The Bain Capital founder's $6.5 million in pledges last month have built early credibility.
Weaknesses: The fact that Mr. Romney is a Mormon could hurt his support among evangelicals. Attempts to woo social conservatives have been hampered by shifting positions on gay marriage and abortion rights.
Hmm... did the WSJ really mean to say this? "Gay marriage" rather than "gay rights"? A big fan of the editorial page told us, "YES -- they have the best editors, and they probably did pay attention to MassResistance's report."
Well, even if it was a slip, here's the truth about Mitt Romney: HE HAS NOT BEEN CONSISTENT ON HIS SUPPORT FOR REAL MARRIAGE. First, in 2001-2, Romney opposed a proposed constitutional amendment in Massachusetts, which would have banned "gay marriage" and also "civil unions". Romney said that was "too extreme". Understand that he thinks we need to respect all citizens, no matter what choices they may make in their lives. So apparently, in 2001-2, Romney supported civil unions. And if that wasn't the basis for opposing the amendment, maybe he just didn't want to ban "gay marriage"? We ask his Mr. Romney to clarify his opposition to the 2002 Mass. marriage amendment. And further, why didn't he make a stink then that the Legislature unconstitutionally threw it into the dustbin? (He became Governor in January 2003, days after that happened.)
Then in 2005-6, suddenly Romney favored the new proposed Mass. marriage amendment, which would NOT ban civil unions, and which would let stand the existing "gay marriages" (since May 2004).
So first he's against a marriage amendment, then he's for one. Is this a flip-flop? Or -- is there some consistency? Romney seems to want to keep open the possibility for civil unions in both instances. Interesting.
Hello, Romney campaign. Please explain!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Linguine Spines in Maine State House
Mike Heath, Executive Director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, tells the truth there, as we do in Massachusetts. In this spineless age, that can make you pretty unpopular in places like State Houses. Here is the depressing news from Maine -- plus Heath's CALL TO ACTION. Where are the men and women of principle? Heath writes:
Want to Join Me?
You may have noticed that no proposal has surfaced in Maine's legislature to enact sodomy-based marriage, otherwise known as same sex marriage. I don't like to use the phrase "same sex marriage" because that is their term of art.... The only reason Maine didn't beat Massachusetts and become the first state in America with sodomy-based marriage is because the Christian Civic League of Maine looked around at the army and decided that someone needed to confront the giant.
We haven't slain Goliath yet. We are still polishing our stones. Many Christian forces are more like Saul and his army camped in the field drinking and making merry while Goliath wanders out to the middle of the field each day to taunt them and their God. Just as Saul's army was entertained by Goliath, Christians allow themselves today to be entertained by the antics of the anti-God crowd. They'd prefer not to confront the giant.
And make no mistake, the anti-God crowd is in power in Maine.
The leader of Maine's REPUBLICAN party says he has no interest in social issues. His number two man defends the foolish "diversity days" that are popping up in public schools all over Maine. The most recent one at Cony High School included a "transgendered" teenager as a workshop leader.
Make no mistake. The anti-God crowd runs the Maine State House. They are happy with abortion and homosexuality. And the Christians who serve there do not have the stomach to fight them. When I angered the anti-God left a few years ago the State House stopped business to craft a letter condemning me. Every Senator signed the letter condemning me, even some I consider to be friends. I consider the letter to be a badge of honor.
And you know something. I don't blame the Christians for camping out. Goliath is big and scary while the army that camps behind him on the battlefield is bigger and scarier.
The bigness and scariness of the enemy army isn't important to God. He always works though individuals. He works through men like David. Individuals like you. Your courage, clear- headedness and morality will glorify God today. God isn't impressed by armies, nations and technology. David was called a man after God's own heart.
See the news from the Christian Civic League of Maine.
Want to Join Me?
You may have noticed that no proposal has surfaced in Maine's legislature to enact sodomy-based marriage, otherwise known as same sex marriage. I don't like to use the phrase "same sex marriage" because that is their term of art.... The only reason Maine didn't beat Massachusetts and become the first state in America with sodomy-based marriage is because the Christian Civic League of Maine looked around at the army and decided that someone needed to confront the giant.
We haven't slain Goliath yet. We are still polishing our stones. Many Christian forces are more like Saul and his army camped in the field drinking and making merry while Goliath wanders out to the middle of the field each day to taunt them and their God. Just as Saul's army was entertained by Goliath, Christians allow themselves today to be entertained by the antics of the anti-God crowd. They'd prefer not to confront the giant.
And make no mistake, the anti-God crowd is in power in Maine.
The leader of Maine's REPUBLICAN party says he has no interest in social issues. His number two man defends the foolish "diversity days" that are popping up in public schools all over Maine. The most recent one at Cony High School included a "transgendered" teenager as a workshop leader.
Make no mistake. The anti-God crowd runs the Maine State House. They are happy with abortion and homosexuality. And the Christians who serve there do not have the stomach to fight them. When I angered the anti-God left a few years ago the State House stopped business to craft a letter condemning me. Every Senator signed the letter condemning me, even some I consider to be friends. I consider the letter to be a badge of honor.
And you know something. I don't blame the Christians for camping out. Goliath is big and scary while the army that camps behind him on the battlefield is bigger and scarier.
The bigness and scariness of the enemy army isn't important to God. He always works though individuals. He works through men like David. Individuals like you. Your courage, clear- headedness and morality will glorify God today. God isn't impressed by armies, nations and technology. David was called a man after God's own heart.
See the news from the Christian Civic League of Maine.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Gill's Homosexual $Millions Coming Into Massachusetts
We've warned Massachusetts that millionaire homosexual activist "philanthropist" Tim Gill was sending $MILLIONS into Massachusetts to help overturn sane government. He's already targeted State Rep. Phil Travis (and maybe others). We're sure he'll donate massive funds to defeat VoteOnMarriage's amendment in any way he can. Remember his chief operative on this, Patrick Guerriero, is a Massachusetts boy working closely with Arline Isaacson (Mass. Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus) and the MassEquality crowd.
From today's Bay Windows, "On Snickers bars, ... and political activist Tim Gill":
Worth a read: This month’s Atlantic Monthly includes a terrific piece by Joshua Green on the state-by-state strategy of defeating anti-gay politicians taken by wealthy gays like Tim Gill. Titled “They Won’t Know What Hit Them,” the piece includes an interview with the reclusive Gill, who explains his strategy of targeting state lawmakers for defeat: “The strategic piece of the puzzle we’d been missing — consistent across almost every legislature we examined — is that it’s often just a handful of people, two or three, who introduce the most outrageous legislation and force the rest of their colleagues to vote on it. If you could reach these few people or neutralize them by flipping the chamber to leaders who would block bad legislation, you’d have a dramatic effect.”Gill had a list of 70 lawmakers targeted for defeat; it included Massachusetts representative Phil Travis (who ultimately resigned rather than seek reelection). Fifty of those Gill set out to unseat lost their jobs. He’s already at work on a much bigger list for 2008.
From today's Bay Windows, "On Snickers bars, ... and political activist Tim Gill":
Worth a read: This month’s Atlantic Monthly includes a terrific piece by Joshua Green on the state-by-state strategy of defeating anti-gay politicians taken by wealthy gays like Tim Gill. Titled “They Won’t Know What Hit Them,” the piece includes an interview with the reclusive Gill, who explains his strategy of targeting state lawmakers for defeat: “The strategic piece of the puzzle we’d been missing — consistent across almost every legislature we examined — is that it’s often just a handful of people, two or three, who introduce the most outrageous legislation and force the rest of their colleagues to vote on it. If you could reach these few people or neutralize them by flipping the chamber to leaders who would block bad legislation, you’d have a dramatic effect.”Gill had a list of 70 lawmakers targeted for defeat; it included Massachusetts representative Phil Travis (who ultimately resigned rather than seek reelection). Fifty of those Gill set out to unseat lost their jobs. He’s already at work on a much bigger list for 2008.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Polygamy & BDSM Advocate Behind Anti-Bullying Programs in Schools
Valerie White of Sharon, MA Polyamory/polygamy advocate, founder of "UU's for Polyamory Awareness"
Legal defender of sadomasochists
Advocate for "anti-bullying" programs in schools
Who's really behind the "anti-bullying" agenda in the schools? (MassResistance has spotlighted this issue before.) It's the radical homosexual movement and its allies among the "transgenders", polyamorists/would-be polygamists, and "alternative sexuality" crowd (including the sado-masochists). It's their latest propaganda ploy: using kids' normal cruelty to one another as an entree for their message about accepting everyone --no matter how they're different.
Don't believe it? Have a look at the person behind an innocuous sounding letter published in the Boston Globe (2-2-07): "Bullying infects the school setting," by one Valerie White of Sharon, Massachusetts. And you can be sure the editors at the Boston Globe know exactly who Valerie White is....
Valerie White (see her web site) is an activist for "alternative sexual expression" -- including polygamy, polyamory, and BDSM (torture, sadomasochism, dangerous sexual perversions, etc.). She's a board member of the Unitarian pro-polyamory group called "Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness," and an ordained "Humanist" minister. (Now recall that the Unitarians have been a huge prime mover for "homosexual marriage." Their national headquarters building is immediately adjacent to the Mass. State House; how convenient!)
White has set up a legal foundation to defend practitioners of "alternative sexual expression," including BDSM, the Sexual Freedom Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (See "BDSM & the law" web posting):
People who practice alternative sexual expression can sometimes find themselves in trouble. Like the 'Paddleboro' defendants in Massachusetts, they may be charged with crimes under archaic laws. They may face the loss of custody of their children. The Sexual Freedom Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. has been established to help people who find themselves in this kind of trouble.... The agency has applied for 501c3 status as a tax exempt organization. "We want to focus on alternative sexual expression among consenting adults, like polyamory, swinging, BDSM, fetishism and so forth" White says. "GLBT folks already have a great resource in the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund."
Just this past October, Ms. White gave two lectures at the PFLAG/Transgender conference in Worcester (Transcending Boundaries):
1. Valerie White: Polyamory 101
Limited to participants who are 18 and older. What is "polyamory" anyway? Don't people get jealous? Isn't polyamory just a fancy word for good old-fashioned cheating? How is it different from swinging? Is polyamory the same thing as polygamy? Is it safe to be "out" as polyamorous? What about the kids? How did this movement get started? How is it different from the "free love" of the sixties? How can people find out if this lovestyle is for them? Participants at all levels are welcome.
2. NELA (New England Leather Alliance) Representative Vivienne Kramer and Valerie White: Legal Issues and Being Kinky: Oil and Water!
Limited to participants who are 18 and older. How can you express kinky sexuality without encountering law enforcement? What should you do if you are questioned by police about what you do in the bedroom? This workshop will identify varieties of kinky sex and provide some clear guidelines to help you stay out of trouble. It will answer your questions about the current state of the law in the areas of a variety of alt.sex communities, sex toys, BDSM, sodomy, and assault as well as what’s on the horizon nationally.
Limited to participants who are 18 and older. How can you express kinky sexuality without encountering law enforcement? What should you do if you are questioned by police about what you do in the bedroom? This workshop will identify varieties of kinky sex and provide some clear guidelines to help you stay out of trouble. It will answer your questions about the current state of the law in the areas of a variety of alt.sex communities, sex toys, BDSM, sodomy, and assault as well as what’s on the horizon nationally.
In an article in Weekly Standard, Stanley Kurtz quoted White as a prominent advocate for polyamory and polygamy. (See "Here Come the Brides: Plural marriage is waiting in the wings," 12-26-05):
Valerie White,... founder of the [Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness (UUPA)] let Bi Magazine know in 2003 that UUPA planned to keep its quest for recognition on temporary hold: "It
put too much ammunition in the hands of the opponents of gay marriage.... Our brothers and sisters in the LGBT community are fighting a battle that they're close to winning, and we don't want to do anything that would cause that fight to take a step backwards." In short, the Unitarians are holding the polyamorists at arm's length only until gay marriage has been safely legalized across the nation. At that point, the Unitarian campaign for state-recognized polyamorous marriage will almost certainly begin.
White's web site brags: "Valerie has spoken on polyamory and on sexual freedom and the law at True Colors, Transcending Boundaries, PolyCampCon, Poly Pride New York, Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, Boston Area Sex and Spirituality Network, PolyLiving, Loving More East Coast, the Bedford Lyceum and Building Bridges. She has had articles on polyamory published in 'The Humanist' and 'Loving More' magazines."
Her "Sexual Freedom Legal Defense & Education Fund" links to these groups:
Alternatives to Marriage Project; BDSM and the Law; International Lifestyle Association (for swingers); Kink Aware Professionals; Loving More magazine; National Association of Swing Clubs; National Leather Association; National Coalition for Sexual Freedom; New England Leather Alliance; Pagan Sex Cult; Polyamory Awareness and Acceptance; The Institute for 21st Century Relationships; Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness; Woodhull Freedom Foundation.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Proof Romney Is Not Conservative
More Romney "news" -- His "go-t0 guy for conservatives," Peter Flaherty, is profiled in the Boston Globe today. But none of Brian Camenker's comments to the reporter, Scott Helman, made it into the article.
Brian pointed out that if Romney is such a conservative, why does he need a liaison to conservatives? And why does he need someone to think through conservative issues for him?
The answer is that neither Romney nor the people he surrounds himself with have ever been conservatives. Does Hillary Clinton need to hire a liaison to liberals? Of course not.
Brian pointed out that if Romney is such a conservative, why does he need a liaison to conservatives? And why does he need someone to think through conservative issues for him?
The answer is that neither Romney nor the people he surrounds himself with have ever been conservatives. Does Hillary Clinton need to hire a liaison to liberals? Of course not.
Romney Gets Personal
Some of us involved in politics -- especially we grassroots activist types -- deal with ISSUES and FACTS. The Romney campaign believes in PERSONAL attacks:
"A Republican candidate, former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, most recently moved to regain control of his image as a social conservative after being confronted with video clips from 1994 that showed him defending abortion rights and gay rights. As that video moved through the YouTube universe, Romney responded quickly, saying he had been wrong on some issues in 1994, a statement that was swiftly captured on YouTube as well.
" 'In previous campaigns you'd think or hope that the threat would just go away, but now it's imperative that you attack back quickly and personally, and with advanced technology,' said Kevin Madden, an adviser to Romney."
--"Downloading a new era in presidential politics," International Herald Tribune, 1-31-07.
"A Republican candidate, former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, most recently moved to regain control of his image as a social conservative after being confronted with video clips from 1994 that showed him defending abortion rights and gay rights. As that video moved through the YouTube universe, Romney responded quickly, saying he had been wrong on some issues in 1994, a statement that was swiftly captured on YouTube as well.
" 'In previous campaigns you'd think or hope that the threat would just go away, but now it's imperative that you attack back quickly and personally, and with advanced technology,' said Kevin Madden, an adviser to Romney."
--"Downloading a new era in presidential politics," International Herald Tribune, 1-31-07.
National Republican Pro-Life Group Contests Romney's Claims
Mitt Romney is running for the Republican nomination for President. It doesn't appear he'll be able to fool the real pro-life Republicans much longer. Killing human embryos for research and aborting babies resulting from rape or incest are both anathema to the true pro-lifer. The Republican National Coalition for Life reminds us that "The Republican Party was founded on the principle that no human being should be considered the property of another." And that includes babies.
From their "FaxNotes" (2-3-07):
MITT ROMNEY SUPPORTS KILLING HUMAN EMBRYOS FOR RESEARCH
Despite his recent professed conversion to the pro-life side of the debate after more than thirty years of supporting Roe v. Wade and legal abortion, when it comes to respect for the sanctity of human life, Mitt Romney is on the wrong side.
Governor Romney’s claim that he is “pro-life” is belied by his position on the “use” of human embryos for research purposes. We know that every one of us started life as an embryo. An embryois a human organism. An embryo is a human being at the earliest stage ofdevelopment. As such, human embryos deserve respect and protection under the law. They are denied that respect and protection in the United States of America. That is because it is legal to kill them and use their stem cells for scientific experiments, as long as it is done with private money.
It is a practice that ought to be banned in this country, as it has been in others. Instead, all that has been done on their behalf is to deny the expenditure offederal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), except for the stem cell lines taken from embryos killed prior to August 9, 2001, a date chosen by President Bush in a Solomon-like compromise with the biotech industry which supports ESCR and those who warn of the ethical and moral implications of killing and using human beings in pursuit of some potential--but very likely unachievable--benefit to others.
Governor Romney, who has established an exploratory committee for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, says he is now “pro-life”after more than thirty years of staunch support for Roe v. Wade. How can he make that claim when, on the one hand he says he opposes creating human embryos for research purposes (cloning), yet, on the other hand he says he supports using human embryos created for another purpose, that of in vitro fertilization? It’s a distinction without a difference! He sanctions the killing of embryos “left over” from IVF treatments “provided that those embryos are obtained after a rigorous parental consent process that includesadoption as an alternative.”
Mitt Romney’s position on embryonic stem cell research is not pro-life, and no one should say that it is. The embryos engendered through IVF are the children of the couples involved. Even though they can only be seen under a microscope, should their parents be allowed to have them killed? The answer to that would be YES if your views have been molded by 34 years ofthe effects of Roe v. Wade.
In addition, Mitt Romney justifies abortion for babies conceived through rape or incest. That is not a pro-life position. It is a pro-abortion-choice position that is held by Senator John McCain, another 2008 hopeful who also supports ESCR. The third candidate listed by the media as a “top-tier” contender for the nomination is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a strong proponent of Roe and supporter of abortion on demand.
Pro-life voters should look elsewhere for a candidate to support. Never forget that you were once an embryo!
From their "FaxNotes" (2-3-07):
MITT ROMNEY SUPPORTS KILLING HUMAN EMBRYOS FOR RESEARCH
Despite his recent professed conversion to the pro-life side of the debate after more than thirty years of supporting Roe v. Wade and legal abortion, when it comes to respect for the sanctity of human life, Mitt Romney is on the wrong side.
Governor Romney’s claim that he is “pro-life” is belied by his position on the “use” of human embryos for research purposes. We know that every one of us started life as an embryo. An embryois a human organism. An embryo is a human being at the earliest stage ofdevelopment. As such, human embryos deserve respect and protection under the law. They are denied that respect and protection in the United States of America. That is because it is legal to kill them and use their stem cells for scientific experiments, as long as it is done with private money.
It is a practice that ought to be banned in this country, as it has been in others. Instead, all that has been done on their behalf is to deny the expenditure offederal tax dollars for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), except for the stem cell lines taken from embryos killed prior to August 9, 2001, a date chosen by President Bush in a Solomon-like compromise with the biotech industry which supports ESCR and those who warn of the ethical and moral implications of killing and using human beings in pursuit of some potential--but very likely unachievable--benefit to others.
Governor Romney, who has established an exploratory committee for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, says he is now “pro-life”after more than thirty years of staunch support for Roe v. Wade. How can he make that claim when, on the one hand he says he opposes creating human embryos for research purposes (cloning), yet, on the other hand he says he supports using human embryos created for another purpose, that of in vitro fertilization? It’s a distinction without a difference! He sanctions the killing of embryos “left over” from IVF treatments “provided that those embryos are obtained after a rigorous parental consent process that includesadoption as an alternative.”
Mitt Romney’s position on embryonic stem cell research is not pro-life, and no one should say that it is. The embryos engendered through IVF are the children of the couples involved. Even though they can only be seen under a microscope, should their parents be allowed to have them killed? The answer to that would be YES if your views have been molded by 34 years ofthe effects of Roe v. Wade.
In addition, Mitt Romney justifies abortion for babies conceived through rape or incest. That is not a pro-life position. It is a pro-abortion-choice position that is held by Senator John McCain, another 2008 hopeful who also supports ESCR. The third candidate listed by the media as a “top-tier” contender for the nomination is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a strong proponent of Roe and supporter of abortion on demand.
Pro-life voters should look elsewhere for a candidate to support. Never forget that you were once an embryo!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Romney Polling Poorly in Michigan
Thanks to Gary Glenn, American Family Association in Michigan, for this tip:
Romney is polling poorly in Michigan. But why? Is it because voters are not yet "familiar with his positions on important issues"? Or is it because they are? If not, they certainly will be soon. At any rate, Romney doesn't appear to be a viable alternative to McCain in Michigan at this point. From the Detroit Free Press:
Romney's name doesn't help him in poll (2-4-07)
One surprise in the Free Press/Local 4 Michigan poll was the weak showing of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who finished a distant fourth among Republicans and lost by the largest margins in head-to-head match-ups against the top three Democrats.
The poll of Republican voters had a significant plus or minus 8 percentage points margin of error, but Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were both around 30%, far ahead of Romney's 8%. [Newt Gingrich ranked third.] The margin of error in the head-to-head races was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Romney's father, the late George Romney, was Michigan's governor in the 1960s. Romney has been endorsed by at least 50 state legislators and several members of the state's GOP congressional delegation.
Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said while people in Michigan may know his name, they're not yet familiar with his positions on important issues.
John Haskins comments:
Apparently, there are still plenty of people in the grass roots in places like Michigan who prefer facts and truth to the infallible guidance of the "conservative" nomenklatura, more and more of whom are selling their dubious seals of approval in return for cash, flattery, and promises from Slick Willard Romney.
Facts are very stubborn things, even when much of the "conservative" establishment insists the truth is either a lie or irrelevant. How terribly tragic that "conservatism" -- even the "pro-family" variety -- more and more often comes down to respectable collective denial of legal, constitutional, historical, sociological, psychological, theological and moral reality. Reality has terrible table manners and there's nothing establishment "conservatives" detest more than poor table manners. They'd rather just admit that they're really just liberals who don't like bumps in the road.
Establishment "conservatives" -- whatever that debauched word still means -- share the deathwish of the shriveling, wrinkled, contorted remains of Western Civilization. They just want the irritating doctor to go away. A slow couch-potato death, ameliorated by the narcotics of material wealth, is just plain easier than cutting the cancer out. As Joseph Farah (WorldNetDaily) points out, the fatal flaw in conservatism is that it is conservative where Christ, His apostles and prophets -- not to mention the Founding Fathers -- were radical.
Mitt Romney is an empty mannequin, a stage prop whose purpose is to maintain, for another brief moment in history, the illusion that social conservatism and its pathetic political bedmates are still vibrant and viable. On the contrary, social conservatism is being killed off by its own "leaders," lawyers and pundits, for whom the crusade to save American decency long ago became merely a career.
Thanks in part to true conservatives, like Gary Glenn in Michigan, lots of people in that state are not quite ready for their children's culture to die while they vegetate comfortably before their large-screen TV's.
Romney is polling poorly in Michigan. But why? Is it because voters are not yet "familiar with his positions on important issues"? Or is it because they are? If not, they certainly will be soon. At any rate, Romney doesn't appear to be a viable alternative to McCain in Michigan at this point. From the Detroit Free Press:
Romney's name doesn't help him in poll (2-4-07)
One surprise in the Free Press/Local 4 Michigan poll was the weak showing of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who finished a distant fourth among Republicans and lost by the largest margins in head-to-head match-ups against the top three Democrats.
The poll of Republican voters had a significant plus or minus 8 percentage points margin of error, but Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were both around 30%, far ahead of Romney's 8%. [Newt Gingrich ranked third.] The margin of error in the head-to-head races was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Romney's father, the late George Romney, was Michigan's governor in the 1960s. Romney has been endorsed by at least 50 state legislators and several members of the state's GOP congressional delegation.
Romney spokeswoman Sarah Pompei said while people in Michigan may know his name, they're not yet familiar with his positions on important issues.
John Haskins comments:
Apparently, there are still plenty of people in the grass roots in places like Michigan who prefer facts and truth to the infallible guidance of the "conservative" nomenklatura, more and more of whom are selling their dubious seals of approval in return for cash, flattery, and promises from Slick Willard Romney.
Facts are very stubborn things, even when much of the "conservative" establishment insists the truth is either a lie or irrelevant. How terribly tragic that "conservatism" -- even the "pro-family" variety -- more and more often comes down to respectable collective denial of legal, constitutional, historical, sociological, psychological, theological and moral reality. Reality has terrible table manners and there's nothing establishment "conservatives" detest more than poor table manners. They'd rather just admit that they're really just liberals who don't like bumps in the road.
Establishment "conservatives" -- whatever that debauched word still means -- share the deathwish of the shriveling, wrinkled, contorted remains of Western Civilization. They just want the irritating doctor to go away. A slow couch-potato death, ameliorated by the narcotics of material wealth, is just plain easier than cutting the cancer out. As Joseph Farah (WorldNetDaily) points out, the fatal flaw in conservatism is that it is conservative where Christ, His apostles and prophets -- not to mention the Founding Fathers -- were radical.
Mitt Romney is an empty mannequin, a stage prop whose purpose is to maintain, for another brief moment in history, the illusion that social conservatism and its pathetic political bedmates are still vibrant and viable. On the contrary, social conservatism is being killed off by its own "leaders," lawyers and pundits, for whom the crusade to save American decency long ago became merely a career.
Thanks in part to true conservatives, like Gary Glenn in Michigan, lots of people in that state are not quite ready for their children's culture to die while they vegetate comfortably before their large-screen TV's.
Even Liberals Are Laughing at Mitt Romney
See commentary by John Haskins below on Ellen Goodman's op-ed in the Boston Globe a few days back. Here's an excerpt from Goodman's column, "Mitt's turnaround" (2-2-07):
... Bay State politicians -- from John Adams to Mike Dukakis -- have long suffered from Potomac Fever. But Steve Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School at the UMass-Boston and a chief honcho for two previous Republican governors, says Romney suffers from "Potomac Ebola Virus." A particularly virulent strain has infected the man running from Massachusetts. Or should I say, running away from Massachusetts. Or against Massachusetts.
Our man Mitt is positioning himself to the right of every Republican candidate except Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. He has famously told audiences that "being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is a bit like being a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention." He's repeatedly described himself as a lonely figure fighting the values fight against "the Kennedy-apologist, knee-jerk Clinton supporters" and ... you get the idea.
Even "Evangelicals for Mitt" -- yes, there is such a website -- says that "He shares our values, and he's fought for those values in hostile territory."
The idea, the pitch, the shtick is that if Romney can make it as a conservative Republican here, he can make it anywhere. There's only one small problem: He didn't make it here as a conservative. Romney ran and won as the fourth in a direct line of moderate GOP governors....
... you can also regard Romney as the veritable model of the Venture Capitalist as Politician, doing and saying whatever it takes. Indeed, [Steve] Crosby ["dean of the McCormack Graduate School at the UMass-Boston and a chief honcho for two previous Republican governors"] describes Romney's governorship as like "a corporate takeover. . . . He took over the asset, stripped it of what it was worth to leverage him into another asset, the presidency. There's no way to think he has any core beliefs other than leveraging to the next acquisition." ...
John Haskins comments:
Yep. I'm fairly sure Mitt does share the values of "Evangelicals for Mitt." That's why he illegally imposed sodomy-based marriage and claimed the smirking judges "made him do it." Unfortunately for Mitt and the mercenary "lawyers" at "Evangelicals for Mitt," the same judges later admitted to the whole world that they had absolutely no legal power to compel Slick Willard to do anything.
Poor Mitt. Whom can he trust? He goes the extra mile to give "activist judges" more than they ever asked for, even proving that he was willing to violate a constitution, make liars and fools of the Founding Fathers and mock the solemn oath he took. Then what do those unprincipled liberal "activist judges" do? They turn around and stab him in the back by telling everyone that judges can't make governors (or legislators) impose homosexual "marriage."
That was supposed to be Romney's little secret! Even superlawyers "Jay-Jay the Jet Plane" Sekulow, Mr. Bopp and ADF's constitutional-surrender experts, Glen Lavy and David French, were with Mitt on that -- pretending the Court made him do it!
So with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court having humiliated Jay-Jay, Bopp, and the ADF by confirming the supposedly "amateurish and bizarre" (French's words) legal analysis on the Pro-Family Leaders' Letter to Romney, why does Slick Willard Romney still think he can pass himself off as a conservative? Well, because people like French and his wife apparently can continue to pass themselves off as conservatives, merely by calling others "liars" for publicizing the indisputable facts on Mitt.
The great Malcolm Muggeridge observed that we don't believe political lies because they are credible; we believe them because we want to. And that observation explains why the pro-family movement keeps hiring lawyers and decision-makers who shoot those who are "amateurish and bizarre" enough not to collaborate in the permanent surrender.
As for Romney's famous boast -- "being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is a bit like being a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention" -- well, Mitt, it's great to speculate. Now talk from experience: What's it like to be the Ivy League vegetarian trying to fake it as a cowboy on the big cattle drive? That would seem to be an impossible task, unless you've identified the moles among the cowboys: "pro-family constitutional attorneys" who spend their credibility ignoring or lying about constitutions.
As I've said all along: there are people who will either lose their jobs or they will continue to fake it as "pro-family constitutionalists" and who will continue to destroy the movement from within ... until there's nothing left to destroy.
John Haskins is a frequent contributor to the MassResistance blog.
... Bay State politicians -- from John Adams to Mike Dukakis -- have long suffered from Potomac Fever. But Steve Crosby, dean of the McCormack Graduate School at the UMass-Boston and a chief honcho for two previous Republican governors, says Romney suffers from "Potomac Ebola Virus." A particularly virulent strain has infected the man running from Massachusetts. Or should I say, running away from Massachusetts. Or against Massachusetts.
Our man Mitt is positioning himself to the right of every Republican candidate except Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. He has famously told audiences that "being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is a bit like being a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention." He's repeatedly described himself as a lonely figure fighting the values fight against "the Kennedy-apologist, knee-jerk Clinton supporters" and ... you get the idea.
Even "Evangelicals for Mitt" -- yes, there is such a website -- says that "He shares our values, and he's fought for those values in hostile territory."
The idea, the pitch, the shtick is that if Romney can make it as a conservative Republican here, he can make it anywhere. There's only one small problem: He didn't make it here as a conservative. Romney ran and won as the fourth in a direct line of moderate GOP governors....
... you can also regard Romney as the veritable model of the Venture Capitalist as Politician, doing and saying whatever it takes. Indeed, [Steve] Crosby ["dean of the McCormack Graduate School at the UMass-Boston and a chief honcho for two previous Republican governors"] describes Romney's governorship as like "a corporate takeover. . . . He took over the asset, stripped it of what it was worth to leverage him into another asset, the presidency. There's no way to think he has any core beliefs other than leveraging to the next acquisition." ...
John Haskins comments:
Yep. I'm fairly sure Mitt does share the values of "Evangelicals for Mitt." That's why he illegally imposed sodomy-based marriage and claimed the smirking judges "made him do it." Unfortunately for Mitt and the mercenary "lawyers" at "Evangelicals for Mitt," the same judges later admitted to the whole world that they had absolutely no legal power to compel Slick Willard to do anything.
Poor Mitt. Whom can he trust? He goes the extra mile to give "activist judges" more than they ever asked for, even proving that he was willing to violate a constitution, make liars and fools of the Founding Fathers and mock the solemn oath he took. Then what do those unprincipled liberal "activist judges" do? They turn around and stab him in the back by telling everyone that judges can't make governors (or legislators) impose homosexual "marriage."
That was supposed to be Romney's little secret! Even superlawyers "Jay-Jay the Jet Plane" Sekulow, Mr. Bopp and ADF's constitutional-surrender experts, Glen Lavy and David French, were with Mitt on that -- pretending the Court made him do it!
So with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court having humiliated Jay-Jay, Bopp, and the ADF by confirming the supposedly "amateurish and bizarre" (French's words) legal analysis on the Pro-Family Leaders' Letter to Romney, why does Slick Willard Romney still think he can pass himself off as a conservative? Well, because people like French and his wife apparently can continue to pass themselves off as conservatives, merely by calling others "liars" for publicizing the indisputable facts on Mitt.
The great Malcolm Muggeridge observed that we don't believe political lies because they are credible; we believe them because we want to. And that observation explains why the pro-family movement keeps hiring lawyers and decision-makers who shoot those who are "amateurish and bizarre" enough not to collaborate in the permanent surrender.
As for Romney's famous boast -- "being a conservative Republican in Massachusetts is a bit like being a cattle rancher at a vegetarian convention" -- well, Mitt, it's great to speculate. Now talk from experience: What's it like to be the Ivy League vegetarian trying to fake it as a cowboy on the big cattle drive? That would seem to be an impossible task, unless you've identified the moles among the cowboys: "pro-family constitutional attorneys" who spend their credibility ignoring or lying about constitutions.
As I've said all along: there are people who will either lose their jobs or they will continue to fake it as "pro-family constitutionalists" and who will continue to destroy the movement from within ... until there's nothing left to destroy.
John Haskins is a frequent contributor to the MassResistance blog.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Romney's New Idea: Blame Others for Failure
Flip-flopping on issues is getting old. Time to try denying responsbility for things gone wrong. The Boston Globe reports today that "Romney distances self from Mass. health plan."
Romney can't exactly flip-flop on socialistic government-mandated health care insurance plans, since he was a bragging prime mover behind the new law in Massachusetts. But now that there's a cancerous new bureaucracy growing (with over-compensated executives), higher than expected subscription "fees" (read: taxes), and new definitions of "adequate coverage" -- all this bad news sending shockwaves through the state -- Romney is now trying to wriggle out of his responsibility in creating this monster. Now, instead of bragging about his brilliant new plan, he's trying to blame the Legislature for anything that's going wrong.
But denying responsibility for crafting and signing a new law will be a lot harder than flip-flopping on an issue.
Romney secured the support of the "conservative" Heritage Foundation in helping design the plan (after giving them a hefty $25,000 donation.) And until recently he has been very proud of his revolutionary approach to controlling people's and businesses' decisions on health coverage. How odd, then, that he didn't refer to his health insurance law in his recent speech at the Heritage Foundation.
Is this man qualified to be President if he couldn't imagine how this legislation would play out? He's certainly no conservative if he thinks mandatory health insurance, creating a new bureaucracy in the most corrupt state in the country, and lots of undefined requirements in a law are good things. Even the Wall Street Journal slammed Romney's health plan in an editorial last week! (a "ballyhooed health care [reform that is apolicy blunder] that won't stand scrutiny in court, much less in the marketplace"). No wonder he's trying to blame any emerging problems on the Legislature! Is he really the genius businessman and visionary manager we've been told he is?
[From the Globe:]
The healthcare law requires all Massachusetts adults to obtain health coverage that meets minimum standards as of July 1 or pay a penalty, unless they prove they cannot afford it. Businesses with more than 10 employees but without "fair and reasonable" health insurance must pay an annual fee.
Romney introduced the idea in late 2004; after the Legislature made its own adjustments, Romney signed it into law last April. The plan was phased in during the summer and fall, and about 100,000 of the state's approximately 400,000 uninsured are covered so far....
Earlier this week, however, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans estimated that more than 200,000 residents who already have health insurance will have to buy more to meet minimum standards. A state board, called the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, is still reviewing those standards, in part because of estimates that the average uninsured individual would have to pay some $380 a month [almost twice what Romney led us to believe] to obtain health coverage....
Romney has long said that the plan would suffer hiccups. But he now appears ready to blame Democrats for any of the plan's shortcomings, said state Senator Richard T. Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat and one of the plan's main architects.
"That's why he left [office] in a hurry," said Moore, the chairman of the Senate Health Care Financing Committee. "He's setting himself up so he can go either way. If it's a success, he'll take all the credit in the world. If it's a failure, he'll blame everybody else."
Moore said Romney can't hide the fact that he worked closely with Democrats to craft the law, and his administration was responsible for implementing its early stages. "If it doesn't work, it's going to be a shared responsibility," he said....
Meanwhile, from Romney's campaign web site:
Extending Health Insurance to All Americans:
The health of our nation can be improved by extending health insurance to all Americans, not through a government program or new taxes, but through market reforms.
Governor Romney: "We can't have as a nation 40 million people -- or, in my state, half a million -- saying, 'I don't have insurance, and if I get sick, I want someone else to pay." (USA Today, July 5, 2005)
Governor Romney: "It's a conservative idea," says Romney, "insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care. I think it appeals to people on both sides of the aisle: insurance for everyone without a tax increase." (USA Today, July 5, 2005)
Romney can't exactly flip-flop on socialistic government-mandated health care insurance plans, since he was a bragging prime mover behind the new law in Massachusetts. But now that there's a cancerous new bureaucracy growing (with over-compensated executives), higher than expected subscription "fees" (read: taxes), and new definitions of "adequate coverage" -- all this bad news sending shockwaves through the state -- Romney is now trying to wriggle out of his responsibility in creating this monster. Now, instead of bragging about his brilliant new plan, he's trying to blame the Legislature for anything that's going wrong.
But denying responsibility for crafting and signing a new law will be a lot harder than flip-flopping on an issue.
Romney secured the support of the "conservative" Heritage Foundation in helping design the plan (after giving them a hefty $25,000 donation.) And until recently he has been very proud of his revolutionary approach to controlling people's and businesses' decisions on health coverage. How odd, then, that he didn't refer to his health insurance law in his recent speech at the Heritage Foundation.
Is this man qualified to be President if he couldn't imagine how this legislation would play out? He's certainly no conservative if he thinks mandatory health insurance, creating a new bureaucracy in the most corrupt state in the country, and lots of undefined requirements in a law are good things. Even the Wall Street Journal slammed Romney's health plan in an editorial last week! (a "ballyhooed health care [reform that is apolicy blunder] that won't stand scrutiny in court, much less in the marketplace"). No wonder he's trying to blame any emerging problems on the Legislature! Is he really the genius businessman and visionary manager we've been told he is?
[From the Globe:]
The healthcare law requires all Massachusetts adults to obtain health coverage that meets minimum standards as of July 1 or pay a penalty, unless they prove they cannot afford it. Businesses with more than 10 employees but without "fair and reasonable" health insurance must pay an annual fee.
Romney introduced the idea in late 2004; after the Legislature made its own adjustments, Romney signed it into law last April. The plan was phased in during the summer and fall, and about 100,000 of the state's approximately 400,000 uninsured are covered so far....
Earlier this week, however, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans estimated that more than 200,000 residents who already have health insurance will have to buy more to meet minimum standards. A state board, called the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, is still reviewing those standards, in part because of estimates that the average uninsured individual would have to pay some $380 a month [almost twice what Romney led us to believe] to obtain health coverage....
Romney has long said that the plan would suffer hiccups. But he now appears ready to blame Democrats for any of the plan's shortcomings, said state Senator Richard T. Moore, an Uxbridge Democrat and one of the plan's main architects.
"That's why he left [office] in a hurry," said Moore, the chairman of the Senate Health Care Financing Committee. "He's setting himself up so he can go either way. If it's a success, he'll take all the credit in the world. If it's a failure, he'll blame everybody else."
Moore said Romney can't hide the fact that he worked closely with Democrats to craft the law, and his administration was responsible for implementing its early stages. "If it doesn't work, it's going to be a shared responsibility," he said....
Meanwhile, from Romney's campaign web site:
Extending Health Insurance to All Americans:
The health of our nation can be improved by extending health insurance to all Americans, not through a government program or new taxes, but through market reforms.
Governor Romney: "We can't have as a nation 40 million people -- or, in my state, half a million -- saying, 'I don't have insurance, and if I get sick, I want someone else to pay." (USA Today, July 5, 2005)
Governor Romney: "It's a conservative idea," says Romney, "insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care. I think it appeals to people on both sides of the aisle: insurance for everyone without a tax increase." (USA Today, July 5, 2005)
Conservative Policy Analyst Doubts Romney
Mitt Romney's not playing well on an important conservative web news site. Check out this excellent article just posted by J. Matt Barber on WorldNetDaily. Mr. Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned Women for America, is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law.
"The Mitt split" (2-3-07)
by J. Matt Barber
Wearing his 2008 presidential aspirations on his sleeve and appearing the ever humble, yet iron-jawed and selflessly devoted, champion of the GOP's must-have conservative, pro-family base, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finds himself struggling to salvage his conservative credentials.... [S]erious concerns are beginning to mount relative to the sincerity of Romney's commitment to traditional values....
[On abortion:] OK, you might say, that's fine. Romney was "pro-choice." This is America – people can change their opinion, right? Well, that may be true. Only one question – on the issues most important to conservative voters, why do Romney's opinions appear malleable, shifting in the wind as political expediency would seem to dictate? In 2006, just four short years after he ran for governor and as his presidential ambitions were reaching a boiling point, Romney seemed to pull a 180....
[On homosexual "marriage":] Was Gov. Romney the 'Father of "gay" marriage'? While there's disagreement even within the pro-family legal community, there is a strong argument to be made that Romney, contrary to his pro-traditional marriage rhetoric, was chiefly responsible for unconstitutionally imposing "same-sex" marriage on Massachusetts and the rest of the country. Let's lay out the roadmap....
"The Mitt split" (2-3-07)
by J. Matt Barber
Wearing his 2008 presidential aspirations on his sleeve and appearing the ever humble, yet iron-jawed and selflessly devoted, champion of the GOP's must-have conservative, pro-family base, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finds himself struggling to salvage his conservative credentials.... [S]erious concerns are beginning to mount relative to the sincerity of Romney's commitment to traditional values....
[On abortion:] OK, you might say, that's fine. Romney was "pro-choice." This is America – people can change their opinion, right? Well, that may be true. Only one question – on the issues most important to conservative voters, why do Romney's opinions appear malleable, shifting in the wind as political expediency would seem to dictate? In 2006, just four short years after he ran for governor and as his presidential ambitions were reaching a boiling point, Romney seemed to pull a 180....
[On homosexual "marriage":] Was Gov. Romney the 'Father of "gay" marriage'? While there's disagreement even within the pro-family legal community, there is a strong argument to be made that Romney, contrary to his pro-traditional marriage rhetoric, was chiefly responsible for unconstitutionally imposing "same-sex" marriage on Massachusetts and the rest of the country. Let's lay out the roadmap....
Friday, February 02, 2007
Crazy People Happen, But BDSM Murderers Are Taught
This is news, rating a huge color photo on page one of the Globe's second section: A candlelight vigil by a bunch of young people for the one-year anniversary of a crazy man's rampage in a New Bedford bar? All this hypercoverage just because it was a homosexual bar? What was the point of the vigil? Are we going to quell the incidence of insane outbursts by lighting candles?
Why didn't the Globe cover the dangerous sadomasochistic practices -- including cozying up to death and sometimes achieving murder -- being taught at the Sheraton Hotel in Danvers last weekend? Learning about this sick bunch of people reminded us that also just about a year ago a "professional dominatrix" got off scot free in court, though she had a "client" die during a bondage session! (She chopped his body into little pieces and disposed of it in Maine.)
Why weren't there vigils outside the Quincy condo where this hate crime happened -- to protest the increasing practice and acceptance of torture? (And the adoption by the Boston Globe of their twisted terminology: "professional dominatrix" and "bondage session"?) And why did no one have a vigil outside the BDSM conference last weekend in Danvers, where such practices were taught? There just might be fewer deaths of this sort if the BDSM culture couldn't exist so openly, advertise its conferences, and take over "respectable" suburban hotels.
Here's the report from just one year ago (Jan. 31, 2006):
Professional dominatrix Barbara Asher was acquitted yesterday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a New Hampshire man who prosecutors said suffered a fatal heart attack while strapped to a bondage rack in her Quincy condominium.
Prosecutors had argued that Asher, 56, did nothing to help Michael Lord, 53, of North Hampton as he died during the July 2000 session, out of fear that calling authorities would have jeopardized her dominatrix business. The prosecutors said she and a boyfriend chopped up Lord's 275-pound body and dumped the parts in a trash bin behind a Chinese restaurant in Augusta, Maine....
The prosecution's case -- and the narrative about the fatal bondage session presented in court -- rested on an alleged confession by Asher. Several police investigators testified that Asher had admitted to watching Lord die on the bondage rack without calling for medical help and then dismembering his body the next day...
Why didn't the Globe cover the dangerous sadomasochistic practices -- including cozying up to death and sometimes achieving murder -- being taught at the Sheraton Hotel in Danvers last weekend? Learning about this sick bunch of people reminded us that also just about a year ago a "professional dominatrix" got off scot free in court, though she had a "client" die during a bondage session! (She chopped his body into little pieces and disposed of it in Maine.)
Why weren't there vigils outside the Quincy condo where this hate crime happened -- to protest the increasing practice and acceptance of torture? (And the adoption by the Boston Globe of their twisted terminology: "professional dominatrix" and "bondage session"?) And why did no one have a vigil outside the BDSM conference last weekend in Danvers, where such practices were taught? There just might be fewer deaths of this sort if the BDSM culture couldn't exist so openly, advertise its conferences, and take over "respectable" suburban hotels.
Here's the report from just one year ago (Jan. 31, 2006):
Professional dominatrix Barbara Asher was acquitted yesterday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a New Hampshire man who prosecutors said suffered a fatal heart attack while strapped to a bondage rack in her Quincy condominium.
Prosecutors had argued that Asher, 56, did nothing to help Michael Lord, 53, of North Hampton as he died during the July 2000 session, out of fear that calling authorities would have jeopardized her dominatrix business. The prosecutors said she and a boyfriend chopped up Lord's 275-pound body and dumped the parts in a trash bin behind a Chinese restaurant in Augusta, Maine....
The prosecution's case -- and the narrative about the fatal bondage session presented in court -- rested on an alleged confession by Asher. Several police investigators testified that Asher had admitted to watching Lord die on the bondage rack without calling for medical help and then dismembering his body the next day...
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
David Parker's Civil Rights Court Date Next Week
Lexington father David Parker's lawsuit against personnel in the Lexington Public Schools is coming up on Feb. 7 in federal court in Boston.
It's nice to hear that Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) will be there to support him too... Though we haven't heard much from MFI on Parker's story since we broke it in April 2005 (and as we continued to document its every twist and turn). They did secure his presence at a few of their fundraisers ... so we hope they've also contributed to his defense fund.
We're trying to recall if MFI testified for our parents' rights bill in the last legislative session. Hmm... This session, MassResistance has filed the only parents' rights bill that will be truly effective, informed as it is by our understanding of the Parker case. If MFI is sincere in its support of Parker, they should fully support our bill -- to prevent future similar scenarios.
From our Dec. 29, 2006 email alert:
David Parker's federal civil rights lawsuit - Oral arguments to take place Feb. 7 in US District Court in Boston! [Dec. 29, 2006]
After months of delay, the oral arguments for David Parker's federal civil rights lawsuit against school and town officials in Lexington is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 2 pm in the US District Court in South Boston, before Judge Marc Wolf. (A few days ago it had been announced that it would be Jan. 18, but apparently the defendants asked that it be pushed back even more.)
At this "oral arguments" session, the defendants (the Lexington public officials) will try to persuade the judge not to allow the case to continue. And David Parker's lawyers will be countering that - with arguments that the case MUST be allowed to be heard!
The Parkers, along with Rob and Robin Wirthlin, are suing the Lexington officials (including Superintendent Paul Ash) over the school system's refusal to notify parents of elementary school children when adults present topics homosexuality or transgenderism to the kids. Parents have been told that the schools will not notify them even after these things have taken place! David Parker was arrested and spent the night in jail in April, 2005, over his insistence that they notify him - as required by state law - regarding homosexuality being presented to his son in kindergarten. This lawsuit has gotten national attention, and major pro-homosexual groups such as Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC, as well as the ACLU have begun giving legal support to the school system against David Parker.
Here's our full report on the David Parker incident and federal lawsuit: http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/index.html
It's nice to hear that Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) will be there to support him too... Though we haven't heard much from MFI on Parker's story since we broke it in April 2005 (and as we continued to document its every twist and turn). They did secure his presence at a few of their fundraisers ... so we hope they've also contributed to his defense fund.
We're trying to recall if MFI testified for our parents' rights bill in the last legislative session. Hmm... This session, MassResistance has filed the only parents' rights bill that will be truly effective, informed as it is by our understanding of the Parker case. If MFI is sincere in its support of Parker, they should fully support our bill -- to prevent future similar scenarios.
From our Dec. 29, 2006 email alert:
David Parker's federal civil rights lawsuit - Oral arguments to take place Feb. 7 in US District Court in Boston! [Dec. 29, 2006]
After months of delay, the oral arguments for David Parker's federal civil rights lawsuit against school and town officials in Lexington is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 2 pm in the US District Court in South Boston, before Judge Marc Wolf. (A few days ago it had been announced that it would be Jan. 18, but apparently the defendants asked that it be pushed back even more.)
At this "oral arguments" session, the defendants (the Lexington public officials) will try to persuade the judge not to allow the case to continue. And David Parker's lawyers will be countering that - with arguments that the case MUST be allowed to be heard!
The Parkers, along with Rob and Robin Wirthlin, are suing the Lexington officials (including Superintendent Paul Ash) over the school system's refusal to notify parents of elementary school children when adults present topics homosexuality or transgenderism to the kids. Parents have been told that the schools will not notify them even after these things have taken place! David Parker was arrested and spent the night in jail in April, 2005, over his insistence that they notify him - as required by state law - regarding homosexuality being presented to his son in kindergarten. This lawsuit has gotten national attention, and major pro-homosexual groups such as Human Rights Campaign in Washington, DC, as well as the ACLU have begun giving legal support to the school system against David Parker.
Here's our full report on the David Parker incident and federal lawsuit: http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/index.html
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Maine School Teaching Transgenderism
It's time for this to stop -- the trans madness being pushed on innocent children all over the country. This especially twisted form of child abuse is happening in Maine, too.
An Augusta high school just held a "diversity day" which included a transgender propaganda session. A young woman graduate of the school, now "identifying" as a male, spoke to the young teens (13 and 14 years old) about her experience. Note how the Kennebec Journal plays the willing fool, referring to her as "he" throughout the story, "Cony [high school] opens up" (1-30-07):
Transgendered people alter their appearance to that of the opposite sex.
Nazarkewycz, a 2006 Cony graduate, said even after he knew he identified himself as male, he struggled with his identity. He didn't like going to school much his senior year, in part because he wasn't even sure, himself, how he wanted his classmates to refer to him.
"My senior year, as far as Jen [her original name] and she, I was totally not wanting that at all," he said. "At the same time, I was not really ready to be Jeremiah [the new name she adopted] full-time either."
Nazarkewycz's compelling story about life as a transgendered person was one of several at the day-long annual event meant to instill Cony students with acceptance and tolerance of people who may be different in one or more ways. It also was a chance for students to learn about other cultures, religions and ways of life.
An earlier story, innocuously titled "Students to learn about different cultures" (1-27-07) previewed the day as a reasonable event ... except for that little inclusion of "life as a transgendered person":
Cony students will get a chance to learn about growing up French in Augusta, life with autism, life as a transgendered person, Pakistani dance, and civil rights in the 1960s. If that seems like an awfully diverse range of subjects, well, that's the whole point: Monday is the annual Cony Diversity Day.
The Christian Civic League of Maine covered the event. Rev. Dallas Henry, the League’s President of the Board of Directors, noted:
“The history of Maine’s 'Civil Rights Teams' [who organized Cony’s Diversity Day events] up to this point has clearly been that of promoting homosexuality. This Cony event has prominently broadened the field, however, to include teaching ‘transgendering.’ I am heartsick to hear of this promotion of sexual confusion.”
CCLMaine's Executive Director, Mike Heath, said of his high school alma mater:
“We live in bizarre times. Not too long ago every Mainer knew that sex change operations and witchcraft were as wrong as adultery and murder. It is impossible to understand what is happening because it is an inversion of reality. This is what makes it possible for deviant behavior and dark ideologies to be aggressively promoted as normal without effective resistance. It is irresponsible for adults to promote these ideas by presenting them without moral comment to impressionable young people who are maturing through puberty. Our Maine public school classrooms are looking more and more like the bar scene from Star Wars every day.”
CCL Maine reports that the Diversity Day also included a panel on different religions, and though invited, a Wicca representative did not show up:
The religious forum representatives were from various belief systems. Represented at the forum were Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and a number of groups who identify themselves as Christian including Mormons, Methodists, Spiritualists, Seventh-day Adventists, and the Apostolic faith. Absent from the panel were Baptists and Catholics, the two largest Christian denominations in Maine. The Christian Civic League of Maine, which has Baptist, Nazarene, Pentecostal, Advent Christian, Assembly of God, and several other denominations represented in its membership, was not asked to participate in the forum.
An Augusta high school just held a "diversity day" which included a transgender propaganda session. A young woman graduate of the school, now "identifying" as a male, spoke to the young teens (13 and 14 years old) about her experience. Note how the Kennebec Journal plays the willing fool, referring to her as "he" throughout the story, "Cony [high school] opens up" (1-30-07):
Transgendered people alter their appearance to that of the opposite sex.
Nazarkewycz, a 2006 Cony graduate, said even after he knew he identified himself as male, he struggled with his identity. He didn't like going to school much his senior year, in part because he wasn't even sure, himself, how he wanted his classmates to refer to him.
"My senior year, as far as Jen [her original name] and she, I was totally not wanting that at all," he said. "At the same time, I was not really ready to be Jeremiah [the new name she adopted] full-time either."
Nazarkewycz's compelling story about life as a transgendered person was one of several at the day-long annual event meant to instill Cony students with acceptance and tolerance of people who may be different in one or more ways. It also was a chance for students to learn about other cultures, religions and ways of life.
An earlier story, innocuously titled "Students to learn about different cultures" (1-27-07) previewed the day as a reasonable event ... except for that little inclusion of "life as a transgendered person":
Cony students will get a chance to learn about growing up French in Augusta, life with autism, life as a transgendered person, Pakistani dance, and civil rights in the 1960s. If that seems like an awfully diverse range of subjects, well, that's the whole point: Monday is the annual Cony Diversity Day.
The Christian Civic League of Maine covered the event. Rev. Dallas Henry, the League’s President of the Board of Directors, noted:
“The history of Maine’s 'Civil Rights Teams' [who organized Cony’s Diversity Day events] up to this point has clearly been that of promoting homosexuality. This Cony event has prominently broadened the field, however, to include teaching ‘transgendering.’ I am heartsick to hear of this promotion of sexual confusion.”
CCLMaine's Executive Director, Mike Heath, said of his high school alma mater:
“We live in bizarre times. Not too long ago every Mainer knew that sex change operations and witchcraft were as wrong as adultery and murder. It is impossible to understand what is happening because it is an inversion of reality. This is what makes it possible for deviant behavior and dark ideologies to be aggressively promoted as normal without effective resistance. It is irresponsible for adults to promote these ideas by presenting them without moral comment to impressionable young people who are maturing through puberty. Our Maine public school classrooms are looking more and more like the bar scene from Star Wars every day.”
CCL Maine reports that the Diversity Day also included a panel on different religions, and though invited, a Wicca representative did not show up:
The religious forum representatives were from various belief systems. Represented at the forum were Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and a number of groups who identify themselves as Christian including Mormons, Methodists, Spiritualists, Seventh-day Adventists, and the Apostolic faith. Absent from the panel were Baptists and Catholics, the two largest Christian denominations in Maine. The Christian Civic League of Maine, which has Baptist, Nazarene, Pentecostal, Advent Christian, Assembly of God, and several other denominations represented in its membership, was not asked to participate in the forum.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Child Abuse in Germany -- and Massachusetts
Everyone's talking about the young German boy undergoing "sex-change" procedures. Today, it's in Germany; tomorrow, it will be in Massachusetts. In fact, it's already underway.
This blog and the MassResistance organization have been exposing "trans" propaganda already inundating our public schools for several years now. Organizations including Planned Parenthood, PFLAG, GLSEN and the transgender activists are gearing up, pushing young people, their parents, and school personnel into this brave new world. Kathleen Henry, director of the Mass. Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, has stated they will make a big effort to "protect" bisexual and transgender youth.
Proof of where this movement is going: PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People) joined with assorted GLBTIQ activists just this past October in their regional conference in Worcester, called "Transcending Boundaries" (for "bisexual/pansexual, trans/genderqueer, and intersex people and our allies"). Sponsors included MassEquality's education fund, Planned Parenthood, New England Leather Alliance (whips & chains; they gave a workshop, "SM 101"), GlaxoSmithKline (sex-change drugs?). One workshop was called "PFLAG and Transgender – Sharing a Future."
Bad enough there are doctors willing to perform such mutilations on their young (or adult) patients -- fiendish medical experiments reminiscent of the Nazis. What's more surprising is this young German boy's abuse at the hands of his own parents, who've bought into the hideous concepts of "transgenderism" and "gender identity"! Here in Massachusetts, PFLAG and Planned Parenthood jumped on that bandwagon quite a while ago. These groups have, after all, transcended all boundaries. Killing babies? No problem. Homosexual marriage? A civil right. So how can they say no to sadomasochism, polyamory, or sex changes for children?
This blog and the MassResistance organization have been exposing "trans" propaganda already inundating our public schools for several years now. Organizations including Planned Parenthood, PFLAG, GLSEN and the transgender activists are gearing up, pushing young people, their parents, and school personnel into this brave new world. Kathleen Henry, director of the Mass. Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, has stated they will make a big effort to "protect" bisexual and transgender youth.
Proof of where this movement is going: PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People) joined with assorted GLBTIQ activists just this past October in their regional conference in Worcester, called "Transcending Boundaries" (for "bisexual/pansexual, trans/genderqueer, and intersex people and our allies"). Sponsors included MassEquality's education fund, Planned Parenthood, New England Leather Alliance (whips & chains; they gave a workshop, "SM 101"), GlaxoSmithKline (sex-change drugs?). One workshop was called "PFLAG and Transgender – Sharing a Future."
Bad enough there are doctors willing to perform such mutilations on their young (or adult) patients -- fiendish medical experiments reminiscent of the Nazis. What's more surprising is this young German boy's abuse at the hands of his own parents, who've bought into the hideous concepts of "transgenderism" and "gender identity"! Here in Massachusetts, PFLAG and Planned Parenthood jumped on that bandwagon quite a while ago. These groups have, after all, transcended all boundaries. Killing babies? No problem. Homosexual marriage? A civil right. So how can they say no to sadomasochism, polyamory, or sex changes for children?
Right now, PFLAG and Planned Parenthood are busy holding seminars across Massachusetts (like those below), encouraging parents to accept and help their "trans" children, and schools to support "trans" students. And how scary is this: PFLAG has the largest representation of any group on the new Mass. Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth. Here are five workshops given at PFLAG's Transcending Boundaries conference last October:
Raising A Transgender Child/Compassionate Parenting
Using a combination of personal stories and exploring raising children through the lens of gender development, this workshop will provide a safe space in which to explore the myriad of emotions, beliefs, and ideas parents and other caregivers go through as children express their gender identification(s). A combination of presentation and discussion, the presenters will use their own experiences plus invite participants to share their journeys in the ongoing efforts to accept and nurture our children....
Supporting Gender Variant Youth in Today’s Schools
Is this child a boy or a girl or does it matter? Youth in today’s schools are increasingly fluid in their expression of gender, sometimes confusing adults and challenging those around them to think again about boy vs. girl. The workshop is designed to uncover the overlapping aspects of sexuality and clarify terminology related to gender expression and identity. Participants will also be provided with resources for transgender youth, transgender civil rights issues, recent school assessments, and available curriculum supplements for classroom use....
Coming out as a child or adolescent as transgendered or transsexual and the parents’ process of acceptance
This will be a panel presentation including parents and their transgendered children and teenagers. ... an experienced gender specialist will moderate this panel. The discussion will explore issues of coming out as a young transgendered individual to parents and their parents’ emotional process that led to eventual full acceptance. Crossgender expression at home, at school and in the community will be discussed. Non-medical and medical treatment of children and adolescents who are transgendered/transsexual will be discussed as well as other topics.
Lifelines for Trans Youth: Helping Transgender and Transsexual Youth Make Successful Transitions to Adulthood
This presentation examines the institutional resources and policies needed for transgender/transsexual youth to make successful transitions to adulthood. The formal talk segment combines clinical literature review with personal stories from trans youth and input from adult providers. This presentation offers cohesive strategies and guidelines to increase the cultural competency of educators, parents, physicians, therapists, administrators, policy makers, and other providers who may encounter trans youth. The interactive component of this workshop includes facilitated exercises to enable adult providers from diverse professions to serve as "lifelines" for transgender/transsexual youth....
Taking a Stand: Creating Safe Schools for All Students
This introductory workshop, designed for all school personnel, uses video clips and hands-on activities to examine the obvious and subtle ways that bias plays out in schools, and offers resources for creating schools that are safe for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sadomasochism Celebrated at Sheraton Danvers Hotel
This weekend just witnessed a celebration of sadomasochism and assorted perversions at the New England Leather Alliance's "Fetish Fair Fleamarket". The host hotel was the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort in Danvers. How could the hotel management allow this event? And where are the town fathers who let this occur? Mansfield refused to let this event dirty their town. Salem News jauntily reported:
Having met resistance elsewhere, the New England Leather Alliance is bringing its "Fetish Fair Fleamarket" to the North Shore.The fair, featuring more than 100 exhibitors selling erotic merchandise, everything from "corsets and boots to dungeon furniture and restraints," is scheduled for three days - Jan. 26 through 28 - at the Sheraton Ferncroft. Organizers made a last-minute move here from Mansfield because of a dispute over a permit requirement.
A lucky geographical break - the Sheraton Ferncroft is in both Danvers and Middleton - could spare the New England Leather Alliance from similar headaches on the North Shore. Vendors will be setting up shop in the hotel's grand ballroom, which is in Middleton. And unlike Danvers, Middleton hasn't designated a section of town for adult businesses to operate. Building Commissioner Bob Camacho said yesterday he would take a closer look, but he didn't recall anything in Middleton's zoning regulations that would prevent the flea market. Danvers, on the other hand, has an adult zone bylaw restricting this type of activity to an area off Route 1 near the Peabody line....
In its 28th year, the event has previously been held at the Park Plaza and the Sheraton in Boston, as well as the Ramada in Andover - and would probably still be held there if the Andover hotel hadn't closed.... Flea market patrons have booked nearly all of the Sheraton Ferncroft's 350 rooms, and organizers have reserved all of the hotel's function rooms and meeting space. "We're going to accommodate them as we do all the groups that come into the hotel," said Edward Carey, director of sales and marketing for the Sheraton Ferncroft.
Consider the hotel taxes, the overflow of people staying at other area hotels and the business generated at local restaurants and shops, and [NELA] estimates the weekend-long event will pump at least $1 million into the local economy....
Numerous classes and demonstrations that address whips, role playing, bondage and other subjects will be offered on Saturday and Sunday.
The reporter doesn't tell you about the classes on fisting; canes and caning; flogging; BDSM and the law; etc. (See their listing.) And here's a description from NELA's webpage on an upcoming "lecture":
Having met resistance elsewhere, the New England Leather Alliance is bringing its "Fetish Fair Fleamarket" to the North Shore.The fair, featuring more than 100 exhibitors selling erotic merchandise, everything from "corsets and boots to dungeon furniture and restraints," is scheduled for three days - Jan. 26 through 28 - at the Sheraton Ferncroft. Organizers made a last-minute move here from Mansfield because of a dispute over a permit requirement.
A lucky geographical break - the Sheraton Ferncroft is in both Danvers and Middleton - could spare the New England Leather Alliance from similar headaches on the North Shore. Vendors will be setting up shop in the hotel's grand ballroom, which is in Middleton. And unlike Danvers, Middleton hasn't designated a section of town for adult businesses to operate. Building Commissioner Bob Camacho said yesterday he would take a closer look, but he didn't recall anything in Middleton's zoning regulations that would prevent the flea market. Danvers, on the other hand, has an adult zone bylaw restricting this type of activity to an area off Route 1 near the Peabody line....
In its 28th year, the event has previously been held at the Park Plaza and the Sheraton in Boston, as well as the Ramada in Andover - and would probably still be held there if the Andover hotel hadn't closed.... Flea market patrons have booked nearly all of the Sheraton Ferncroft's 350 rooms, and organizers have reserved all of the hotel's function rooms and meeting space. "We're going to accommodate them as we do all the groups that come into the hotel," said Edward Carey, director of sales and marketing for the Sheraton Ferncroft.
Consider the hotel taxes, the overflow of people staying at other area hotels and the business generated at local restaurants and shops, and [NELA] estimates the weekend-long event will pump at least $1 million into the local economy....
Numerous classes and demonstrations that address whips, role playing, bondage and other subjects will be offered on Saturday and Sunday.
The reporter doesn't tell you about the classes on fisting; canes and caning; flogging; BDSM and the law; etc. (See their listing.) And here's a description from NELA's webpage on an upcoming "lecture":
LAYERED PAIN: EXTREME TORTURE -- This presentation will explore and discuss various types of layered pain. This type of edge play requires using extreme safety precautions and seasoned bottoms. Often this type of play involves body fluids such as lymph and blood. It goes beyond the uni-sensation scene and explodes the possibilities....
We first encountered the New England Leather Alliance (NELA) as a participant at Boston Pride, then we ran into them as participants at the PFLAG/Transgender conference in Worcester recently. (Remember that PFLAG is the group with the largest representation on the new state "Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth.") Part of the proceeds of last weekend's event were being donated to "National Coalition for Sexual Freedom" ("swingers" and perverts unite!).
Feedback opportunities:
Mr. Charlie Clist, General Manager; and Mr. Edward Carey, director of sales Sheraton Danvers, 50 Ferncroft Road, Danvers, MA 01923 http://www.sheratonferncroftresort.com/inforequest.html
978-777-2500
The Town of Danvers can be reached at:
Board of Selectmen (for names/contact info for individual selectmen)
Town Manager: Wayne P. Marquis, wmarquis@mail.danvers-ma.org 978-777-0001 Ext. 3069
The Town of Middleton can be reached at: http://www.townofmiddleton.org/contact.cfm
Board of Selectmen, Joseph Pascucci, Chairperson, 978-774-3589
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Does Romney Still Praise the New Media?
An interesting juxtaposition, in light of Romney's little altercation with MassResistance:
In December 2006, Mitt Romney told Kathryn Lopez of National Review that he gets nearly all of his news online now. Romney said:
"No longer can just a few newspapers or television stations control what information we have access to. The monopoly on news has been broken wide open. I trust the people and the power of ideas to triumph in the free and competitive information market that the new media provides."
On January 22, the Boston Globe published a story about an activist who successfully leveraged the new media to "rain on Romney's parade" [that would be Brian Camenker, head of MassResistance]:
The burst of attention has catapulted Camenker, a political agitator who has long protested gay rights in Massachusetts, into unlikely prominence in the nascent Republican presidential race. It has also underscored the startling power of the Internet to upset established political campaigns.
Some conservatives say Camenker's report, spiked with references to gay sex, has seriously damaged Romney's effort to woo conservative voters. Others dismiss the report as a joke. But Romney is not laughing.
Camenker said he called a few prominent conservatives ... to alert them to the report. But he has mostly e-mailed it to bloggers and activists, and let it spread on its own.... Camenker said, "All we're doing is spreading the truth."
"My goal is that the next president of the United States be a conservative," he said. Romney doesn't pass the test, he said. In a reference to the liberal gay state senator from Cambridge, Camenker said: "How's [Romney] going to stand up to the president of Iran if Jarrett Barrios scares him?"
In December 2006, Mitt Romney told Kathryn Lopez of National Review that he gets nearly all of his news online now. Romney said:
"No longer can just a few newspapers or television stations control what information we have access to. The monopoly on news has been broken wide open. I trust the people and the power of ideas to triumph in the free and competitive information market that the new media provides."
On January 22, the Boston Globe published a story about an activist who successfully leveraged the new media to "rain on Romney's parade" [that would be Brian Camenker, head of MassResistance]:
The burst of attention has catapulted Camenker, a political agitator who has long protested gay rights in Massachusetts, into unlikely prominence in the nascent Republican presidential race. It has also underscored the startling power of the Internet to upset established political campaigns.
Some conservatives say Camenker's report, spiked with references to gay sex, has seriously damaged Romney's effort to woo conservative voters. Others dismiss the report as a joke. But Romney is not laughing.
Camenker said he called a few prominent conservatives ... to alert them to the report. But he has mostly e-mailed it to bloggers and activists, and let it spread on its own.... Camenker said, "All we're doing is spreading the truth."
"My goal is that the next president of the United States be a conservative," he said. Romney doesn't pass the test, he said. In a reference to the liberal gay state senator from Cambridge, Camenker said: "How's [Romney] going to stand up to the president of Iran if Jarrett Barrios scares him?"
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Sen. Dianne Wilkerson just can't get it together
She's getting lots of help from the GLBT lobby, but she still can't get organized! The infamous State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who had so much trouble getting re-elected -- because she couldn't get her signatures filed in time -- then had to run a sticker campaign in the primary -- but was rescued by MassEquality -- couldn't file her bills on time.
The Boston Globe reported that 26 of her 27 bills were late-filed, and an aide blamed a "glitch" in the system. "Other lawmakers didn't encounter similar glitches, according to House and Senate officials, who said that none of the state's 199 other legislators missed the deadline." Will the Judiciary Committee treat her bills as they usually do late-filed bills? Put them on a dusty shelf where they almost always die? Or will she get special consideration, again?
We can't understand how this happened, though, since she was reported to have hired one Jesse Sullivan as her legislative aide. Jesse used to be office manager and field organizer for MassEquality --should be a very efficient staffer. So what happened?! Sounded like there were big plans for the new session, but they've all fallen flat with the bills not getting in on time:
"Wilkerson’s top priorities for the upcoming legislative session include the environment and alternative energy, improving education funding and policy, CORI reform, rectifying Gov. Mitt Romney’s recent budget cuts, which slashed funds for some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens and an affirmative resolution on the marriage equality issue," reports Bay Windows. Wilkerson said, "first and foremost Jesse’s here because I needed a legislative director who would know how to get this job done. That he is gay, to me, is an added plus.”
The Boston Globe reported that 26 of her 27 bills were late-filed, and an aide blamed a "glitch" in the system. "Other lawmakers didn't encounter similar glitches, according to House and Senate officials, who said that none of the state's 199 other legislators missed the deadline." Will the Judiciary Committee treat her bills as they usually do late-filed bills? Put them on a dusty shelf where they almost always die? Or will she get special consideration, again?
We can't understand how this happened, though, since she was reported to have hired one Jesse Sullivan as her legislative aide. Jesse used to be office manager and field organizer for MassEquality --should be a very efficient staffer. So what happened?! Sounded like there were big plans for the new session, but they've all fallen flat with the bills not getting in on time:
"Wilkerson’s top priorities for the upcoming legislative session include the environment and alternative energy, improving education funding and policy, CORI reform, rectifying Gov. Mitt Romney’s recent budget cuts, which slashed funds for some of the state’s most vulnerable citizens and an affirmative resolution on the marriage equality issue," reports Bay Windows. Wilkerson said, "first and foremost Jesse’s here because I needed a legislative director who would know how to get this job done. That he is gay, to me, is an added plus.”
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
College Pro-Life Marchers Question Romney's Claims
Pro-life college students handed out about 10,000 flyers at the March for Life in Washington, D.C. last weekend, exposing Romney as a flip-flopping political opportunist from Massachusetts. They even included a photo of that other infamous Massachusetts flip-flopper, John Kerry.
Here's a PDF of the actual flyer that was being handed out.
And RightMarch.com PAC's press release on the Romney campaign's weak response.
In late 2005, Mitt Romney flip-flopped within the space of two days, finally saying that Catholic hospitals had to distribute "emergency contraception" abortion pills. That action alone disproves his claims of being "pro-life" . . . Period.
Addendum 1-24-07: The Boston Herald thought it newsworthy this morning:
"Conservative PAC rips Mitt as abortion flip-flopper"
Here's a PDF of the actual flyer that was being handed out.
And RightMarch.com PAC's press release on the Romney campaign's weak response.
In late 2005, Mitt Romney flip-flopped within the space of two days, finally saying that Catholic hospitals had to distribute "emergency contraception" abortion pills. That action alone disproves his claims of being "pro-life" . . . Period.
Addendum 1-24-07: The Boston Herald thought it newsworthy this morning:
"Conservative PAC rips Mitt as abortion flip-flopper"
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