Get Ready for God, Guns, and Gays - Part Two

I received a campaign appeal letter in email from the True Majority (http://www.truemajority.org/). I am compelled to bring you PART TWO of God, Guns, and Gays in response.

In GG&G Part One, I reviewed how the exuberance for Gay Marriage which was winning strides in Massachusetts and California energized the Radical Right voter base ushering in four more painful years of GW Bush in the 2004 election. Again I say, "When will we learn?" I fully support equal rights for gays and lesbians. It is the only faithful liberal stance for full equality which is one of the standards of my beliefs. However to make this a major public campaign in the wake of a presidential election plays into the hands of the Radical Right every stinking time and even pulls in people for the middle who would otherwise not care who won the election.

Please read this post to Gay.com Religious right toils to sell homophobia about the recent ruling in California. And don't take the statements from the Pastor of the Church of the Resurrection as any hope that opposition to gay marriage is subsiding. COTR is a Methodist church...I am also a Methodist and our denomination has a long history of supporting equality. The Methodist church I attend in the same city as COTR has an open-door policy accepting everyone without discrimination. We aren't just "leaning" that way, we are leading the way. The greater evangelical church is not of the same mind. Right down the street you can go to another mega-church that will be preaching against liberalism and homosexuality from the pulpit and getting hardy "Amens" as they register voters in the foyer. Mark my words, the Faux News Network (Fox News for those new to my blog) is drooling just ready to run photos and do faux news casts on the upcoming gay marriages in California.

Why not just invite John and Mike to your wedding?
If you plan your wedding before January 2009 you might as well invite John McCain to walk you down the isle and maybe Mike Huckabee could give a toast at your reception.

Go to the mirror and ask yourself this question: "Why is gay marriage legalized anywhere in the United States right before a presidential election?" Is this coincidence? Why did it happen in 2004? Why now again in 2008?

My 80-year-old mother should have been able to beat GW Bush in 2004. What happened? Was it lots of videos on the news showing gay marriages? Was it lots of great photos for conservative direct mailings? Was it new material for Hannity, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and Coulter???

Then ask yourself this question: "How do I feel about having John McCain as MY president and a Congress full of right wingers?

I am not out to burst anyone's bubble about the recent ruling in California. I applaud the decision. I just ask, "Why now?" This plays right into the "God, Guns, and Gays" playbook of the radical right.

If you want another eight years like the past eight years of GWB, go ahead, start planning your wedding and make sure it is very public. Welcome the press when they want to put you on the front page and on the nightly news. Maybe Hannity will hunt down your silver pattern and send you a gift. He is surely happy to see that so many will be entering in to wedded bliss in a parade across prime time in the MSM.

Gay.com on the Recent Marriage Ruling in California

For right-wing Christian activists, this month's California Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage provides an opportunity to rekindle interest in an issue that has fallen well behind the price of gas in the national consciousness.

But it won't be easy, and not just because of pressing secular issues like the housing downturn and an unpopular war in Iraq.

Voices within evangelicalism are pushing for a broader agenda, and evidence suggests younger evangelicals are more accepting of gay men and lesbians. Meanwhile, anti-marriage amendments are on the ballot in only a few states and the issue doesn't play to presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain's strengths.

Yet marriage opponents say the California ruling will help them broaden their religious coalitions to include more Hispanic Catholics and evangelicals.

The ruling, they say, made their argument for them: Constitutional measures are needed to prevent judges from subverting the will of the people and reinventing a sacred institution they believe is central to society's well-being and part of God's design.

"I think the California decision does refocus our movement on the threat of marriage being redefined," said John Stemberger, who as head of the Florida Family Policy Council is supporting a proposed amendment in that swing state that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.

link to full article: http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2008/05/29/3

McCain will not dare move on this and lose his voter base

Audio

• Marriage Equality Debate
  This is an audio link to a debate on the civil right to marry for same sex couples held at Stanford University School of Law, on April 20, 2005. The participants in the debate were Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry and Rev. Lou Sheldon, President of the Traditional Values Coalition. http://www.ucc.org/lgbt/marriage/
  

Listen to this debate which gives both sides of the issue. Rev. Sheldon's views reveal the attitude of the religious right towards this issue. You can debate all you want, but as long as the church pastor preaches that the country is doomed over the acceptance of homosexuality the flock will follow. Evan Wolfson presents very solid statements but he will never convince the religious right. And I propose that this debate is a losing one for the presidential election for the Democratic party.

Anderson Cooper Reports on the California Ruling

Appeal letter from True Majority

You might have heard that the Supreme Court of California ruled that marriage is a fundamental civil right and must not be restricted on the basis of sexual orientation. Now, on June 17th, California is poised to become only the second state in America to practice full marriage equality. Over the past decade the public has rapidly been embracing equal rights and with this clear ruling we finally have an opportunity to put equality over the top.

Now we're coming out. We support full marriage equality.

We all have our own issues: budget priorities, labor rights, reproductive rights, election integrity, telecom immunity, anti-war, pro civil rights, this list goes on and on. But, this is bigger than that. Marriage equality comes down to human rights. That's why we're circulating this open letter for all progressives to take a second to step back from our respective corners and come out in support of same sex marriage.

Sign this open letter for equality today:
http://www.TrueMajority.org/Equality

Signing this is a first step. Right now, politicians on all sides are falling all over themselves with excuses to avoid talking about the issue. Well we've had enough! We need to show that the progressive movement is united on this issue. We'll deliver this open letter to Governors across the country who are currently considering referendums or legislation regarding marriage equality.

Let's celebrate equality in the most populous state in the union by showing the unity of the progressive movement. Between fighting hateful referendums in California and Florida and making a positive case for marriage equality nationwide, we've got a lot of work to do. So, after you sign, please forward this open letter to 3 friends. Together, we can make marriage equality a reality.

Sign this open letter for full equality:
http://www.TrueMajority.org/Equality

Thanks for leading the movement,

-Ilya

Ilya Sheyman
Online Organizer

My Response to the True Majority Appeal Letter

Dear Ilya,

I am behind your cause 100% but I feel that this is strategically 100% the wrong time to be taking this action. By going forward with a public campaign for marriage equality before the presidential election you will be playing right into the plans of the radical right. Think back to what happened in 2004 - the big push for gay marriage was a rally cry for the right wing to energize their voter base for George Bush. I don't want John McCain as my president. If you are vocal with this and gain great success now for this cause...we will lose the Democratic candidacy for president.

The religious right is very strategic in how they work politically. We have to be as much or more so. That means sometimes putting off until a better time what you want to do right now and focus on laying the ground work for a better America where equality is truly available to all citizens.

Our country cannot withstand another four years like the past eight of Bush. Let's win the election for the Democratic presidential candidate and for a Democratic Congress and then we will have a much better playing field for equality in marriage and other positive issues.

I guarantee you that every church from the middle to the right will be preaching against the evils of liberals and homosexuality...which they will call the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman...and holding voter registrations on Sunday mornings as the election season continues.They will say this is to follow God's will for our country and to prevent God's judgment on our country. They claim that 9-11 and Katrina were God's judgment on the US because of homosexuality. If you make a big public issue of Marriage Equality before the presidential election you will be doing the work of the religious right for them. They will have the ammo they need to energize their voter base.

Please read: Get Ready for God, Guns, and Gays (http://radicallyrightugly.blogspot.com/2008/05/get-ready-for-god-guns-and-gays.html)

The whole point of politics is to win the WAR not just the battle. You may win this battle, but the WAR will be lost and any gains you make now will vanish. State laws can be over turned and also over ruled by the Supreme Court which has been stacked by conservatives from Nixon to Bush with only a 4 year reprieve during the Carter administration and 8 years during the Clinton administration.

The religious right is willing to throw our country away over the abortion issue; let's not do the same by strategic mistakes in the campaign to gain equality for gays and lesbians. The cause for equality is true and right and must be fought, but it must be fought smartly with extreme strategy.

I will happily sign the petition, AFTER the presidential election.

O'Reilly working hard to tie Gay Marriage to Polygamy and Child Abuse - Dennis Miller Draws the line

Buzz it up

Get Ready for God, Guns and Gays...

How many times will the American public fall for this?

Just what does it mean for liberals when a "marriage protection" bill gets slapped on the ballot? Read between the lines...the Christian Coalition has just targeted your state as a "swing" state for their favored candidate. They are going to drive their minions to the polls by the fear of gay marriage. Or maybe with the threat of "gun confiscation" if you see some gun regulation bill on the ballot. This is a big, waving red flag at high mast. It means you have one heck of a battle on your hands and you don't even see the half of it.

They are preaching over the pulpit that anyone voting for a liberal candidate is sure to burn in hell. They are holding voter registration at church during "Citizenship Sundays" to drive the evil of liberalism out of "our?" country. They are target-mailing a tsunami of the worst, and ugliest stuff all across every county, but you, unsuspecting liberal, will probably never see it.

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The 2004 Presidential election play book: The Religion Card- States with gay marriage ballot propositions, which included the linchpin of Ohio, afforded Republicans the opportunity to raise gay marriage as an issue with an important subset of their base, white evangelical Protestants.

In their efforts to target religious conservatives, the RNC and the Bush campaign identified volunteer coordinators within congregations, collected thousands of church membership directories and cross matched the names within their registered voter database, all to deliver customized persuasion and mobilization messages steeped in religious and moral themes.

Other avenues of mobilization, like phone calls, door-step conversations, and church sermons, were also employed in the 2004 campaign.

Gay Marriage a Wedge Issue in the Presidential campaign

Gun Guys: "During this legislative session, House Republicans from suburban Chicago have made decisions on the gun issue based on calls from a vocal and intimidating minority."

Slate: They (the NRA) and other like-minded groups have historically found state legislators easier and cheaper to lobby than Congress because state elections' generally low voter turnout heavily favors candidates who appeal to the die-hard partisans and single-issue voters.

For the 2008 election: Ohioans For Concealed Carry: GunVoters need to look beyond the national media circus and to pay attention to matters closer to home: to the primary elections for the House, Senate, governor, and state legislatures. GunVoters’ chances to make a difference in the presidential primaries has come and gone with the result being no candidate that we can get excited about supporting. We must make sure the same thing doesn’t happen in congressional, state, and local races as well.

If GunVoters fail to get involved in the primaries, there might well be no reason to get involved in the general. Left with the choice of voting for Tweedle-dumb or Tweedle-dumber up and down the ticket, many GunVoters could end up voting with their feet by going hunting or fishing on election day instead of going voting. The fact is that voters’ power and influence is much greater in a primary election than it ever is during the general election simply because fewer people participate. In most states, less than 30 percent of eligible voters will cast a ballot in a presidential primary while in others less than 10 percent vote. In most states the Congressional primaries are held on a different day than the presidential primaries and the voter turnout for the Congressional and legislative primaries is typically even less than it is for the presidential primaries.

Congressional Leaders Meet with Religious Right to Plot Strategy

Church & State, May 2006

Congressional Republicans are clearly worried about President George W. Bush's plummeting approval ratings and are looking for ways to shore up his evangelical Christian base. The conservative magazine, Weekly Standard, reported that GOP leaders told the Religious Right activists that they would work to "schedule some votes on controversial issues that may help drive the party's base to the polls in November."

Frist has already announced that the Senate will vote in June on the so-called "Marriage Protection Amendment," which would ban same-sex marriages in the country. The Standard's Fred Barnes wrote that this spring and summer; Republican leaders in both chambers of Congress "plan to bring up a series of issues that are popular with the Republican base of voters. The aim is to stir conservative voters and spur turnout in the November election."

Remember the election of 2004. California 2004 Massechusetts 2004
California 2008 VoteYesMarriage.com - it's heating up the RR voter base all over again.

When all else fails: "I was a sports reporter so I was used to dealing with numbers. And the numbers made no sense." - Keith Olbermann speaking about the 2004 Presidential election anomalies.

Election results questioned outside of the US.

The Guardian (UK)

One person, one vote. Count the totals. The one with the most wins. The beauty of democracy is its simplicity and its inherent fairness. It equalises everyone, even as it empowers everyone. What could go wrong? In America, it turns out, quite a lot.

Everyone remembers the debacle in Florida, 2000. The recounts, the law suits and the eventual deciding of a presidential election - not by the voters - but by the Supreme Court. The memory still causes a collective shudder to America's body politic.

Which makes the fact that America's system of voting is now even more suspect, more complicated, and more open to abuse than ever before so utterly shocking. Across the country a bewildering series of scandals or dubious practises are proliferating beyond control. The prospect of a 'second Florida' is now more likely not less. There are many - and not all of them are conspiracy theorists - who believed it may have happened in Ohio in 2004.

US allies say 2004 Presidential election 'did not meet democratic standards':

Eastern bloc observers noted that balloting in Ohio, New Mexico and Florida did not meet Ukrainian standards, but applauded America's attempt to restore democratic institutions after the overthrow of elected government in 2000.

Defend your values while you still can

When the shoe fits:

The Fourteen Points of Fascism

Buzz it up