About those badly-drawn swastikas

There is a class of people who think it's the height of humor to paint swastikas on the homes, cars, buildings and memorials of Jews. It's of course a hateful, ugly act but these people will never grasp this fact. They are beyond comprehension, living in a tiny, suffocating space defined for them by Fox TV, Republican politicians, religious leaders, and their hateful parents (dad, really).

But that's not what this post is about. Have you noticed that these nitwits almost always paint the swastika backwards? I mean, if this symbol is meaningful to you in your miasma of a brain, shouldn't you know which way it goes?

I've decided that there are two possible causes for this. Either it's a pictorial version of the right wing tendency to capitalize odd words, write in ALL-CAPS, and misspell every other word. Or it's caused by dyslexia. The latter could be true. After all, letter-flipping is one of the symptoms of dyslexia. But I think it's just the nitwit tendency to mash up anything that's written. I guess "written" is the same as "drawn", at least in their misshapen brains.

Any other opinions out there?

Now they're all talking about it

As soon as I wrote about the Vatican hating gay men much more than lesbians, the world began to talk about this very subject. (And no, of course I don't think I had anything to do with it. Wingnuts think like that, not liberals.) Though they don't mention the Vatican, the idea being put forward in these articles is that gay men face discrimination more often than lesbians. This is true. Ask any gay man or lesbian and they'll confirm it.

The question is "why". I don't think it's mysterious. It's because straight men (and a huge number of women) think having a penis and being "manly" is what life is all about. Women are hangers-on, according to these folks. They're just not important when compared with the ever-popular, let's-all-sing-songs-about-him straight man, the creature to whom god gifted the universe.

Hatred enters the equation because a gay man, particularly an effeminate gay man, is seen as throwing away this "god-given gift" of straight manhood. How dare they?!

Of course, being gay isn't a choice any more than heterosexuality is. It's just the way you were born. But it's also true that a gay man who is comfortable with his sexuality doesn't care about being a straight man. It's not appealing in any way. Again, how dare they not want to be straight?!

The bad reactions are all about male privilege and a misunderstanding of sexual orientation -- that it's a choice rather than a fact. Straight men believe they are the only important creatures on this planet -- and deserving of respect simply for being straight men. To think that any males throw this gift away causes a testosterone rage to explode in their heads. "He doesn't want to be like me?! How dare this gay guy insult me like that?" Sigh.

So that's why gay men suffer discrimination: because our gayness is seen as purposely pissing raining on the fabulous, straight male parade. Oy.

World chimes in on Boy Scouts

It's nice to see all the articles bashing the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) for its new schizophrenic policy that says gay scouts are fine but gay leaders are representatives of Satan. These articles are popping up all over. Here's an excerpt from an article at CNN:

"They're teaching them to be bigots essentially," she said. "This world is changing so quickly. You can't raise leaders for tomorrow on principles founded 100 years ago."

It looks like the organization's effort to ooze on by while retaining their bigotry isn't getting rave reviews. Good. These people are as bad as the Vatican. Their hatred of gays is so intense, they can't let go.

I really don't understand the virulence of people like this. Why is hating gay people so important to them? Why is it similarly important to the Vatican? And why do the people at NOM and all the other hate groups despise gay people with such a passion?

I don't know what happened to these people to make them so ugly and hateful, but it's time for them to shut up and go away. They've harmed too many innocent people for far too long. And thankfully, the public agrees.

Good argument in favor of gay marriage

Ed Brayton's post, "How the Bigots Slander Adoptive Parents", is wonderful. It links to an Esquire column written by Tom Junod. You really have to read Junod's piece. It's a great counter to the idiotic arguments people keep making against gay marriage. I won't even excerpt from it. Just go read the whole thing.

Meaningless move by Church of England

Is this the dumbest thing you've ever heard?

The Church of England has lifted a ban on gay male clergy who live with their partners from becoming bishops on condition they pledge to stay celibate, threatening to reignite an issue that splits the 80-million-strong global Anglican community.

What a ridiculous position. Thanks for nothing, C of E.

Amusing politics, starring Todd Akin

Remember Todd "I say stupid things about rape" Akin, the man who obliterated his campaign by revealing his sickening beliefs about women's bodies? So is Akin butting out of the race, as most Republicans want him to? Of course not. He's doubling-down because that's what they do.

Instead, Akin plans to ramp up his campaign. He's holding a fundraiser Monday with former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. He's addressing a potentially influential group of pastors Tuesday morning. Then as the drop-out clock ticks down, he's kicking off a statewide bus tour for his Senate bid that will include venerable conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly.

I roared laughing when I read that. Had to share it.

Bad...but also good?

You've seen the news, I assume.

As police and store employees grappled with graffiti that appeared overnight on the back wall of a Torrance Chick-fil-A, online supporters and protesters alike criticized the vandalism.

"Tastes like hate" was scrawled in large black lettering on the wall of the restaurant, mimicking the chain's advertising.

Listen, kids. It's not okay to do this. Vandalism is not a virtue. But on the other hand, a zillion newspapers and web sites carried the image you'll find at the link, or at least printed the phrase "Tastes like hate" (often in the headline). As a result, this slogan is now burned into people's minds.

And that's a good thing. Because Chick-Fil-A does taste like hate.

A Catholic morality story

I love this one. It happened in Milwaukee, in the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. As usual, Catholic authority figures showed that that they can't tell right from wrong. (This is a GOP/Conservative problem as well; they're all the same ignorant gits: people without empathy.) You really have to go read it for yourself, but here are the highlights:

Washinawatok said her 12-year-old daughter, Miranda, interpreted the words "Hello" and "I love you" and then added how to say "thank you" [in the language of her people, the Menominee Tribe] when talking to two girls in class Jan. 19. She said Gurta overheard and "slammed her hands down on the desk and stated, 'You are not to speak like that. How do I know you're not saying something bad? How would you like if I spoke in Polish and you didn't understand?'"

The girl was benched from a basketball game later that day for having "an attitude problem," Washinawatok said she was told.

Here's the historical background:

Washinawatok explained the issue is sensitive because tribal members used to be beaten for speaking their language in the schools, which is part of the reason they are losing their language.

This is a situation that we liberals can understand in a heart-beat. On the other hand, Conservatives, Republicans and Roman Catholic authority figures never understand something like this because it requires empathy.

So what does the Catholic school teacher say in her "apology letter" to the family?

In Gurta's Feb. 22 letter, she wrote her "firm reactions" were not intended to single out the girl or the language. She said Miranda spoke to her in a disrespectful manner several times that day and had behaved inappropriately on other days as well.

"Unfortunately, the actions of your daughter were not brought to your attention as quickly as they should have been, and for this I apologize," Gurta wrote.

Isn't that perfect? It's just the sort of thing these people say when they're caught with their pants down. Their credo is to never admit you've done wrong, never understand the nature of that wrong, and never apologize in any real way. This was a dreadful thing for the teacher to have done, and when it was explained to her, when the stabbing nature of the offense was made fully clear . . . she didn't even apologize for it. No, her only fault was in not bringing the student's faults to the parents' attention sooner. Nice.

Just imagine what heaven must be like, filled to the brim with these hateful gits. Maybe it's just me but that sure sounds like hell.

A question

I just saw someone make vomiting noises as they viewed Nancy Pelosi on TV, speaking about Gabby Giffords' sacrifice. The person couldn't bear to watch Pelosi for one second because Fox has informed her that Nancy is the devil. It didn't matter that it was a decent remark about Gabby. This was the devil speaking, and never mind that what she was saying was kind and generous.

Here's my question. After all the old people in this country die off, do you think rabid TV like Fox will survive? I don't. There will always be stupid religious people but I don't believe we'll see this level of ignorance, logical failure and unfettered hatred again in our lifetimes. At least I hope not.

What's your opinion?

Popey guy says new dumb thing

In a story headlined "Pope Hits Out at Radical Secularism", we find this uninspired remark:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI says Roman Catholics in the U.S. need to understand the "grave threats" to their faith posed by radical secularism in the political and cultural arenas. 

Indeed. You know what's "radical" about our "secularism"? The fact that it has no place of honor for the imaginary baby jeebus. If you don't believe in jeebus, you're "radical". And of course, it's all about the gays:

Benedict did not explicitly mention it, but the bishops have complained their religious freedom is eroding in the face of growing acceptance of gay marriage and attempts to marginalize faith.

The pope said many bishops believe that new laws make it difficult for them to object to what they consider "intrinsically evil practices." 

You have to love the popey guy's obtuseness. Awww, the poor Catholics can't hit on the gays all the time for their "intrinsically evil practices." Gee, those poor bishops and priests and popey guys sure are having their "religious freedom" hampered by these new laws, huh? The nasty old bastards can't be as hateful as they like. What a tragedy! That must be so tough on them.

These people are pigs, from the pope on down to the parishioners who fail to speak out about the church's hateful practices. That's some religion they've got there, huh? Very holy. Ugh.

A sweet trip to the supermarket

I went to the A&P supermarket with my sister yesterday. We used separate carts and when I finished first, I went outside to wait for her. Lo and behold, what did I see in front of the market but a person jingling a bell over a Salvation Army kettle. Dang!

I'm not quiet. I said to the woman, "Do you know that the Salvation Army discriminates against gay people? A portion of every dollar people throw in this kettle will go toward oppressing gay men, lesbians and transgender people. No one should give money to the Salvation Army."

Catholic bishops launch new hate site

You have to give it to these guys: they never give up. Their eruptions of hatred must come forth -- there's no way to stop them, you see. And anyway, it's their god-given right -- and don't you dare try to abridge it with none of your new-fangled "laws"!

So now the good bishops have created a marriage ain't for homos site. The link leads to my favorite page from the site. You know why you need a man and a woman for marriage? Of course you do. It's all about those plugs and sockets -- and how nicely they fit together. How innovative! Here's an excerpt from the page:

Marriage is about love, but it’s about a unique love that only a man and a woman as husband and wife can give to each other.

Because of the sockets and plugs, of course. That's all they've got. After all, they say, there is absolutely no possibility that love could emerge from a plug-to-plug or socket-to-socket romance. It's just not possible! And they know this because god told them so. So there!

They're just insane. I mean, the header for that particular page is: "Made for each other: sexual difference is essential to marriage." They're not even pretending the site has any usefulness other than as a vehicle to slam gay people. It truly is the "marriage ain't for homos" site.

The site is called "Marriage: Unique for a Reason". Get the idea? It's not about marriage at all, not about Catholics or even heterosexuals, for that matter. It's just about hating gay people. Congrats, bishops. You've done it again.

These guys are so deep.

More fun from the bishops

Today from Associated Press:

BALTIMORE (AP) — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says the church should not be dismissed as an outmoded bureaucracy. Archbishop Timothy Dolan says the church is a spiritual family that has much to teach the world.

. . . The archbishop . . . said bishops repent daily for their missteps . . . [b]ut he says the church should not be defined by its problems.

Indeed. The church should be defined by its actions against children, gays and women -- and that is exactly what's happening. It's the reason why Catholics are leaving the church in droves. In fact, we can hope that the church will soon collapse -- and good riddance.

The roman catholic church is going down

There is a marvelously reassuring and chuckle-some article in the NY Times today about the "state of siege" that US Bishops seem to think they're under. In essence, they consider any externally imposed constraints on their ability to continue discriminating against gays and women to be an infringement of their inalienable "religious rights". These guys are so tone-deaf and immoral, it's shocking.

The article has wonderful quotes like this:

Scott Appleby, a prominent religious historian at the University of Notre Dame, says many church leaders have recently adopted "a more pugnacious style, much more of a kind of culture-wars attitude." At the same time, the bishops' have been stung by their loss of public influence from the sex abuse crisis and the years of bruising revelations that many dioceses moved guilty clergy among parishes without alerting parents or police.

"The church no longer receives deference or the hands-off attitude that it once had for many years. That's gone," Appleby said.

Duh. I wonder why. There are evil groups and there are evil groups. The roman catholic church is one of the truly evil groups. Go read the article. It's fun.

How can we hurt Alabama?

Have you seen the news? Alabama made it a felony for undocumented immigrants to get water at their homes. A felony! If you are an undocumented immigrant and you set up an account to receive water at your home this is a felony?! Good grief. These people understand nothing about decency and the law. You can't make something so natural into a felony. It's despicable.

What is wrong with the people of Alabama? I mean, how evil is it to deny water to people, never mind call it a felony when they try to get some? I would like to take the state of Alabama in my hands and strangle it.

How can we hurt Alabama? We've got to. This cannot go unpunished.

Glitter attack!

Funny story simmering at Pam's House Blend right now. Here's an excerpt:

Gay barbarians stormed the Christian counseling clinic Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann owns with her husband Marcus Bachmann. 

Chanting, "You can't pray away the gay - baby, I was born this way!" the group glittered the waiting room, in a attempt to draw attention to discredited "Pray The Gay Away" practices that have gone on there.

They've got video! Go on over.

It's not just gay marriage that they oppose

The Roman Catholic church doesn't want gays to marry. No news there, right? Everyone knows this. But do you also know that they don't want us to be able to live anywhere?

WASHINGTON (March 25, 2011)——The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has urged the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) not to adopt a proposed regulation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected categories for which discrimination in HUD programs is prohibited.

Put another way, they requested that discrimination against gays be allowed. Isn't that sweet? And let us recall that the USCCB is presently headed by none other than Timothy Dolan, the permanently smiling, always hateful NY priest who honchos the church's anti-gay efforts all over the United States.

Dolan was the public face for church opposition to passing a law to allow gay marriage in New York. This pathetic man actually referred to his trillion dollar church as a "David" facing the "Goliath" of gay people's efforts . . . to be treated like everyone else. He actually said that: David against Goliath. The man is grinning evil, dressed up as a witch doctor.

The Roman Catholic church, of its own volition, has chosen to be the mortal enemy of GLBT people. As Pat Condell said in the video I posted yesterday, we didn't begin this war, they did. The church goes wildly out of its way to taint the lives of gay and lesbian and bisexual and transgender people everywhere. It goes around with a permanent bullhorn, stating that members of these groups do not deserve marriage or housing. This is the church's "moral" position.

And the Roman Catholic church is happy to tell you that its god is the "god of love". It's like they're blind to their own nature. How vicious must a church be to direct such animosity at a group that seeks only fairness and equality? And how insane must they be to think that by engaging in destructive, anti-gay actions, they hold the moral high ground? Up is down. Evil is good. Welcome to the Roman Catholic church.

Bigot tosses job so she can hate on full-time basis

In the NY Times today is a story about the poor, beleaguered marriage clerks who can't be hateful to gay people anymore, at least at work. The poor dears!

Ms. Fotusky, a Republican, said she had submitted her resignation on Monday because she otherwise would have no choice but to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

“Because protections were not provided for us to be able to practice our freedom of religion in our jobs,” she said in a telephone interview, “then I had to choose between my God and my job.” 

No dear. You chose between being a hateful pinhead and your job. Congratulations on your choice. Now go home, go into your bathroom and don't come out. Nice knowin' ya, bigot lady.

Unveiling France's bigotry

Mohammed Khan on Al Jazeera English today in an article called "Unveiling French Hypocrisy":

Forcing women to uncover their faces will not create some form of 'moderate Islam' but it does unveil French bigotry.

Indeed. France has acted shamefully in this matter. "You cannot legislate discrimination", as former NYC Health Commissioner Stephen Josephs used to say in reference to AIDS matters. I think that should be a bedrock principle of law: you cannot build a law in order to promulgate a discriminatory policy. Period.

The unspeakable condescension of straights

Leonard Pitts, Jr. has a great column today about the incredible condescension of straight people. You can read the whole thing here: "Gay marriage a right -- not a poll question" Here are some excerpts from the column:

It seems a majority of the American people now favor allowing gay men and lesbians to wed . . .

But lurking at the edge of celebration there is, for me, at least, a nagging, impatient vexation. That vexation is based in what is arguably an esoteric question: In extolling the fact that the majority now approves same sex marriage, do we not also tacitly accept the notion that the majority has the right to judge?

Try to imagine for a moment the consternation upon some woman’s face if a story in the paper announced that “X” percentage of Americans now favors allowing women to work outside the home. Try to picture the brisk dialogue that would ensue if you informed some Jewish man that you now supported his right to practice his religion.

That's it in a nutshell and it's the thing that drives me crazy. How dare anyone other than gay people think they have the right to decide if we can marry?! It's the most outrageous thing imaginable.