Sunday, August 28, 2011

Via JMG: GOProud: This Is Not A Culture War


Even though four of the leading GOP presidential candidates have signed a hateful Christianist pledge to destroy the civil rights of LGBT Americans, even though the Tea Party has successfully dismantled abortion rights in several states, and even though the Republican Party has waged a brutal campaign against immigrants and the poor, GOProud says liberals are falsely promoting the idea that we're in a "culture war."
The only people talking about the “culture wars” are on the left and the reason is simple: they can not defend the abysmal record of the Obama administration when it comes to the bread and butter issues most Americans care about. Contrary to what the left, and their enablers in the main stream media, would have you believe, there is no new culture war brewing on the right. The Republican candidates for President haven’t been crisscrossing the country banging the drum of abortion, gay marriage, creationism, etc. Quite the contrary, even the most conservative candidates – such as Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann – have repeatedly said these are NOT the issues they are running on.
GOProud apparently doesn't listen to the stump speeches of their fellow teabaggers, who do nothing but "bang the drum of abortion, gay marriage, and creationism." According to GOProud's Chris Barron, "The 2010 elections were laser-focused on the size of government and fiscal issues." Yes, yes, Herr Barron. Keep loading up those cattle cars.
 

reposted from Joe

Via AmericablogGay: NYT: Release the Prop. 8 videotapes


The New York Times editorial page wants the Prop. 8 videotapes released. We do, too:

On Monday, a lawyer representing the victorious plaintiffs will be urging a federal district judge in San Francisco, James Ware, to grant a motion to make public the videotape of the 12-day trial. In the interest of fostering confidence in the judicial system, the motion should be granted. Proposition 8’s supporters insisted that the broadcast ban was needed to protect their two witnesses — experts who testified in open court and whose identities were well known. Their arguments are even less persuasive now. 
The trial was over more than a year ago, and the 13-volume trial transcript is public and available on the Internet. Legally, there is a presumption of access to judicial records, a point made in a brief filed by a media coalition, including The New York Times Company.

The demand to keep the videotapes secret is as flimsy as the arguments for denying gay people the fundamental right to marry. The proposition’s backers will not be hurt in any way if the footage is released. The American public, on the other hand, stands to lose something very valuable if it is denied the chance to see and hear what happened in a critically important case on marriage equality.

The proponents of Prop. 8 have no legitimate arguments against marriage. They know that. We know that. They just don't want the rest of the country to see how pathetic their case is.

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