The Christian Civic League of Maine's Mike Hein calls Pam's House Blend: "a leading source of radical homosexual propaganda, anti-Christian bigotry, and radical transgender advocacy."
He is "praying that Pam Spaulding will "turn away from her wicked and sinful promotion of homosexual behavior."
(CCLM's web site, 10/15/07)
Ex-gay "Christian" activist James Hartline on Pam:
"I have been mocked over and over again by ungodly and unprincipled anti-christian lesbians."
(from "Six Years In Sodom: From The Journal Of James Hartline," 9/4/2006, written from the "homosexual stronghold" of Hillcrest in San Diego).
"Pam is a 'twisted lesbian sister' and an 'embittered lesbian' of the 'self-imposed gutteral experiences of the gay ghetto.'" -- 9/5/2008
Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth Against Homosexuality heartily endorses the Blend, calling Pam:
A "vicious anti-Christian lesbian activist." (Concerned Women for America's radio show [9:15], 1/25/07)
"A nutty lesbian blogger." (MassResistance radio show [16:25], 2/3/07)
Pam's House Blend always seems to find these sick f*cks. The area of the country she is in? The home state of her wife? I know, they are everywhere. Pam just does such a great job of bringing them out into the light.
--Impeach Bush
who monitors yours Bevis ?? Just thought I would drop you a line,so the rest of your life is not wasted.
You too can land a radio show gig by sending pervy IMs to young men who are serving their country as Congressional Pages.
Mark Foley, the Florida Republican who left Congress in 2006 amid accusations he sent lurid e-mails to male House pages, is credited with helping to sour the electorate's view of the Grand Old Party in a year when Nancy Pelosi and the Dems swept into power.
In the years since, he's been in real estate investment, contemplating a return to politics.
Tonight, he makes his debut as a radio talk show host. "Inside the Mind of Mark Foley," billed by the station as a program that "will expose the inner workings of Washington, D.C.," airs at 6 p.m. EST on WSVU-AM (960) out of North Palm Beach, Fla. It can also be heard at www.seaviewam960.com.
Is this the kind of inner workings that Mark will share with listeners?
Maf54: You in your boxers, too?
Teen: Nope, just got home. I had a college interview that went late.
Maf54: Well, strip down and get relaxed.
Another message:
Maf54: What ya wearing?
Teen: tshirt and shorts
Maf54: Love to slip them off of you.
And this one:
Maf54: Do I make you a little horny?
Teen: A little.
Maf54: Cool.
The language gets much more graphic, too graphic to be broadcast, and at one point the congressman appears to be describing Internet sex.
Statement from Assemblyman Mike Duvall regarding his resignation from office today:
September 9, 2009
"I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly, who are working hard on the very serious problems facing our state. I have come to the conclusion that it would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office. Therefore, I have decided to resign my office, effective immediately, so that the Assembly can get back to work."
Capitol Blackberries are buzzing after KCAL-TV Los Angeles late Tuesday night aired a videotape of the Orange County GOP lawmaker talking to a colleague at a committee hearing in explicit detail about recent trysts.
In the KCAL report, Duvall (R-Yorba Linda), the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee vice chairman, appears not to realize that his microphone is on during a lull in a July committee hearing and talks about his conquest of two women.
Reporter Dave Lopez then reports that Duvall says on the tape that the women with whom he has been having sex are lobbyists.
"She wears little eye-patch underwear...So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And? so, we had made love Wednesday-a lot! And so she'll, she's all, 'I am going up and down the stairs, and you're dripping out of me!' So messy!"
The game was up when his pals at the anti-gay Capitol Resource Institute tossed him overboard in this statement:
Assemblyman Michael Duvall (R-Orange County), a second term member of the legislature, has been the focus of much media attention in the last 24 hours based on revelations of apparent extramarital affairs. In many of these stories, Capitol Resource Institute was cited as giving Assemblyman Duvall high marks for his pro-family voting record.
"It is always disappointing when a champion of traditional values does not practice the same in his private life. And this appears to be the case with Assemblyman Duvall," said Karen England, Executive Director of CRI. "Assemblyman Duvall was one of just a few California legislators to receive a 100% on CRI's annual scorecard. But CRI only tabulates votes. It was left to Mr. Duvall to reveal if those values are part of his own life."
Much of what has been reported about Assemblyman Duvall comes from his own statements picked up on a microphone that he apparently did not know was live.
"At CRI we applaud good votes, but we also desire consistency. If these allegations are true, then Assemblyman Duvall's private actions contradict and undermine his public votes" said England.
Oh my -- surely this can't be a conservative pol who believes in the sanctity of heterosexual marriage talking about adultery on a hot mic? Surely not!. Uh oh...California Assemblyman Michael Duvall (R- need I say more?), who represents Orange County, is caught speaking about spanking and more to his colleague -- a Penthouse letter full of adultery with a woman 19 yrs younger than the married pol (with kids). Of course he hot foots it away from the KCAL9 reporter who wants a word with him.
Via Wonkette on his penchant for non-marital p*ssy: "She wears little eye-patch underwear...So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And? so, we had made love Wednesday-a lot! And so she'll, she's all, 'I am going up and down the stairs, and you're dripping out of me!' So messy!"
ARRRRGH. Bleh, Brain bleach. Want.To.Hurl. This is a truly vulgar dude; would you want to be the guy next to him? I wonder what Mrs. Duvall thinks about eye-patch undies?
I was in the middle of writing something good about the Carrie Prejean situation but then I got knocked on my ass by the following:
A South Carolina politician with a lengthy antigay voting record who has denied that he is gay is lying, according to blogger Mike Rogers.
Rogers, whose work outing closeted politicians who vote antigay figures heavily into the documentary Outrage, reports that South Carolina Lieutenant Andre Bauer has reportedly flirted with several gay men, and one source has admitted to having sex with him.
Well, it looks like Gov. Mark Sanford's marital healing needs a bit of work.
South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford and her four sons vacated the Governor’s Mansion on Friday and returned to the couple’s Sullivan’s Island home, where she said they would live for the upcoming school year.
Jenny Sanford and at least seven other women spent several hours Friday packing up four sport utility vehicles.
Women carried armloads of clothing on hangers, boxes, a small appliance and other items to the cars. Much of the clothing had been stuffed into plastic bags.
I am so thankful for the overwhelming support and prayers we have received from people all across South Carolina. I am literally in awe of how blessed we are to have such love and support from family and friends, old and new. It is with this support, and after much careful and prayerful consideration, that I have decided to move back to our home in Charleston with our sons for the upcoming school year. From there, we will work to continue the process of healing our family. While we will be leaving Columbia, we will return often, and I will remain engaged in activities in my role as first lady, acknowledging that my responsibilities to my family come first.
That was the polite Southern way of saying f*ck off, dirtbag. Come on, what else was she to do to retain any dignity as her husband (who, more pertinently as far as the public is concerned, abdicated his responsibility as governor when he went AWOL for nookie) referred to his concubine as his "soulmate" in the same breath as he told the media that he's got to learn how to fall back in love with his wife again. Gee, that was a great way to win her face-saving support heart back.
Sanford's problem is that his pious tossing around of his Christian faith and the sanctity of marriage has blown up in his face and the people of the Palmetto State need to eject this former aspiring 2012 Clown Car occupant for incompetence and self-absorbed "sexual healing" at their expense.
And the winner is...Senator Diaper David Vitter, who suggested that the fix for the Republican Party's malaise is to return to its -- ahem -- conservative values.
Sen. David Vitter disagreed Wednesday with criticism that Southern Republicans are ruining the party and said a return to conservative values is the best way to restore political power. "I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values," said Mr. Vitter, Louisiana Republican and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"There are a lot of us from the South who hold those value, which I think the party is supposed to be about. We strayed from them in the past few years, and that's why we performed so badly in the national elections."
If "getting back to core conservative values" includes "violating the sanctity of your marriage" (and recently, it sure seems as if it does) then Vitter is the perfect man to be leading this effort.
Did I mention that Senator Paul Stanley was a Republican? I'm certain that goes without saying now, the list of Republican Sexual Hypocrites is so damn long.
Anyway, in Tennessee, the very pious "opposite married" social conservative evangelical Christian state legislator with two children started knocking boots with his 23-year-old intern and well, her boyfriend found out about it and blackmailed the not-too-bright pol. What did he find that shriveled Stanley's boyz in terror? (Nashville Scene):
According to court documents, here's what happened: Stanley, who is married with two children, was accused of having an affair with a 22-year-old legislative intern, McKensie Morrison, by the woman's boyfriend. The boyfriend, Joel Palmer Watts. 28, discovered a computer memory disc with sexually explicit photographs of Morrison that appeared to have been taken in Stanley's apartment. Watts then blackmailed Stanley, demanding $10,000 in return for keeping quiet.
"Releasing the photographs to individuals or the media would cause embarrassment, both professionally and personally, to Stanley," according to the court affidavit, as if we needed an explanation for why this might pose a small problem for our family values champion.
While this sounds like a garden-variety Republican Sexual Hypocrite, Stanley takes it up a notch with his legislative CV: 1) he campaigned against the right of gays and lesbians to adopt ("When you're married, there's a commitment there," Stanley said last year, while discussing legislation to prohibit gay people from adopting children); and....drum roll...2) he introduced a bill prohibiting viewing porn while driving (WTF!? Is this some kind of rampant problem in Tennessee?)
Anyway, Stanley, caught with his pants down on camera and on digital media, went to the Tennesee Bureau of Investigation told them what was up and a sting was set up for Watts.
“While in this relationship, Watts discovered that Morrison was engaged in a sexual relationship with Paul Stanley. Watts discovered a memory disc with explicit photographs of Morrison. These photographs appeared to be taken in Stanley's apartment.
On April 9, 2009, Watts again contacted Stanley via text messages and demanded that Stanley meet him and pay him the money. Subsequently, a controlled delivery of $10,000 was organized and made to Watts. The delivery was made behind a El Rey Azteca Mexican restaurant, located in Whites Creek, Davidson County, Tenn.
..."When Watts arrived, he and Stanley exchanged the memory disc for the $10,000.00. Watts was taken into custody at that time. During a subsequent interview, Watts admitted to demanding the money from Stanley."
TBI agent Doug Long testified there were nude pictures of Stanley's intern, McKensie Morrison, of her posing "in provocative positions and poses." And it looks like Stanley, who has resigned as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee in the wake of the scandal, was paying a bit of hush money in his office, based on this AP report.
Connie Ridley, director of legislative administration, says Morrison was assigned to Stanley's office but stopped being paid her weekly $350 stipend after the senator reported that she had stopped coming to work beginning on April 17. That would have been after this all blew up in Stanley's face.
BTW, this hypocrite Stanley told NewsChannel 5 that he will continue his social conservative legislative agenda.
Talk about an abdication of responsibility -- the South Carolina GOP just gave a wrist slap to a man who left his post and went AWOL without telling anyone in government where he was going or turning the reins over to the Lieutenant Gov. Let's set aside the matter of the "little Sanford" controlling Mark Sanford's judgment to go chase some tail, there would be a whole lot more than healing going on if the Palmetto State was hit with a natural disaster or some other sort of emergency while the governor was getting his pole attended to by his Argentinian mistress. Do you have any doubt that if this was a Dem governor that the state GOP would be calling for the man's head?
South Carolina Republicans have voted to censure the state's governor Mark Sanford over a sex scandal rather than calling for his resignation, easing pressure on their beleaguered colleague to quit.
The party issued the censure late on Monday to admonish Sanford over his affair with an Argentine woman and said he had "breached the public trust" and demonstrated "repeated failures" but stopped short of recommending further action.
...The chairwoman of the South Carolina Republicans called for an end to the three-week scandal that began when Sanford disappeared for several days. Aides said he was hiking in the Appalachian but it later emerged he had gone to visit his lover in Argentina.
"Now is the time for healing," said chairwoman Karen Floyd.
OMFG. The jokes are just writing themselves. Will Gov. Mark Sanford's best bud Lindsey Graham stick up for the Palmetto State Playboy now? (The State):
A reporter called a Sanford staffer, saying the paper had e-mails that outlined an affair between the governor and Maria. Unless Sanford would address the issue privately, The State would have no choice but to ask him - with TV crews filming - if he knew Maria at his press conference that afternoon.
The names of two other women tumbled into the newsroom.
Fearful Sanford's staffers did not get it - that the paper would ask publicly what Sanford's relationship was with Maria - a State editor called Davis, Sanford's former chief of staff.
...The editor told Davis why he thought the e-mails were genuine. They mentioned Coosaw, the Sanford plantation, and Sanford's love of digging holes; they quoted Bible verses and contained details about Sanford's known schedule.
And more names of women were coming in over the transom. The total was at three and counting.
"Women?!" Davis responded, sounding incredulous. "Women?!"
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he "crossed lines" with a handful of women other than his mistress - but never had sex with them.
The governor says he "never crossed the ultimate line" with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed Sanford's once-promising political career.
During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he's trying to fall back in love with his wife.
He says that during the other encounters he "let his guard down" with some physical contact but "didn't cross the sex line." He wouldn't go into detail.
This is ripe for jokes folks. Is this about making it to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd base? What is he talking about, as a man of faith who believes in the sanctity of marriage + one concubine?
The last thing Mr. Hillbilly Heroin head of the GOP needs to be doing is making asshat excuses for the Palmetto State Governor, but the creativity of blaming the President and his stimulus plan for Mark Sanford thinking with his "little brain" and going AWOL to be with, as Rush calls her in this clip, "his concubine," is amazing. Media Matters via TPM:
"This is almost like, 'I don't give a damn, the country's going to Hell in a handbasket, I just want out of here,'" said Limbaugh. "He [Sanford] had just tried to fight the stimulus money coming to South Carolina. He didn't want any part of it. He lost the battle. He said, 'What the Hell. I mean, I'm -- the federal government's taking over -- what the Hell, I want to enjoy life.'"
"The point is," he added, "there are a lot of people whose spirit is just -- they're fed up, saying to Hell with it, I don't even want to fight this anymore, I just want to get away from it."
Next, Rush had "one more thing" to say about the Sanford affair. He explained that people were telling him that the Republican Party needs to get rid of social issues because it is seen as hypocrisy in situations like this. But Rush rejected this idea. Instead, Rush argued that "society needs hypocrisy." This actually went on for a few minutes, with Rush essentially making the case that hypocrisy helps preserve morality more effectively that "moral equivalency" does, which is what liberals try to impose on society.
In his NYT column, Frank Rich offers up the sad state of affairs of the bible-beating movement. While the professional "Christian" set has ratcheted up the rhetoric, its leaders see their influence on politics and public interest in their issues swirl down the bowl, and in some cases, see it going six feet under.
When Barack Obama ended the Bush stem-cell policy last week, there were no such overheated theatrics. No oversold prime-time address. No hysteria from politicians, the news media or the public. The family-values dinosaurs that once stalked the earth - Falwell, Robertson, Dobson and Reed - are now either dead, retired or disgraced. Their less-famous successors pumped out their pro forma e-mail blasts, but to little avail. The Republican National Committee said nothing whatsoever about Obama's reversal of Bush stem-cell policy.
The numbers are simply against people like the new fundie poster child for the telegenic age, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council made the media rounds to tell Steele to know his place after the RNC head said abortion was a matter of choice and that gay couples deserved some type of (lame) legal recognition. Steele is merely (weakly) echoing the direction the country is going:
Polling shows that nearly 60 percent of Americans agree with ending Bush restrictions on stem-cell research (a Washington Post/ABC News survey in January); that 55 percent endorse either gay civil unions or same-sex marriage (Newsweek, December 2008); and that 75 percent believe openly gay Americans should serve in the military (Post/ABC, July 2008).
The fact of the matter is, as Rich points out, the GOP has shown little morality in its political leaders -- and a bumper crop of hypocrisy. In fact, Barack Obama, his relationship with his wife and children represents family values far more than the pious, self-serving pols and religious figures in the social conservative movement.
As the former Bush speechwriter David Frum recently wrote, the new president is an "apparently devoted husband and father" whose worst vice is "an occasional cigarette."
Frum was contrasting Obama to his own party's star attraction, Rush Limbaugh, whose "history of drug dependency" and "tangled marital history" make him "a walking stereotype of self-indulgence." Indeed, the two top candidates for leader of the post-Bush G.O.P, Rush and Newt, have six marriages between them. The party that once declared war on unmarried welfare moms, homosexual "recruiters" and Bill Clinton's private life has been rebranded by Mark Foley, Larry Craig, David Vitter and the irrepressible Palins.
OMFG, slam dunk for Rich. He also muses how out of touch Tony Perkins is about the perspective of the American people in a time of economic crisis. It sounds like the FRC talking head is just doing a lot of wishful thinking these days.
Perkins is now praying that economic failure will be a stimulus for his family-values business. "As the economy goes downward," he has theorized, "I think people are going to be driven to religion." Wrong again. The latest American Religious Identification Survey, published last week, found that most faiths have lost ground since 1990 and that the fastest-growing religious choice is "None," up from 8 percent to 15 percent (which makes it larger than all denominations except Roman Catholics and Baptists).
You have to read the rest of Rich's column. Too tasty.
I will say, though, for those of us out here in states that aren't deep Blue, the going is to get tougher, not easier. The Religious Right, in its death spiral, will focus its resources on rallying its loud and still well-organized base of fringe followers to make a lot of noise to scare influence state politicians to keep progress from occurring as long as it can. Witness the fundie success with Prop 8 in a very Blue state. They are willing to bankrupt their organizations and fleece their flocks in order to preserve the comfort of institutionalized bigotry.
Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Gary Skoien gets added to the list of GOPers caught with their pants down. The situation is so bad that the local GOP is backing away from this dude. What did he allegedly do? Here's how it started out:
A top suburban Republican said he sought a restraining order against his wife who was charged with attacking him over the weekend after she discovered he had invited two women to their Inverness home.
A police report refers to the women as prostitutes. But Gary Skoien, Palatine Township GOP committeeman and a former Cook County Republican chairman, disputed the report and said Wednesday he was working to correct it.
Skoien said two female friends were visiting around 1 a.m. Sunday, when his wife, Eni, who had returned home a bit earlier, came downstairs and attacked him.
"I was not in a compromising position other than I had friends over to my house," Skoien said.
"No money was exchanged. Nobody was naked," Skoien, 55, said.
The police had a different account.
The police report said Skoien "told [the responding officer] he did in fact have prostitutes with him in the playroom when his wife caught him." The playroom looked like "a struggle of some kind took place there...There were items turned and tossed around the room," the report said.
"That's how it was reported to us," Barrington/Inverness Police Deputy Chief Jerry Libit said.
And then his friends ran for cover:
As word of the incident got around local political circles, two candidates on the Republican slate for Palatine Township board asked the Daily Herald to remove Skoien from their lists of endorsements.
"I think Gary needs to respectfully resign and work on mending his family," trustee candidate and retired Des Plaines police officer Sharon Johnson said. "He's not the person of character I had originally thought."
Sue Johnson (no relation), who's running for township collector, also backed off Skoien's endorsement. But later Wednesday she said via e-mail that she was no longer seeking to remove Skoien's name from her list of endorsers, having made the initial request "without having all the information. ... My concern is for Gary and his family during this difficult time."
...A person who answered the phone at the home of Carol Tesmer, the Palatine Township
GOP committeewoman, simply called the story "a lie" but would not elaborate.
You'd think unquestionably heterosexual patriot Patrick McHenry (R-NC) would focus on serving the people of the 10th district now that his party is out of power. Ooops. Sorry folks, he's riding the Rush wave of GOP economic strategy that relies on bringing down the Dems. Why does Patrick McHenry hate America?
"We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010. Our goal is to bring down approval numbers for [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint."
And his spokesperson says the Congressman stands behind that quote.
A judge scheduled a Monday afternoon hearing to decide if Fossella, a New York congressman for more than a decade, was so drunk he should be slapped with a five-day jail sentence.
Fossella, a Republican, was arrested after running a red light on May 1 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C., and was convicted of drunken driving in October.
Under Virginia law, a driver who registers a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher must serve five days behind bars.
He was a triple threat that smashed the moral hypocrisy meter: Fossella was 1) arrested on a DUI in Virginia, 2) it was exposed that he was not only fornicating outside of his sacred marital bond, he was also spreading his holy seed to procreate with his mistress; 3) he shuns his lesbian sister and her partner at family events, and voted to ban any funding for joint adoptions by gay couples and supported the Marriage Protection Amendment.
His lawyer claims that his client deserves no jail time because the machine the police used to test Fossella's blood alcohol content was faulty -- he blew a blood alcohol content level of 0.17.
***
In other Republican Hypocrite news, remember Florida's Bob Allen? We have an update below the fold.
Mike Signorile features this hilarious flyer about Sen. Mitch McConnell that outs the Senator from Kentucky. It was sent out ot 150,000 people to let his more conservative constituents know that he is a Republican Sexual Hypocrite.
In The New Republic, James Kirchick calls this "Democratic gay baiting."
There really isn't much to say about these attacks other than that they ought to put a damper on the commonly accepted narrative that it's only conservatives who have utterly debased themselves and their brand in this election. These attacks on McConnell are among the most despicable smears of
the 2008 elections -- if not the most despicable -- but something tells me that
the perpetuallyoutragedcommentators bemoaning the tactics of the GOP smear machine and John McCain's sale of his soul to it won't let the above disrupt their storyline of liberal high-mindedness vs. the "ugly mob" that is contemporary conservatism (that the complaints about campaign decorum so often come from people who compare those with whom they disagree to Nazis makes their assertions all the more unserious).
Is there something wrong with being gay? No. There is something wrong with being gay and voting to restrict rights of LGBTs? Yes. Mike Signorile:
Sorry, but I have little sympathy for the antigay McConnell, and certainly people should know if indeed he is some tormented closet case.
Since McConnnell is a senator who has voted antigay over and over again, it's certainly relevant to ask the question if things just don't add up, and there's nothing wrong with implying someone is gay or asking the question, is there? And if McConnell is not, and there is some other truth to his discharge, why not just state it?
It's the worst-kept secret in Washington and many people in Louisville and Lexington know how queer their senator is. But in rural counties around Paducah, Bowling Green, Covington, Pikeville, Somerset... not a clue. Well, not 'til today. As many as 150,000 of the above fliers are being placed on windshields in the most Republican precincts in Kentucky.
They are aimed at McConnell's own hysterically homophobic base, the same kind of people who turned on Republicans in FL-16 when they found out that Mark Foley was another of the GOP closet queens. These aren't the kind of folks that usually care that much about hypocrisy. These are the hard-core haters who just don't like anyone who has been painted as "different."
There are many reasons to deny McConnell another 6 years of obstructionism in the Senate. The fact that he's gay should be no big deal, especially not to himself or to enlightened voters. The flyer isn't aimed at enlightened voters.
These GOPervs were turning up once a week for a time there. Things must be slowing down in the Republican Family Values Hypocrite Brigade. (NYPost):
A former assemblyman and current parole-board member was busted last night on child-pornography and soliciting charges, officials said.
Chris Ortloff, 61, was arrested in a Plattsburgh-area motel room in a State Police sting at about 5 p.m.
Ortloff, who allegedly had arranged a date on the Internet with an underage victim he thought would provide sex, had child porn and what was described as "sex paraphernalia" in his possession, according to the officials.
And the kicker:
Ortloff, married with two sons, could not be reached for comment. "He was always the tough-on-crime guy in the Assembly who wanted to increase the criminal penalties for all kinds of sex crimes," said a former associate.
I thought that he might be feted with toe tapping, but Senate colleague Mike Crapo paid tribute to Larry Craig (who is retiring in January) with a speech. You have to read it to believe it. No shame, no blame in the annals of Republican Sexual Hypocrisy:
"As the 110th Congress comes to a close this fall, a chapter in Idaho politics also comes to a close. After serving in public office, first in the Idaho state Legislature from 1975 to 1981, then in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1990, and finally here in the Senate from 1991 to 2009, my colleague, Senator Larry Craig, is retiring from elective office.
"Over the years, he has doggedly pursued initiatives important to Idahoans and staunchly defended Western values.
..."Senator Craig's public service demonstrates a rich history of strong, conservative leadership characterized by an unapologetic defense of the democratic ideals of private property and personal liberty and woven together with an abiding and proactive concern for those without a voice here in Washington. Idahoans across the state have come to know that they can depend on Senator Craig to defend their economic well-being and their values.
"It has been a privilege for me to serve with Senator Craig during my time in Congress. My wife, Susan, and I wish him and his wife, Suzanne, well as they begin a new chapter in their lives."
Personal liberty -- only if you remain a tortured closeted bi/gay man.
So, how many of you out there are represented by these upstanding folks on the Hill? Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington serves up the latest set of embarrassments on the taxpayer's dime.
Of this year's list of 24, at least 12 are under investigation: Ken Calvert, John Doolittle, Tom Feeney, Vito Fossella, William Jefferson, Jerry Lewis, Alan Mollohan, Gary Miller, Tim Murphy, Rick Renzi, Don Young and Ted Stevens. One other, Charlie Rangel, is under a self-initiated House ethics committee investigation.
Upon release of the report, CREW''s Melanie Sloan said:
With soaring gas prices, a housing market in crisis, rising unemployment, and a nation at war, elected officials should be prioritizing their constituents' needs over their own self-interests. Unfortunately, the members of Congress listed in CREW's Most Corrupt report have decided that their personal needs are paramount to those they represent. This report holds them accountable for those choices.
The 20 most corrupt Members of Congress
Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL)
Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) Rep.
John T. Doolittle (R-CA)
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-NY) Triple Crown Republican Sexual Hypocrite!
Oh, my, Senator McCain. What on earth will you do?
Pastor Rick Warren, who will moderate the first forum between John McCain and Barack Obama on Saturday at his mega-ministry's Saddleback Church, in Lake Forrest, California, was asked on Good Morning America today whether he'd have a problem trusting or voting for someone who committed adultery.
WARREN: You have to earn that trust. All leadership is built on trust. It's built on credibility. If you don't have credibility, if you don't have authenticity, if you don't have trust, you're not a leader even if you have the title. And the moment you lose the trust of the American public you're no longer the leader. You may still have the title but you're not it. It takes years to build trust and you can lose it instantly -- and it takes even longer to rebuild.
...TAPPER: Would you have compunctions about voting for someone who had cheated on his wife?
WARREN: Absolutely I would. Absolutely I would. Because if you can't keep your faith to your most sacred vow - "'til death do us part" -- how in the world can I trust you to lead my family? My government? My nation?...Absolutely I would. I think people first need to ask forgiveness and then earn trust back over time Can trust be re-earned? Absolutely but it takes time.
You see, when the party of "family values" viewed protecting marriage as an anchor or wedge position, they smiled when it brought votes home. Now the loose-zipper pols have to deal with the blowback -- it's time to play the hypocrisy card since John McCain has embraced the American Taliban.
A liberal Christian group supporting Obama, The Matthew 25 Network has an ad that puts the Arizona senator right in the family values light he deserves. Pastors Kirbyjon and Suzette Caldwell and Catholic theologian Lisa Cahill discuss Senator's Obama's faith and commitment to families.
Brian McLaren: "As a pastor, I know you can learn a lot about a man's character by how he treats his family."
KirbyJon Caldwell (spiritual adviser to Dear Leader, no less): "Barack is a strong man of Christian faith who has been married to his wife Michelle for 16 years...Throughout his entire career he's stood by families."
Perhaps the presumptive GOP nominee would like to discuss the state of his marriage, in light of the fact the John Edwards' problems have been media fodder for the last several days, and that McCain believes in preserving the sanctity of marriage for heterosexuals only.
Caldwell, who was the pastor at Jenna Bush's wedding, also said this:
"Well, I don't know a lot about John McCain's family history, I do know, however, that as recently as last week I think it was, the Senator made a comment in South Dakota regarding his wife entering some Buffalo Chips contest which is this topless deal and if she were to enter she would probably win it and my personal opinion and based on my understanding of the Christian faith, that's not not, N-O-T, not the type of expression that a presidential candidate, or anyone for that matter who is a follower of the Christian faith, ought to make," said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell.
Can the GOP keep up the pace of having at least one embarrassing elected official busted per week for violent criminal sexual behavior all the way through to the election?
* He has been indicted for sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl who is the daughter of a state employee;
* He was involved in a sexual relationship with the victim's mother;
* Muschany's married with two children.
A Cole County grand jury returned an indictment today charging Muschany with the Class C felony of "deviate sexual assault." The indictment identifies the victim only by initials. It says that on May 17, Muschany "had deviate sexual intercourse" with the girl, "knowing that he did so without" her consent.
Muschany, 42, was booked into the Cole County Jail today at 2:50 and he was released after posting a $5,000 bond. If convicted, Muschany faces a fine of up to $5,000 and a prison term of up to 7 years.
Muschany surprised many in political circles by announcing in late May that he was not running again this November. At the time he said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
It sounds like he should have thought about staying homebound for a long time before that. And the allegations get even worse:
Last Friday, the father of the girl filed a motion for temporary child custody in Cole County Circuit Court. In the filing he argued that the mother's "believed paramour was believed/alleged to have had inappropriate sexual contact with one of the minor children."
The document also alleges that the mother "did admit that the incident did take place, including her witnessing same."
And the drum roll please...back in 2006, Muschany was a co-sponsor of legislation that toughened sex offender laws.
Hat tip, to Blender Nancy, who said, "the city of Frontenac is a very tony suburb of STL, the average house valued around $500,000. Such a scandal... What will the neighbors think!?"
Maf54: You in your boxers, too?
(Sorry, couldn't resist inserting this graphic! -- Pam)
And the winner is...Senator Diaper David Vitter, who 
Did I mention that Senator Paul Stanley was a Republican? I'm certain that goes without saying now, the list of Republican Sexual Hypocrites is so damn long.
Talk about an 
OMFG, slam dunk for Rich. He also muses how out of touch Tony Perkins is about the perspective of the American people in a time of economic crisis. It sounds like the FRC talking head is just doing a lot of wishful thinking these days.
Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Gary Skoien gets added to the list of GOPers caught with their pants down. The situation is so bad that the local GOP is backing away from this dude. What did he allegedly do? 
Mike Signorile features this hilarious flyer about Sen. Mitch McConnell that outs the Senator from Kentucky. It was sent out ot 150,000 people to let his more conservative constituents know that he is a Republican Sexual Hypocrite.
These GOPervs were turning up once a week for a time there. Things must be slowing down in the Republican Family Values Hypocrite Brigade. (
I thought that he might be feted with toe tapping, but Senate colleague Mike Crapo paid tribute to 
Upon release of the report, CREW''s Melanie Sloan said: 
Can the GOP keep up the pace of having at least one embarrassing elected official busted per week for violent criminal sexual behavior all the way through to the election?
