I've made it to the initial round for favorite progressive blogger in the Air America Cruise Contest. I have to stay in the Top 5 before the second voting round begins, so your vote is appreciated! First voting round:
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.
Any one else remember the good ole days, when politicians who made national asses of themselves quickly and quietly slunk away?Guess we can call this "the Palin-Sanford effect"...
Anyways- looky who Joe "Liar Liar Pants On Fire!" Wilson is having to hang with, in a desperate attempt to staunch the the flow of cash to his opponent.
What's really funny is not just that Joe asks an amazing FIVE TIMES for us to watch his video- but that NONE of the links WORK!
Below please find a special message from one of our advertisers, Congressman Joe Wilson. From time to time, we receive opportunities we believe you as a valued customer may want to know about. Please note that the following message reflects the opinions and representations of our advertiser alone, and not necessarily the opinion or editorial positions of Human Events or Eagle Publishing.
Dear friend,
Today, I need your help more than ever before. I've been under attack by the liberal left for months because of my opposition to their policies, especially government-run healthcare. They've run commercials in my home district and flooded my office with phone calls and protestors. They've done everything they can to quiet my very vocal opposition to more government interference in our lives. Now, it's gotten even worse.
But I will not stop fighting against their policies that will only lead to more government interference, more spending, and higher deficits.
I know that my voice is serving as the voice for Americans across the country who are tired of irresponsible government programs that have only worsened our situation. During the August recess, I listened tothousands of concerned taxpayers who are mad at the rate in which liberal Democrats are spending their hard-earned money. They were shocked distraught by our nation's slide toward extreme liberal big government and the attempts by Democrats to nationalize the auto industry and the banking industry.
I am also frustrated by this, but watching my Democratic colleagues in Congress scoff at the protests of their constituents has made me even more infuriated. Unfortunately I let that emotion get the best of me and I reacted by speaking out during the President's speech. I should not have disrespected the President by responding in that manner.
But I am not sorry for fighting back against the dangerous policies of liberal Democrats. America's working families deserve to have their views represented in Washington, and I will do so with civility. But I will not back down.
Now, I need your help. Yesterday, the liberals used my outburst as a rallying cry behind my Democratic opponent. Some of the nation's most liberal online activists have helped him raise over $400,000 in just a few short hours. Many friends and organizations are kindly helping me out, but this is your chance to donate directly to my campaign to ensure that every dollar goes toward fighting back against and defeating my Democrat opponent.
Will you please visit take a few minutes today to watch this video, and make a donation to my campaign? It will take a lot of work, but I know we can match what the liberals poured into my opponent's bank account last night, and fight back against the Democrats' unwavering attacks.
As my husband just remarked, it's the first time he's ever heard of a Congressman taking himself to the woodshed...
WASHINGTON - In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum, a Republican lawmaker shouted "You lie" at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress Wednesday.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., tried to call Obama to apologize in person, but ended up speaking to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
The contrite congressman, "expressed his apologies" to Emanuel, not the president at whom he had shouted a few hours earlier, Wilson's office said.
By that time, Wilson's House Web site had crashed and he had taken a brutal beating on his Twitter page for breaching protocol and good manners during a presidential speech to a joint session of Congress.
Understand one thing: with my locally famous temper and penchant towards profanity, Rahm Emanuel is a fucking, freakin' hero to me! ;) FoxNews is of course getting comments to the AP same story that Wilson is a hero.
Yahoo has the clip via the link above, at that moment and the shocked look on Speaker Pelosi's face... plus I think she turned quickly to Vice President Biden and said, "Wilson"- looks that way from reading her lips to me and perhaps others can weigh in.
It was certainly the most extraordinary moment I have witnessed in Congress- and will put the death knell on his career representing the state of South Carolina.
Wilson's outburst came after Obama said that extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.
"You lie!" Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber.
Republicans froze, with several looking in Wilson's direction.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed a fierce frown at him; first lady Michelle Obama pursed her lips and shook her head from side to side. Vice President Joe Biden looked down and shook his head, too.
Obama, meanwhile, looked toward the outburst and replied, "That's not true," and went on with his speech.
Wilson seems to have quickly figured out that he screwed up royally:
Right away, Wilson seemed to sense that he had fouled up. Wilson appeared to consult his Blackberry for much of the rest of Obama's speech. He shook his head defiantly after several of the president's statements. When Obama finished, Wilson bolted from the chamber.
Gee, Eliot Spitzer stepped aside; so did Jim McGreevey. Guess Mark Sanford felt enough tears, piety and writing a couple of checks would get him back in the good graces of Palmetto State citizens. Hey, once a scandal-ridden pol invokes God or Jesus in the Bible Belt states, where homophobia and heterosupremacy know no bounds, it gives hypocrites like Sanford a pass. Look at David Vitter. (AP):
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford considered resigning from office after his extramarital affair came to light, the Republican revealed Sunday in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
But Sanford, who hasn't spoken publicly since Friday, said he spoke with close spiritual and political associates who advised him to fight to restore the public's - and his family's - trust in him.
...Sanford repeatedly said he did not use public money for the trip, so it was not clear why he has agreed to reimburse the state for some of the more-than $8,000 in taxpayer money spent on the Argentina leg of an economic development trip to South America last year.
Uh, going AWOL as governor alone should be grounds for him to resign, let alone spending state funds on priming the pecker. What exactly is Sanford reimbursing if it isn't state or public funds?
May I (Autumn) be one of the first to say "Thou hypocrite"? I guess I may!
Update (from Autumn): Oh yeah, had to admit to illicit affair during press conference. Admits wife & he are currently "physically separated" -- but not admitting to formal separation with spouse as yet.
I guess he's not running as Republican nominee for Prexy in 2012, eh?
UPDATE FROM PAM: What a hypocrite: after blathering about faith, he basically argues for moral relativism related to God's law and his indiscretions. He admitted infidelity, and has a relationship "that developed innocently." He talks about al the people he hurt and apologized. And he wants a "zone of privacy." Why do I think if there was a Dem caught with his pants down like this that Sanford would not be calling or any such thing? He's resigning as chair as the National Republican Governor's Association (Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has assumed the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association, according to CNN). Asked if he's separated from his wife he said: "I don't know how you define that -- I'm here and she's there." He also noted that his whole family has known about his affair for five months. You can read a liveblog of it at the WSJ.
I'm fascinated by this bizarre story simply because it so fits the Republican Sexual Hypocrite mold. You knew it was only a matter of time before it turned into some sort of sex scandal. The ineptitude of 1) using state vehicles, and 2) not finding a better cover story to excuse his absence is mind-boggling. Buh, bye 2012.
TPMmuckraker smells trouble for the family values governor Mark Sanford, who flew off to Argentina on Father's Day weekend for a little R&R away from his family. Apparently he and his wife have been having trouble with their sacred marital bond and have been in counseling.
"There is some evidence he was not alone," a source in South Carolina politics told TPMmuckraker. "The other shoe's gonna drop. I believe there's a reason he wanted to drop his SLED detail."
According to the source, a second car was identified at the Columbia airport, next to the SUV Sanford is believed to have used. Two additional sources in South Carolina politics said the same thing.
You might recall that Sanford earned his homophobic stripes for ordering the SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department to stop an ad agreement with Amro Worldwide, a travel promoter, after it began to market the state to potential gay tourists. He said it wasn't right to use state dollars to market to groups with a "specific social agenda."
But it's OK for him to drive his state-owned SUV to the airport for a "specific sexual agenda."
So he had to fly all the way to Buenos Aires, leaving the wife and kids at home during Father's Day weekend -- to unwind? How's that for family values? (The State):
Sanford said he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, an activity he said he has enjoyed since he was a high school student.
"But I said 'no' I wanted to do something exotic," Sanford said "... It's a great city."
...Sanford said he was alone on the trip. He declined to give any additional details about what he did other than to say he drove along the coastline.
When asked why his staff said he was on the Appalachian Trail, Sanford replied, "I don't know."
Sanford later said "in fairness to his staff," he had told them he might go hiking on the Appalachian Trial.
This is freaking weird. One frend of mine noted that prostitution is legal in that country. Perhaps he was doing some other kind of recharging or unwinding. The State has a fun timeline of the AWOL drama. Have we seen yet another 2012 flameout? At the very least he's an irresponsible governor to be alone without security detail in another country without handing over the reins to the Lieutenant Governor. The comments at the end of the article are hysterical. Read some after the jump.
And his wife and staff aren't giving any details. (The State):
The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.
Neither the governor's office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, has been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but who declined to be identified.
Sanford's last known whereabouts were near Atlanta, where a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said.
Hmmm...and then this statement:
Jenny Sanford said she was not concerned.
She said the governor said he needed time away from their children to write something.
..."I was recently made aware that Governor Sanford has frequently been eluding SLED agents and disappearing at odd times," [Sen. Jake] Knotts said.
O-kay. So is it a live girl/dead boy kind of thing? De-tox? Or is he just having a little time away for R&R? Seems like this kind of extended time away from work would require the Lieutenant Gov. to step in to take care of state business if Sanford turned off his cell and isn't accepting any texts.
UPDATE: At least the Gov's Twitter account is still active, lol. Guess some low level drone with account access figured out to stop posting while he's AWOL or the Governor himself just likes leaving obscure clues:
In many ways, the discussion of race in America, particularly as it relates to today's issues (the economy, health care, education), brings to mind the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Different people have a firm grasp on part of the truth in the middle of the room - be it the tail, the trunk, an ear, or a leg - but no one seems able to look at the thing itself. Three examples of a similar phenomenon reveal some of the difficulties in our national discussion on race.
Do we need we any more evidence that the GOP doesn't give a damn about the economic suffering out there? No, but Mark Sanford, the homobigoted governor of South Carolina, flipped the "Christian" bird to a caller during C-SPAN's Washington Journal. After all, partisan politics is so much more important when you're positioning yourself for 2012, like his fellow governor Bobby "The Exorcist" Jindal.
CALLER: I hope you all are not playing politics with this. People in South Carolina are hurting. You know how unemployment rates are high right now and going up higher. We are running out of money in the unemployment bank - we need money for that, the people that need help. And I'm one of them, I can't get no help. [...]
SANFORD: Well I'd say hello to Charleston because its home and I'd say hello to this fellow this morning and say that my prayers are going to be with him and his family because it sounds like he is in an awfully tough spot.
Un-f*cking-believable. Hat tip to Ben Armbruster at Think Progress, who added:
Sanford offered no other alternative solution for his constituent and instead argued that the state could not accept money to extend unemployment benefits because "increasing the tax on unemployment insurance" would negatively "impact the caller's family" (although he didn't say how).
Underscore openly gay. His name is Nick Shalosky, and he is the Secretary of the South Carolina Stonewall Democrats. The 21-year-old was elected to the Charleston County District 20 Constituent School Board as a write-in candidate. In his guest post over at The Bilerico Project, Shalosky explains how his campaign via new media including Facebook, is the reason he's reached this LGBT milestone in the Palmetto State.
I almost didn't get elected. Two weeks before the election this November, I didn't even know that I was going to be a candidate. However, as I was early voting, I saw that no one had filed for my local school board seat. Education is important to me (I'm still in college), so with the lack of participation in the school board race, I decided to put my name in as a write-in candidate.
Within two weeks, I had organized enough support to get elected to public office. I texted friends, sent a few emails, and talked with some local bloggers. But, I primarily organized by setting up a Facebook event page, inviting local voters to join, and following up with them to make sure that they knew my name and wrote it in on the appropriate ballot line on Election Day.
Facebook provided me with an avenue to quickly organize after jumping into the race with only two weeks before Election Day. Such rapid mobilization might not have been possible only two years ago. But, with a Facebook page and a knowledge of online organizing, I secured my winning margin without spending a penny.
...Two years ago, few would have thought that the South Carolina Democratic Party would become a leading organizer for equality. But, seeing the need for better policy, the Stonewall Democrats stepped in. Additionally, two years ago I wouldn't have thought that a kid like me could get elected to public office through a two-week long Facebook campaign. But, seeing a need for better government I stepped up.
Take a look yourself. Where is there a need in your community? What can you do about it?
Perhaps you don't know where to start. One of the great things about Stonewall Democrats is that our organization brings together regular Americans who want to work through the Democratic Party to improve it and to bring about better policy, legislation and laws. Social networking isn't going to save us, but its one of those easy steps that we can take to share our message.
The rest of his column is worth the read. Nick's success story is that change can happen -- and make a difference at all levels of government, and all it takes is some ingenuity, a lot of drive and a keen sense of how to use the new tools at everyone's disposal to enhance and distribute a message. We just need a ton of people to step up and participate in places that aren't LGBT-friendly and reclaim the places where we live.
Via BlogActive, it looks like something's brewing in The Palmetto State that involves, extortion and a GOP elected official. Oh, it also involves a beat-down of the blackmailer by state law enforcement. Someone really, really doesn't want information to get out and is willing to engage in violence to keep the lid on it. (FitsNews):
Last year, an unidentified blackmailer allegedly went to the home of S.C. Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson with information of a highly personal and sensitive nature involving a prominent South Carolina Republican official.
Multiple theories exist as to the identity of this GOP official (and the nature of the information ostensibly provided to Dawson), but for the purposes of this narrative and on the advice of our attorneys we are sticking exclusively to what has been confirmed to us by law enforcement personnel, not political sources.
After divulging the nature of the incriminating material, the blackmailer is said to have requested $200,000 dollars to furnish all copies of the material in their possession to Dawson.
According to our sources, after viewing a sample of the material and receiving the extortion demand, Dawson reportedly told the blackmailer to give him twenty-four hours to come up with the money.
The next day, the blackmailer is said to have returned to Dawson's home, only they didn't receive the money - but were instead taken away and given a savage beating by three SLED [S.C. State Law Enforcement Division] agents
Following the beat down, the blackmailer was reportedly informed that "this is what happens" to people who attempt to extort money from elected officials in South Carolina.
Katon Dawson, you might recall, is one of the folks on the short list being considered to head up the RNC. So WTF is going on here, and whose closet is being protected? Go read the rest.
Sean Kennedy, a young gay man in South Carolina was brutally murdered in SC in 2007 (a state with no hate crimes law). After Sean's death his mother Elke Kennedy founded Sean's Last Wish, and she has toured the nation to recount the tragic murder and to educate people about the need for federal hate crimes legislation. Here is what happened to Sean...
But if losing her son isn't bad enough, her son's killer, Stephen Andrew Moller, could be out of prison as early as February on an early parole.
Moller was plea bargained down to involuntary manslaughter and received a suspended 5 year sentence for his crime. Because of the credit he received for time he served before his sentencing, the longest possible time he will have to serve in prison is until September 2009. Despite the violence of his crime, he could be eligible for parole by this coming February, meaning that he will have served only 8 months since his sentencing in prison.
The parole board is currently conducting an investigation to decide whether to allow him to have a parole hearing, so it is critical that they hear from you that Stephen Andrew Moller violently murdered Sean Kennedy and should serve the remainder of his sentence
The action item is below the fold, along with a video of Elke Kennedy from 2008 NC Pride speaking about Sean's murder and hate crimes legislation.
A federal judge issued a temporary ruling during a court hearing Thursday after opponents said the plates violate separation between church and state.
The judge said the case needs to be heard in court. But in the meantime, she said the state Department of Motor Vehicles cannot take anymore orders for the plates.
..."I am extremely disappointed in the court's ruling, and feel the 'I Believe' license tag is completely constitutional," state Attorney General Henry McMaster said.
"I will strongly urge and recommend that the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Corrections immediately appeal this decision to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals," he said.
The group known as the Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the DMV and the prison system, which makes all state license plates. The suit was filed on behalf of some religious leaders and the Hindu American Foundation who claimed their First Amendment rights were infringed by the plates.
Should feel enraged or just sigh in resignation that the level of ignorance of the bible-beating bigots right is so prevalent, particularly in elected officials? Take a look at the behavior of Fort Mill, SC Mayor Danny Funderburk.
Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was "just curious" when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist. "I was just curious if there was any validity to it," Funderburk said in a telephone interview. "I was trying to get documentation if there was any scripture to back it up."
Funderburk apparently sent the e-mail from his business account at Gastonia Sheet Metal where he works as a business agent. The e-mail, which has circulated in the last six months since Obama secured the Democratic nomination, claims the biblical book of Revelation says the antichrist will be in his 40s and of Muslim ancestry.
This urban legend has been debunked by Snopes.com, and it's been widely reported that Obama is not Muslim. Funderburk insists, however, that there is a possibility of Obama's rise as part of the End Times:
When asked if he believed Obama was the antichrist, Funderburk replied, "I've got absolutely no way of knowing that."
Funderburk said it "probably does give that impression" that he believed the e-mail was true "but that was not my intent."
Again, I ask the GOP -- why do you cleave to these people?! Are their votes really worth it, given this kind of insanity? They are flipping crazy and have no business governing anything. Personal spirituality and faith is one matter, but look at how, in the feeble minds of the Dominionists, it's all twisted into lies, deceit, and spiteful behavior that they feel is guided by God.
The LGBT community in The Palmetto State is taking lemons and making lemonade out of the outrageous behavior of the administration of Governor Mark Sanford (R) earlier this year. It pulled a pro-gay tourism ad that was slated to run during London's Pride.
This year's events took an interesting turn due to the recent controversy involving a state sponsored marketing campaign. In July, Governor Mark Sanford ordered the SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department to stop an ad agreement with Amro Worldwide, a travel promoter, after it began to market the state to potential gay tourists. Parks, Recreation, and Tourism claimed that the ad campaign was never properly approved and was conducted by a "lower level employee."
State Senator David Thomas, (R-Greenville) even called for an investigation. Both Sanford and Thomas denied it was homophobia that led to the pulling of the ads. Both said it wasn't right to use state dollars to market to groups with a "specific social agenda."
The controversy led to international, mostly negative, attention to the state, including ridicule on a segment of "The Colbert Report". While Sanford and Thomas backtracked from their original comments, the state refused to pay the nearly $5,000 share of the ad campaign. SC Pride stepped in and offered to raise this money to pay South Carolina's debt and has raised over $1,000 to date.
As you see, the bunched-panties reaction by Sanford and company provided great publicity for SC Pride, so it plans to honor the governor with this award:
Ryan Wilson, president of the SC Pride Movement, says a framed version will be delivered to Sanford's office. Perhaps it should be sent along with a fruit basket for good measure.
After the anti-gay debacle of the "South Carolina is so gay" ad, you'd think the bumf*ck politicians would want to stay beneath the radar, but no...
Look at what is on the blog of State Senator Kevin L. Bryant of South Carolina. He says that his posts are normally comments you won't see in the news. You've got that right, Bryant:
On marriage, Bryant is where you'd expect:
Bryant will support legislation and or a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The basic institution of humanity is under attack by the extreme left and Bryant will stand firm.
I guess you will not be surprised that Bryant is a member of the NRA, National Right To Life, the Christian Coalition, Concerned Women for America, the Palmetto Family Council and the S.C. Policy Council.
Is there any doubt that it would be false advertising to encourage gay European travelers to spend their tourism dollars in the Palmetto State? Look at this:
Violence broke out Sunday in Anderson when an 18-year-old man returned home from a gay pride parade and was assaulted by his father.
...During the assault, the teen's 49-year-old father yelled, cursed, swung a baseball bat, prayed and tried to "cast the demon of homosexuality out of him," according to the teen's version of events to Deputy S.C. Weymouth, the incident report states.
About 2 p.m. Wednesday, the teen said his father punched him when he returned to the house for clothes that he left on Sunday, the report states.
The teen told deputies that his father "has a problem with him being gay and that is why he hit him with the baseball bat Sunday," Weymouth said in his report.
Larry Kramer famously pointed out that gays had a terrible tendency to fight for the right to disco and have bathhouses instead of the right to marry.
We have organizations like the HRC which putatively exist to help us overcome legal discrimination but which are so ineffective that they turn off what should be their supporters, and seem more interested in their own financial well being than any accomplishments.
And then, we have South Carolina Pride - and organization that seems sprung from Monty Python.
Gareth Fenley of Q-Notes has an explosive report on the backstory of the deep-sixing of a South Carolina ad campaign that targeted the gay travel market.
Governor Mark Sanford, another pol doing his own bit of marketing -- he's angling to be John McCain's VP to bolster support from social conservatives -- personally intervened to "correct" any notion his state was tolerant or welcoming of LGBT dollars:
When South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford learned that his state was being advertised as a gay tourism destination, he ordered a Cabinet-level department head "to do the right thing personnel-wise or process-wise to ensure this does not happen again," Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer told Q-Notes.
...A state employee who approved the ads was called to a meeting with management and resigned, according to Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the state's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT).
If the employee broke any rule in the conduct of her job, it was apparently an unwritten one.
Well, of course it's an unwritten one. South Carolina is one of the most homophobic states in the country, and it has shown its ass yet again with the reaction the ad received from state officials who were horrified that unsuspecting European homosexuals might get on a plane and spend some money in the Palmetto State.
Any one else remember the good ole days, when politicians who made national asses of themselves quickly and quietly slunk away? Guess we can call this "the Palin-Sanford effect"...
Common sense in the Palmetto State. (
Should feel enraged or just sigh in resignation that the level of ignorance of the bible-beating bigots right is so prevalent, particularly in elected officials? Take a look at 
The LGBT community in The Palmetto State is taking lemons and making lemonade out of the outrageous behavior of the administration of Governor Mark Sanford (R) earlier this year. It pulled a 
