In South Carolina ...

… because we have a law on the books that, perhaps unintentionally, fails to protect domestic violence victims in same-sex relationships and since that feels all kinds of unconstitutional, the state Supreme Court is trying to decide what to do.

Um, change the law seems the simple choice, but, as we’ve come to learn about South Carolina, the state “don’t do simple.”

It all began when a woman tried to get a protective order against her former fiancée, also a woman, and was denied because the state’s domestic violence law defines “household members” as a spouse, former spouse, people with a child in common, or specifically men and women who are or have lived together , but does not mean unmarried same-sex couples.

I have a thought, howsabout rewording the law from “man and wife” to “spouse”? Howsabout rewording the law and making it gender-neutral? Then it would apply to two male spouses, two female spouses, two opposite-sex spouses … or two people. Simple, but alas, South Carolina.

Perhaps the state could take a page from Ohio, where the same issue came up and that state’s Supreme Court adopted the use of gender-neutral references in family court cases.

Huh, where did I hear that … oh, yeah, I said it.

South Carolina Chief Justice Costa Pleicones is just as flummoxed by the law:

“The only people who are not protected under this statute right now are same-sex cohabiters or former cohabiters, is that it? This statute is pretty clearly unconstitutional in its discriminatory impact upon same-sex couples. So tell me, what’s the remedy?”

Semantics. Change the wording. Call someone in charge in Ohio and ask how they did it.

But wait, it gets more stupid, because the law used to apply to anyone, same-sex or opposite sex; it applied to fathers beating sons; against the law. It applied to Mama’s beating their daughters; a crime. Husbands and wives; two men living together.

They were all guilty of committing the crime of domestic violence but a while back South Carolina changed the wording in the law making it restrictive to male-female couples only, which Associate Justice Don Beatty says clearly shows that state lawmakers were specifically keeping same-sex, unmarried couples from being included under South Carolina’s criminal domestic statute.

Naturally, state prosecutor Emory Smith has a differing view and says the changes were part of a “general cleanup” of the law, but that the overall intent of which was to protect people … even if it doesn't protect all people. And he feels that the law doesn’t need to be rewritten but instead suggests the court simply interpret the law as “male or female,” not “male and female.”

Except that’s not the way the law was written, it is not the wording in the law, so any court in this state, any police department , can say that a same-sex couple does not deserve protections from domestic violence.

Just change the words. Protect all South Carolinians from domestic violence.

LGBTQ Nation

Think Starbucks is Anti-Christmas, Anti-Christian? Think Again ...

Gosh, hasn’t Starbucks has been in the news a lot lately? Though, mostly it’s because of their anti-Christmas coffee cups, or so says the rightwingnutted Christian conservative asshats. But I’m here today to talk Starbucks news that most people aren’t talking about:

Out there to Seattle, Starbucks is now partnering with the Seattle Police Department’s Safe Place program, and will begin training some 2,000 of its employees on how to respond to, and engage with, LGBT victims of violence and effectively report hate crimes to police.

"We don’t have roving bands of people assaulting LBGTQ people as we did in the '80s, [but] the crimes are predatory, they’re picking somebody out of the herd. They’re cowards for the most part… They’re opportunistic, they do their damage and leave. They like operating in the shadows and Safe Place eliminates a lot of those shadows.” — Jim Ritter, an openly gay Seattle police officer

And this isn’t the first time Starbucks has stepped up to help, and acknowledge, our community. In 2014, they raised a Pride flag over their Seattle headquarters, and one time the CEO Howard Schultz told an anti-gay shareholder that he was free to "sell [his] shares of Starbucks and buy shares in another company" if he had a problem with the company's pro-gay values; plus, Starbucks created a commercial in 2014 featuring drag queens Bianca Del Rio and Adore Delano.

So, while some are getting all bogged down over a cup that doesn’t say Merry Christmas — forgetting that the cup has never said Merry Christmas — the rest of us can sip a Latte and thanks Starbucks for being LGBTQ-friendly.

But wait, there’s more …

In addition to being an LGBT ally, Starbucks is also pro-Veteran — something that most Conservatives are not — and will extend a completely tuition-free four-year college benefit to the spouse or child of every single veteran or active military reservist who is employed 20 or more hours a week.

Oh, and not only that, but Starbucks is halfway to its goal of hiring 10,000 veterans or their spouses by 2018.

So, again, boycott the company that is helping to fight Hate Crimes and gay-bashing, and helping our Veterans and their families, because nothing says anti-Christian like that.

SPD Safe Place

Huffington Post

Minute Rant: Cop Murders Ex-Wife And Fellow Officers Console Him

Phillip Seidle lives in Neptune Township, New Jersey. In May he and his wife divorced and a nasty custody battle ensued, and last week Phillip Seidle shot his ex-wife in front of their daughter and his co-workers.

Oh, and before I forget, Phillip Seidle has been on the Neptune Township Police force for twenty-two years so those co-workers were fellow police officers.

It all began with Seidle chasing his wife through town in his car — his seven-year-old daughter with him — ended after Tamara Seidle crashed a parked car. Seidle then slammed into her car, got out of his vehicle, took out his service weapon, and began shooting into his ex-wife’s car. He then placed the gun to his own head and paced around the scene, with his daughter still in his car.

This all went down quickly, but Asbury Park police officers — in the area responding to an unrelated car accident — witnessed the events, and were finally able to talk Seidle into letting his daughter out of the car. But, once she was safe, Seidle fired more shots into his ex-wife's car before turning the gun on himself once again and shouting:

“You guys don’t understand. I’m tired of paying alimony. I don’t get to see my children.”

This all happened in the space of half an hour; for thirty minutes police officers watched an armed man rant in the street, shoot his wife to death, threaten to kill himself, and yet they never fired a single shot at him. And so one would wonder if they had done so, would Tamara Seidle have survived, because for thirty minutes she was left bleeding and dying while officers “talked” to Seidle.

Sadly, it gets more disgusting. Police officers were able to convince Seidle to surrender, and at that point several of his fellow officers hugged him and patted him and consoled him, and then allowed a fellow officer to sit by his side in the patrol car on the way back to the station.

Not quite the “rough ride” Freddie Gray took. And the half hour it took to wait out Seidle’s surrender is quite different than the roughly two seconds it took police officers to shoot Tamir Rice to death for brandishing a toy pistol.

And yet people wonder why we are beginning to question who becomes a law enforcement officer?  Why we question their tactics and motives? People are wondering why everyone talks race in these crimes when we see black men shot down in the streets, choked to death in the streets, beaten to death in police vans, but a white police officer who shot his own wife in full view of his colleagues, gets the surrender while his wife dies?

Something is terribly wrong here ….

Addicting Info

Good News South Carolina: Governor Haley Signs Bill To Protect Victims Over Batterers

I am no fan of Nikki Haley, that’s been quite clear on this bloggy thing, given that she often does nothing, and then when she says she’ll do something, she finds a reason to change her mind.

I still remember when she was running for reelection, and there was a whole dust-up about infrastructure and crumbling roads in South Carolina and Governor Nikki said she had “a plan;” a plan she would reveal after inauguration day, which meant, “Elect me and I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, but not until then.”

She won; no plan. Big surprise.

But there was a surprise last when Haley signed a domestic violence reform bill — passed by both our House and Senate — that took a huge step forward in protecting victims of domestic violence, and punishing batterers.

South Carolina has a glorious history of being one of the Top Ten — sometimes Number One — states where women suffer abuse, battery and death at the hands of men.

“A huge statement is being made today and that is that South Carolina is no longer thinking about the convenience of the abuser. South Carolina is thinking about strengthening the survivor.” — Governor Nikki Haley

Even our own Attorney General, Alan Wilson, who is still seeking a way to deny marriage equality to gay and lesbian South Carolinians because, apparently, no one told him he’s already lost that battle, lobbied lawmakers to give prosecutors the tools needed to lock up repeat offenders and get others into treatment.

Still, the bill had quite a rough go of it, before Nikki inked it into law last week, but, after the release of the Post  and Courier’s Pulitzer Prize winning series “Till Death Do Us Part,” which revealed that more than 300 women had been killed by husbands, exes and boyfriends over the past decade in South Carolina, state lawmakers vowed to get tough on abusers … finally.

First, the Senate passed a bill that focused on giving abusers fewer second chances — um, howsabout No Second Chances? — by making it easier to send them to jail and taking away the worst offenders’ guns; but that’s where the GOP got their gun nuts twisted.

A handful of Upstate lawmakers objected to what they called a “gun grab” saying it violated the Constitution because, you know, when a man threatens a woman with a gun, you should give it back to him so that when he threatens her with it again, he can follow through and kill her as is his God-given Republican Constitutional Battle Hymn of the Republic American Right!

But two Republican senators — Larry Martin and Katrina Shealy — overcame the opposition; Martin, to his credit,  called the gun ban essential, while Shealy made an emotional plea to colleagues, relating how her sister nearly was killed by her abusive husband.

But the House had its own ideas about how to combat domestic violence and, led by Republican Representative Shannon Erickson, they steered clear of banning guns from abusers in favor of talking to children in schools about domestic violence. Of course, there was never any clear indication of how telling Little Johnny that domestic violence was bad would save his mother from an abusive husband or boyfriend, though.

And though most people realized that the GOP’s alternative seemed to favor the batterers over victims,, and with the House and Senate passing separate, different bills in the final weeks before the Legislature adjourned, the promise to reform domestic violence laws was running out of time.

Until House Speaker, and Republican, go figure, Jay Lucas, forged a compromise that resulted in a bill that, while some said was weakened, still retained the gun ban and stiffened some penalties, and recognized the importance of changing the cultural aspects of domestic violence in this state.

It might be a weaker bill, but at least it’s a step forward in not only protecting women from domestic abuse and battery in South Carolina, but it also is a small step toward legitimate and serious, and thoughtful, gun control in this state.

So, for today, for right now, I am a little proud of Governor Haley, and of some … some … Republicans in this state who put lives ahead of guns for once.

Post and Courier

A Tale of Two South Carolina's

Boy, there are days when South Carolina surprises me, and days when South Carolina acts like, well, I think it has always acted, and so now I’ll present to you A Tale of Two South Carolina’s.

In the first one, we have Republican — you read that right — State Senator Larry Martin, the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is pushing new legislation bringing sweeping reform to the state’s domestic violence laws by creating a tiered system of offenses, increasing penalties and barring batterers from possessing guns.

Yes, people, gun control, of a sort, in South Carolina.

The bill, if adopted, would change the state's domestic violence laws for the first time in a decade, and, among other things, it would:

Restructure criminal domestic violence laws into a tiered system of degrees based on the severity of the crime, with escalating penalties ranging from 30 days in jail to 10 years in prison.

Bar those convicted of domestic violence offenses or facing protective orders from possessing firearms or holding a concealed-weapons permit. Batterers would face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000 if caught with a gun.

Require those charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature to attend intervention programs and bar them from having firearms or ammunition as a condition of bail.

Allow courts to grant permanent no-contact orders to prevent abusers from harassing victims. Police could arrest violators without a warrant and the offender would face a felony carrying up to five years in prison.

This bill is in response to state statistics that show over 300 women have been killed in the last decade from domestic violence — one murder every twelve days. South Carolina currently ranks Number Two in the nation for the rate of women killed by men, and has topped the list three times in the past decade, most recently in 2013.

Now, because it’s South Carolina, the gun provision will likely face the stiffest opposition in our GOP-dominated Legislature, with many Republicans saying the issue is already addressed by federal law and a state measure is an unnecessary duplication that could infringe on gun rights.

Or is it just the rights of men who batter women to carry guns? See, while federal law bans those convicted of domestic violence from buying or possessing guns, South Carolina has no legislation to enforce that prohibition, meaning, yes, batterers can keep their guns, and conceal their guns. And let’s keep in mind that the overwhelming weapon of choice in domestic killings is a gun; guns have been used in 65% of all domestic homicides of women. But let’s worry about infringing on the batterers right to bear arms, and not on the rights of victims of domestic violence not to die.

Still, in South Carolina, of all places, it’s nice to see anyone, much less a Republican, put forth any kind of legislation that might be called gun control, even one that makes sense like this one.

On the flip side of Reasonable Republicans in South Carolina, we have Republican State Senator Lee Bright — the name does not suit him at all — who is on a mission to expand the right of South Carolinians to discriminate against LGBT people.

In keeping up his cred as a bigot and hater and, well, a moron, Bright filed a bill last week that would exempt any employee who works for the State of South Carolina … the State of South Carolina … from having to do their job by issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple.  If Not-So-Bright’s law passes, those state employees, aka Bigots Who I Pay With My Tax Dollars, merely need to say they have a sincerely-held religious belief against same-sex marriage and they can deny the license.

Now, to be fair, that gay couple can simply walk to another window, or wait for a more enlightened, educated, humane, truly Christian person to issue their license, but the point is that a state employee will be allowed to not do their job because they hate The Gays.

That gets me thinking that maybe I’ll get one of those jobs, then declare myself a Satanist and deny issuing licenses to religious couples because of my deeply held, sincere religious belief. Or, better yet, go in as an Atheist and deny licenses because there is no God y’all. Man, watching those Baptists heads explode might be worth it.

But here’s the deal, plain and simple: you people who work in a state licensing department work for the state, which means me, and so if you wanna deny me the right to legally do what I am entitled to do because, you say, your God don’t like no gay marriages, then step out of your office and head to unemployment and get on line looking for new work.

Same-sex marriage is legal, marriage is not a religious institution, and you cannot inflict your religious perversions on me just because you feel like.

Now sit down and keep quiet.

SC Senators Propose GunBan, Stiffer Domestic Violence Laws

SC Senator's Bill Would Legalize Religious Anti-Gay Discrimination

ISBL Asshat of the Week: It's A Tie!! Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Elisabeth Hasselbeck

So, a few months back, when it was announced that her arch nemesis Rosie O’Donnell would be returning to The View, Fox News Talking Air Head, Elisabeth Hasselbeck took time from her vacation to phone in to her pals on Fox & Friends to bemoan Rosie’s return, whine about the comeback, and complain about the new job. It reeked of petty jealousy.

And so how does an insecure wannabe handle it when her new job, which is basically just a retread of every single other Fox News job for the blond set, is set to collide with her old enemy’s return to a more popular TV show?

Well, she decides to go full out crazy in the hopes that people will talk about her, and her little show, and not about Rosie and The View. I mean, how else do we explain that just yesterday on her little TV show Elisabeth Hasselbeck said she would require people take a “citizenship test” before they would be allowed to vote; she says it would make voting “more meaningful.”

It apparently all started when two Republican … naturally … Utah legislators announced a bill that would require students to pass a citizenship test before graduating. And so Hasselbeck decided to up the ante and require a citizenship test to vote:

“Should you have to answer, I mean, the majority of these questions? If not by graduation of high school, but by the time you vote? … It’s a more meaningful measure when you vote perhaps too.”

Hasselbeck should heed her own advice and look back into American history when, as recently as the 1960s, these so-called “literacy” tests were used to disenfranchise black voters during segregation. 

Failing that, I think Hasselbeck should take a test to prove she has at least two active brain cells to rub together before she accepts her ISBL Asshat of the Week Award.

Along with her co-winner … Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Shortly before announcing her campaign for citizenship tests, Elisabeth Hasselbeck used her perch on Twitter to … wait for it … remember she’s a Republican … wait for it … remember she works for Fox News … wait for it … tie the NFL’s domestic abuse scandals to the Obama administration's handling of the 2012 Benghazi attack on the American Consulate in Libya.

Oh, but she did, Tweeting this:

“Imagine if everyone that asked for transparency in the #nfl @nfl Demanded that same #transparency in our #government #Benghazi #IRS”

#STFU.

But is it really such a stretch to compare the bombing of an American Embassy with a man who punched his girlfriend in the face on an elevator, or the man who took a switch and beat his son across the testicles?

Not such a stretch since the people who sign her paycheck, and possibly pay to keep her blond and stupid, Fox News, has devoted hundreds upon hundreds of hours and “journalists — it’s hard to type that without laughing … Fox News journalist — to the alleged cover-up by the White House. And not such a stretch since her husband made quite the lovely living in the NFL.

The only thing that is truly transparent is Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s desperate need for attention, to make herself feel relevant, or even intelligent, because it’s not working.

And that is why she gets the Second ISBL Asshat of the Week Award for the week!

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Voter's Test

Elisabeth Hasselbeck NFL-Benghazi

Fox News: To Avoid Getting Beaten In An Elevator, "Take The Stairs"

I’m going to shock you … I.Don’t.Watch.Fox.News. … There; I said it. Whoosh. Now, y’all can calm down for a minute; no need to gather the pitchforks and the angry townspeople and come after me. It’s just that, well, we all know that Fox News wouldn’t know the truth if it was tattooed on Megyn Kelly’s breasts or painted onto the Mama Grizzly Bore’s™ five-head, but this week, even Fox News has gone too far.

The hosts of Fox & Friends — Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade and Anna Kooiman — aired the video of fired professional football player Ray Rice beating his then-girlfriend, now wife, Janay Palmer, into unconsciousness in an elevator and, well, they appeared to find it all quite amusing.

In the video, which I’m sure most people have seen once, because seeing it more than once is sickening, Rice punches Janay, and her head hits the elevator wall before she falls to the floor unconscious. Rice then stands over her, seemingly admiring his handiwork, and then casually drags her body off the elevator. This is funny, y’all, to Fox News; and not a big deal, at all.

One host, Steve Doocy acted as though the whole episode is nothing to get worked up about because, after the beating, Janay Palmer became Janay Rice, marrying the man who beat her unconscious, so let’s not make a big deal about it. If a woman gets beaten that severely and then marries her abuser, well, it must be fine so let’s move along to more important issues. 

Say? Is that Obama playing golf?

But, fellow host Brian Kilmeade had to throw in his two-cents — proving he is highly overpaid because his commentary isn’t worth a penny— adding that the same thing happened after Chris Brown beat the crap out of Rihanna. Again, it must be okay, because Chris Brown did it, so, yeah, Ray Rice should be able to do it, too.

Neither one of these men apparently has a sister, mother, wife, girlfriend, because if they did, if they weren’t a couple of goose-stepping asshatted, batshit crazy, FoxNews wingnuts, maybe they’d take a moment and realize that they are making light of the physical beating or a woman by her professional athlete boyfriend.

Kilmeade then says, the lesson to be learned is to “take the stairs” while Doocy adds that the “message is, when you’re in an elevator, there’s a camera.”

Avoid the beat down. Take the stairs; and if you’re gonna beat your wife or girlfriend in an elevator, remember there’s a camera; learn to take the beating into your private room because then no one would see it and it would be okay. The actual message here, that that Doocy and Kilmeade, and fellow host Anna Kooiman — and I’ll get to that moron in a moment — fail to acknowledge is that domestic violence is wrong; always. And with their lighthearted reporting of the beating, they missed the opportunity to help other women who are in abusive, or potentially abusive, relationships, by turning this into some kind of a joke.

I cannot fathom how these so-called news people — and, yes, I know it’s Fox News so they’re not real new people — think that domestic violence, physical abuse, of any kind, is something to make light of; take the stairs? Really? Think about the camera filming you before you throw that first punch. Really?

When men — and I use the term loosely when referring to Doocy and Kilmeade — make light of domestic abuse, they’re basically siding with the abusers; they’re saying it’s not such a big deal. And when Doocy and Kilmeade, representing Fox News, and therefore representing the GOP and the conservative movement in this country, it’s not much of a stretch to say that others of their ilk feel the same way about abuse. Especially when you hear so little from the GOP and its kin demanding an apology from Doocy, Kilmeade and Kooiman

Take the stairs, honey.

And now let’s talk about co-host Anna Kooiman, who basically sat there while these men made light of the beating, and then had the nerve to say that this incident is “unfortunate for football [and] gives a black eye} to the sport. Where’s her compassion for the black eye and bruises given to Janay [Palmer] Rice? Better yet, where’s her compassion period?

After this little bit of ridiculousness went live and viral, a sliver of what they call compassion was shown by the powers that be at Fox News when they gave a thirteen-second disclaimer about how they don’t condone physical violence. Thirteen seconds; that’s all it’s worth.

Proving its okay to laugh at physical violence and keep your job at Fox News.

Erick Bennett: ISBL Asshat of the Week

As the GOP stumbles and fumbles in the polls because they’d prefer to focus solely on vaginas and same-sex marriage rather than issues that affect all of us like jobs, I find myself no longer surprised at what passes for a Republican these days.

Case in point: Erick Bennett, a Republican running in a primary challenge against incumbent Susan Collins to be Maine’s next US Senator.

Back in Ott-Three, Bennett was convicted of domestic violence against his wife, who divorced him after he attacked her. Now, as wife beaters are apt to do, Bennett denied being a batterer and appealed, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said, "Oh, hell no" and upheld his conviction, finding that “the court did not commit clear error or abuse its discretion in excluding irrelevant evidence at trial,” and that “sufficient evidence does exist in the record to support his conviction.”

Meaning it was proven that Erick Bennett beat his wife and was sent to prison. But now, out and in the GOP, Bennett has turned the lemons of being a spousal batterer into badly tasting lemonade because he now says that beating his wife makes him brave enough to stand up for “family values.” And he is blaming his wife for his convictions, saying:

“All that needs to be done is you have to repeat what you wrote down in the police report and that allows the victim to be viewed as a credible witness. So, basically, if someone writes something down, it doesn’t have to be true. All they have to do it repeat that on the stand. That’s grounds for anyone to be convicted of domestic violence.”

See, is the victim tells a story and does not deviate from that story at any time ever, then, well, she’s just making up a really great story. Erick Bennett isn’t to blame for beating his wife; it’s her fault because she told her side of the story and stuck to it. And this is where Bennett decides that being accused of being a batterer, and found guilty of it, and sent to prison for it, makes him the perfect GOP “family values” guy:

“The fact that I have been jailed repeatedly for not agreeing to admit to something I didn’t do should speak to the fact of how much guts and integrity I have. If I go to D.C., I’m going to have that same integrity in doing what I say, and saying what I do, when it comes to protecting people’s rights, as well as their pocketbooks.”

Yes, because he steadfastly refuses to admit he beat his wife, even though he was arrested charged, convicted, lost an appeal and jailed for being a batterer makes Erick Bennett the perfect man to stand up for Maine.

As the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said, "Oh, hell no."

Erick Bennett, the ISBL Asshat of the Week.

source

This Might Be Surprising If Bachmann Didn't Hate The Gays So Much

Michele Bachmann, who believes gay people are "of Satan," and that we've all been abused, are sexually dysfunctional, and suffer Sexual Identity Disorder, hired Peter E. Waldron to run her campaign, when Peter E. Waldron has been tied to the key backer of the "Kill the Gays" bill in Uganda.

She thinks we are "of Satan" and she hires a man who works with people who want us dead.

It seems that Peter E. Waldron has tried to be coy about his identity when confronted; at first he refused to even offer his name, but , at first refusing to provide his name, but The Atlantic journalist Garance Franke-Ruta discovered that the evangelical pastor was once imprisoned in Uganda for a supposed terrorism plot.

And now he's trying to get Michele Bachmann elected.

A film about Waldron's experience, 'The Ultimate Price: The Peter E. Waldron Story,' is apparently in the works. It tells the story of how Peter E. Waldron was in Uganda from 2002 to 2006, and was reportedly arrested with a small weapons cache. While the details are murky, it is clear that he spent more than a month in prison.

The surfacing of his name, especially as it ties in to Bachmann, and to Uganda before that, got people wondering. Andrew Rice, a journalist with The New republic, actually saw Peter E. Waldron while Rice was visiting the church of staunchly antigay pastor Martin Ssempa; Rice was visiting the church while researching an article on evangelicals in the country. Ssempa is well known for inflaming violence against gay people in Uganda, even screening gay porn to incite backlash.

Now, to be fair, no one is saying Peter E. Waldron actively helped push for the "Kill the Gays" bill, Andrew Rice does say that Peter E. Waldron spoke to Ssempa's congregation about his time in the military--which he strongly implied was CIA related--and how cozy he is with the Ugandan president.

Bachmann has a clear history of antigay rhetoric, Her own statements--which she tries to distance herself from today--and her  husband's "Christian" counseling clinics that were found to practice so-called reparative therapy.

She doesn't like The Gays. Peter E. Waldron has ties to evangelicals and political leaders who want to pass legislation in Africa to Kill The Gays. And Bachmann and Waldron are working together on her presidential campaign.

Alice Stewart, a spokesperson for Bachmann, while not asked directly about Waldron's association with the "Kill the Gays" church, said, in a statement in response to his time in prison, that Bachmann is sticking by Waldron: "Michele's faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa. We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states."

She says we are "of Satan".
He works with people who want us dead.
Just think about that.

via The Advocate

Still Pissing And Moaning

Out in Iowa, where marriage equality is the norm, and locusts haven't come to destroy the crops, and the heavens haven't rained down on earth and the ground hasn't swallowed up those evil homosexuals, some folks still don't understand that being gay or lesbian, is not so very different from being straight. And those wingnuts are insistent on punishing the LGBT community.

One such asshat, Representative Chris Hagenow, a Republican of course, lobbied for the Iowa House to adopt an amendment to a domestic abuse bill that would have defined a spouse as between one man and one woman. See, that way, if you're gay or lesbian, and the victim of domestic abuse, the laws don't pertain to you, you dirty homosexual.

Ultimately Hagenow's proposal was shot down, er, deemed not germane to the bill, and his call to suspend the rules to move forward anyway failed, largely along a party vote. Yet, after the vote, Hagenow said his intention was to push the legislature to address the issue of marriage equality and not to deny same-sex couples protection from domestic abuse.

Um, Chris, why don't you get off your fat conservative ass and ask the people of Iowa how they feel about gay marriage. Each and every poll taken in your state since same-sex marriage was legalized shows that Iowans do not care about it; it's a non-issue, Chris.

Get with the program. Your constituents don't have a problem with marriage equality.

Move.On.

Careful Hiram...It's Not Just The Gays Gunning For You

We've all read about New York Senator Hiram Monserrate who said he was voting for marriage equality in New York state almost right up until he voted against it. And we've read how the LGBT community is picketing him at every turn, vowing to remove his sorry hypocritical ass from government. Then there is the story of his slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken bottle during a domestic dispute.

Yup, he's a keeper.

Well, now it appears it isn't just the LGBT community who want him gone, it might well be the New York Senate who seek to oust him from their midst. According to a State Senate committee investigating Monserrate, he "behaved recklessly and callously after his companion was hurt during an argument at his Queens home, failing to call 911, dragging her violently through a hallway and taking her to a hospital miles away."

The committee’s final report concludes that Mr. Monserrate was more concerned with keeping the confrontation last December from becoming public as he was with the safety and health of his companion, Karla Giraldo, and that Monserrate has steadfastly refused to take full responsibility for injuring Ms. Giraldo.

Still, it remains unclear as to what the Senate may do to Monserrate, though the findings by the committee suggest there is some basis for a stiff punishment for Monserrate, possibly even his expulsion.

Monserrate was acquitted in October of felony charges of deliberately slashing Ms. Giraldo’s face with a broken glass, but he was convicted of misdemeanor assault for pulling her through the lobby of his apartment building, an episode captured on security video. He was sentenced to three years of probation, 250 hours of community service and a 52-week counseling program. Many Senators have called on him to resign, but Monserrate continues to say he will not do that.

Still, it looks like he may not have a choice.

Idiocy Has A New name

If Gay is the new Black, the Christian Siriano is the new dumb.

Seriously, Miss Siriano needs to stop talking and get back to her needles and thread and sew her mouth shut. Seriously.

Why

There's a woman I know, who got into a drunken brawl with her boyfriend....bruised, bloodied, chunks of hair pulled out. This isn't the first time. And it won't be the last. The next night she was buying him dinner. I wonder if her motto is, Hit me and get a free meal?

And I wonder why.

Why put up with this kind of behavior, whether she instigates or he instigates?

Why?

What is it about people that seem to want this kind of abuse--not deserve it, because no one deserves it--who thrive on it, it seems. She had no shame for the fight; she calmly asked, Did you hear what happened?

Calmly.

I don't get violence, between adults. Between kids, especially young siblings, it seems almost normal to punch each other as a reaction, or disagreement. But when we leave our childhood, why do some of us carry this trait with us?

I've been furious with people in my life--after all I'm a hot-headed Italian woman--okay, I'm none of those things, but I have been furious at people. And I have never once wanted to hit someone. Even people who say the most idiotic, hateful things, I don't consider hitting as a response.

I've been mad as hell at Carlos and never once, steaming with anger, have I thought to strike him. Never. it isn't in me.

So, why is it in others?

Have they not learned to settle a dispute any other way. Use your words people.

Have they such low self esteem that a fist is somehow deserved. Lift yourselves up.

I hear the excuse. We were drunk.

Then stop drinking if it turns violent.

I hear the excuse. You made me so mad.

Then learn to stop.and.think.for.one.minute.

I hear the excuse. She started it it. He started it.

Then learn to be the bigger person the better person.

You have kids, for Christ's sake. Is that the lesson you want them to learn, because your kids learn everything by watching you.,

Why?