I Didn't Say It ...

_____, on Hurricane Dorian, before taking another golf weekend:

“All we know is that it’s possibly the biggest. I’m not sure I’ve even heard of a category 5, I knew it existed. And I’ve seen some category 4s. I don’t even think I’ve heard the term other than I know it it’s there and it’s the ultimate and that’s what we have unfortunately.”

Yes, he said he has never heard of Category 5 hurricanes and yet there have been five such storms—Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael, Dorian—since he took office.

He’s either really dumb or …okay, he’s an idiot.– at least four times over the last two years, including as recently as May.

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Pete Buttigieg, on _____’s continuing assertion that Dorian was headed to Alabama…AKA SharpieGate:

“I feel sorry for the president, and that is not the way we should feel about the most powerful figure in this country. Somebody on whose wisdom and judgment our lives literally depend. I don’t know who felt it necessary to pull out a sharpie and change the map. I don’t know if it was one of his aides believed they had to do that to protect his ego. No matter how you cut it, this is unbelievably sad state of affairs. If our presidency is not in good shape, then our country is not in good shape. On one level it’s laughable, on another it is exactly why we’ve got to do something different.”

Let’s not forget that he’s spent the past day or so defending his stance on the hurricane threat to Alabama, which is longer and more fervent than his defense of locking kids in cages.

That’s _____ in a nutshell.

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Lindsey Graham, _____’s butt-boy and lap dog, intends on questioning former President Barack Obama about what he knows about the FBI’s investigation of _____:

“I can’t imagine an investigation of the Republican nominee for president—a counter intelligence investigation of his campaign—was not approved at the highest level. I cannot imagine it happening without somebody in the White House knowing about it.”

Take a seat, ma’am. Your blatant ‘Party Over Country’ is showing. You want to investigate any and every Democrat, but your golf buddy, whose putter you want to pay with, gets a pass?

Plus,you just know he wants to gaze into Obama's soulful brown eyes and mutter, 'Call me Michelle.'

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Mike Bryan, American tennis player, after being fined $10,000 for making a shooting gesture with his racket, aimed at a linesperson, during a US Open match:

“I apologize for any offense I may have caused. We won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful. But given the recent news and political climate I understand how my gesture could be viewed as insensitive. I promise that I will never do anything like this again.”

Hey Mike, howsabout not apologizing for any offense you may have caused, and simply say you’re sorry for acting like a twat.

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Tony Perkins, leader of the Hate Group, the Family Research Council, blaming gun violence on evolution:

“I agree, praying alone is not enough. It’s time to act. And it’s not just about having a conversation about restricting those who should not have guns—criminals—but it’s also a discussion of the absence of a moral core in our culture today. I mean, look. We’ve taught our kids they come about through chance through primordial slime, and then we’re surprised that they treat their fellow Americans like dirt! It’s time we talk about the result of the left’s systematic march through our institutions, driving religious expression from the public square. I think we have to go back to the point where we instill in these children — at least give them the opportunity to know that they’re created in the image of God. Therefore, they have inherent value.”

Yup, teaching evolution is the problem.

Asshat.

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Marc Short, chief of staff to Michael Elizabeth Pence, saying Pence’s stay at a _____ International property—rather than in Dublin—was a matter of convenience and safety:

“It’s a facility that could accommodate the team.Keep in mind, the Secret Service has protected that facility for [_____], too, so they sort of know the realities; they know the logistics around that facility.”

Sure, Short, like the Secret Service isn’t equipped to learn “new” logistics?

But please to explain, then, why Pence’s political group, the Great America Committee, has dropped about $224,000 at _____ properties, chiefly the _____ International Hotel in Washington and its on-site steakhouse.

And :::crickets:::

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Eric McCormack, Will & Grace star, trying to walk back his suggestion of blacklisting Hollywood actors, director, writers, producers who support _____:

“I want to be clear about my social media post from last week, which has been misinterpreted in a very upsetting way. I absolutely do not support blacklists or discrimination of any kind, as anyone who knows me would attest. I’d simply like to understand where Trump’s major donations are coming from, which is a matter of public record. I am holding myself responsible for making educated and informed decisions that I can morally and ethically stand by and to do that, transparency is essential.”

Not what you said, Eric. You said:

“Kindly report on everyone attending this event, so the rest of us can be clear about who we don’t wanna work with. ”

Sounds like blacklisting to me; it reeks of discrimination.

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Whoopi Goldberg, The View, on Eric McCormack and Debra Messing’s demand to know who supports _____ so they can choose to work with them or not:

“Last time people did this people ended up killing themselves. This is not a good idea. You’re idea of who you don’t want to work with is your personal business. Do not encourage people to print out lists because the next list that comes out, your name will be on and then people will be coming after you. We had something called the blacklist and a lot of really good people were accused of stuff. Nobody cared whether it was true or not. They were accused and they lost their right to work. You do not have the right. In this country people can vote for who they want to, that is one of the great rights of this country. You don’t have to like it but we don’t go after people because we don’t like who they voted for. We don’t go after them that way. We can talk about issues and stuff but we don’t print out lists. I’m sure you guys misspoke when you said that because it sounded like a good idea. Think about it, read about it, remember what the blacklist actually meant to people and don’t encourage anyone, anyone to do it.”

Word.

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The Problem I Have With Rightwingnut GOP Christian Conservatives, Part Two

Yesterday we talked about Wes Goodman, the rightwingnut, family values, “Christian” conservative, GOP Ohio state congressman who resigned recently after being caught doing something “inappropriate” in his congressional office with another man.

This is still about Wes, but also about how the right will scream and shout about The Gays, and how we don’t deserve marriage or equal rights, or sometimes even the right to breathe, but when it’s one of their own who’s queer, they do whatever they can to protect them.

Two years ago, there was a Council for National Policy [CNP] conference at a Ritz-Carlton hotel near Washington DC to raise money for Wes Goodman, because he was a rising star in “evangelical” politics; talk about your oxymoron.

Anyway, after that conference, upstairs, in one of the hotel rooms, an 18-year-old college student who had come to the event with his parents said Goodman unzipped his pants and fondled the boy; the frightened teenager fled the room and immediately told his mother and stepfather, who demanded action from the head of the organization hosting the conference.

That organization was the rabidly homophobic, gay hating, Family Research Council, and the head of the group is the rabidly homophobic and gay-hating Tony Perkins.

The stepfather told Perkins:

“If we endorse these types of individuals, then it would seem our whole weekend together was nothing more than a charade.”

Perkins instantly assured the man that the matter would not go ignored, and said it would be dealt with “swiftly, but with prudence.”

Except it wasn’t; in emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post—the source for this post—never became public, nor did the other “similar incidents” Perkins referred to in a letter to candidate Wes Goodman. Perkins did, however, ask Goodman to drop out of the race and he suspended him from the council, but Goodman continued his campaign and went on to defeat two fellow Republicans in the primary before winning his seat last November.

And again, after being caught trying to molest an 18-year-old student, why didn’t Tony Perkins notify anyone in Goodman’s Ohio campaign office, or anyone in the state party, or anyone anywhere anytime ever?

GOP. Tribe of Hypocrisy.

In Ohio, supporters of Goodman’s campaign wondered why they were not alerted to his past behavior.

“We are so sick of people knowing and doing nothing. If someone knew, they had an obligation to say something. That’s what you do. That’s how you hold society together.”—Thomas Zawistowski, president of Ohio Citizens PAC, a conservative group that endorsed Goodman.

Perkins, of course, isn’t talking, and Goodman has clammed up since he resigned his position last week.

In emails, it appears that Perkins directly handled the situation, even telling Goodman, he says, that the man should not run for office until he addressed his behavior:

“Going forward so soon, without some distance from your past behavior and a track record of recovery, carries great risk for you and for those who are supporting you.”

So, basically, he wanted Goodman to “fix” himself, to get rid of the gay, before continuing on in politics. Perkins also stated in that email that he was “obligated” to disclose the situation to group members who had supported Goodman’s campaign, but there is no record that he ever did so.

As president of the Family Research Council, which opposes same-sex marriage and calls homosexuality “unnatural,” Perkins wields considerable clout, so it was clearly in his best interests, in the interests of the FRC, in the interests of the GOP, to sweep this under the rug and hope it would go away, hope that Goodman, after winning election, would somehow stop being gay and stop being a sexual predator, neither of which happened.

The young man—who name is being withheld by the Post—involved in the 2015 incident says Goodman approached him outside a Ritz-Carlton ballroom while urging young people to come to a party on Capitol Hill:

“One of the young guys didn’t want to go, and Wes really made fun of him and told him he ‘had a vagina’ and made sarcastic remarks about him being like a woman.”

The young man, and others, went out as a group with Goodman that night, and when they returned to the Ritz Carlton, “Wes pushed me to come to his room,” and offered to let him share his bed. The young man agreed, and says when he awoke in the middle of the night, Goodman was “pulling down my zipper.”

Goodman only says he woke up at 8 a.m. and found the young man gone.

This account was rejected by some members of CNP’s inner circle, including J. Keet Lewis, a CNP executive committee, who says he was frustrated with Goodman and wanted his campaign donation returned; but he said nothing publicly. And CNP Executive Director Bob McEwen, a former Ohio congressman, promised the stepfather that “strong action is about to take place” and then did nothing.

McEwen, today, is not speaking.

Two months after the incident, Tony Perkins officially suspended Goodman from the CNP, expressing “disappointment” that Goodman had declared his candidacy for the statehouse. In that letter, Perkins suggests Goodman had admitted to inappropriate behavior and was receiving counseling.

We know that never happened; we only know that Wes Goodman fondled an 18-year-old male asleep in a bed, and that tony Perkins, and executives in the CNP, knew about it, promised action, and then did nothing, except stand by and watch Wes Goodman run for office, win his race,. And then resign for the same kind of behavior.

It’s that hypocrisy that irks me. So many people knew about Goodman, and let’s be queer, being gay is not the issue, it’s his deeply closeted mentality that made him hide his actions and interactions with other men; but so many people knew he was having so-called “inappropriate” relations with men, and younger men, but said nothing lest it damage the GOP, the Ohio GOP, the FRC or the CNP.

Circle the wagons and say nothing. The candidate can be gay as long as it’s a secret; he can molest young men while they sleep but let’s not talk about it; he can run for office with all of these incidents in his past but, hey, we need another GOP voice so we’ll look the other way.

Washington Post

I Didn't Say It ...

Bernie Sanders, on the shooting this week in DC and the idea that the shooter was a Sanders supporter:

“I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be: Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms.”

And for those out there seeking to blame Bernie, or the Democrats, y’all need to take a seat.

This is about a disenfranchised man who had serious issues and felt the only way he could fix it was with a gun.

And that says volumes about America.

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Tony Perkins, spokestool of the Hate Group Family Research Council, blaming the shooting on ... Obama:

"The cloud of vitriol that grew under Barack Obama has so poisoned our dialogue that it may have once again driven a man to target innocent people—this time public servants whose only crime was gearing up for one of the few moments of comradery and bipartisanship left in the city. ... This is where the path of intolerance can lead. And in a country spewing inflamed rhetoric from Broadway to the Beltway, it’s time for reasonable people to step in and say, ‘enough.’”

I think he may be right. I mean, remember Obama saying Mexicans were rapists? Oh, wait, that hate was from _____.

Well, remember when Obama said Muslims are terrorists? Oh, wait, that hate was from _____.

Well, howsabout the time Obama told his supporters to “beat the crap” out of anyone who dared protest him. Yeah, again, that was _____.

Tony Perkins, as usual, has his head shoved so far up his own hate-filled ass he can’t see the hatful rhetoric is coming from his beloved _____.

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Ivanka ‘Complicit’ _____, on FOX & Friends, on life in the White House being hard:

“It is hard. There is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience. But this isn’t supposed to be easy. My father and this administration intends to be transformative. And we want to do big bold things. And we’re looking to change the status quo. So I didn’t expect it to be easy. I think that some of the distractions and some of the ferocity I was a little blindsided by on a personal level.”

Really, honey? Which viciousness? When your Daddy said he wanted to grab women by the pussy and you stayed silent?

When your Daddy mocked a disabled man and you said nothing?

When you Daddy fueled the fires of racism to get elected and you went shopping?

Sit the fuck down. You are as despicable as your father because silence equals acquiescence.

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Anderson Cooper, on Kathy Griffin and that photo:

“I had nothing to do with [firing Griffin], but I certainly understand why they made that decision. And look, I wish her well and I hope she bounces back and keeps doing what she does best, which is make people laugh.”

I hope she bounces back, too, but I also hope she thinks twice about some of these stunts because all she does is rile up the _____’s base.

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Megyn Kelly, on the criticism over her upcoming interview with lunatic Alex Jones—who called the murder of children at Sandy Hook Elementary a ‘hoax’:

“I find Alex Jones’s suggestion that Sandy Hook was ‘a hoax’ as personally revolting as every other rational person does. It left me, and many other Americans, asking the very question that prompted this interview: How does Jones, who traffics in these outrageous conspiracy theories, have the respect of the president of the United States and a growing audience of millions?”

But go on and give him a larger pulpit from which to feed the hate and the other lunatics, Megyn.

Perhaps you might have thought of doing a story on his antics, and how the fucking President of the United States listens to this loon, rather than give him a soapbox.

But, hey, Megyn, you gotta earn that paycheck, right?

PS A day after this story broke, an anti-gun group created by family members of Sandy Hook victims dropped Megyn Kelly as a host of its annual gala.

You know, because she’s perpetuating, for ratings and coins, lunacy.

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Mama Grizzly Bore™, who was, perhaps wrongly, blamed when Representative Gabby Giffords was shot several years ago, standing up for Bernie Sanders in the wake of this latest shooting:

“Those seeking political advantage reacted so recklessly and irresponsibly the last time a member of Congress was brutally attacked, as media inexplicably played a knee-jerk blame game assuming that attacker’s motives. Today’s shooter appears to be a Bernie Sanders supporter and campaign volunteer. But Bernie Sanders is not to blame. Maybe the media have matured enough to allow coverage of this most recent violence to focus on facts, because media integrity will be crucial as America witnesses today’s events unfolding and, on behalf of our Congressional Representatives, we all seek justice.”

What the what? MGB™ actually made sense there. Has Hell frozen over?

Probably not, because the wingnuts over at Breitbart are now going after the MGB™ full throttle.

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Patti LuPone, on the red carpet at last weekend’s Tony Awards, was asked why she said that, if _____ came to see her in War Paint, she’d take the night off:

“Because I hate the motherf***er. How’s that?”

God. I.Love.La.LuPone!

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I Didn't Say It ...

Cher, on [t]Rump’s RNC promise to protect the LGBTQ community from the “oppression of a hateful foreign ideology”:

“Oh come on. He says those letters like a child that is just learning the alphabet. And then pokes his finger in the air for ‘Q.’ He is the most disingenuous man I’ve ever seen. And I want to tell you: my people will not believe him for a minute.”

The Great and Powerful Cher has spoken.

We will not vote [t]Rump.

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Jerry Falwell Jr., coming out for [t]Rump:

“We are at a crossroads where our first priority must be saving our nation. We need a leader with qualities that resemble those of Winston Churchill, and I believe that leader is Donald Trump. As Churchill did, Trump possesses the resolve to put his country first and to never give up in a world that is increasingly hostile to our values. Despite our differences, Americans from all walks of life must unite behind Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence or suffer dire consequences. If Clinton appoints the next few Supreme Court justices, not only will the Second Amendment right to bear arms be effectively lost, but also activist judges will rewrite our Constitution in ways that would make it unrecognizable to our founders.”

Wait. What? [t]Rump is the ‘new’ Churchill?

Oh, honey, sit down. And, seriously, enough with the ‘they’re coming for your guns’ bull shiz; in the last eight years exactly how many guns has Obama confiscated?

Uh, that would be zero, moron.

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Amy Robach, GMA newsreader on the casting of Zendaya as Mary-Jane Watson in another Spider-Man reboot:

“We all know Hollywood has received recent and quite a bit of criticism for casting white actors in what one might assume would be reserved for colored people, is this potentially the industry trying to right itself?” 

WTF? ‘Colored people’? Has GMA gone all Good Morning 1955 America?

Robach did issue an apology, saying she meant to say “people of color” and added that the incident is “not at all a reflection of how I feel or speak in my everyday life.” I’m’a ponder that for a minute because it seemed to come out of her mouth a little too easily.

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Tony Perkins, leader of the Hate Group Family Research Council, walking back his assertion that God smites the Earth because of The Gays after God sent a flood to his house:

“Deceptive claims are being circulated on the internet that put words in my mouth about God’s role in natural disasters and what causes them. Those claims are inaccurate. What I have said, which I repeated yesterday in a sermon at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, is that I don’t know what was behind this flood or any other natural disaster. However, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe the Bible which makes clear that God is sovereign over the elements of nature and can and does use them for His purposes.”

See what he did there?

He says he didn’t say it, but then he actually says what he says he didn’t say.

In 2015, Perkins agreed with Pastor Jonathan Cahn’s assessment that Hurricane Joaquin, which devastated parts of the Bahamas, was a sign of God’s unhappiness over, among other things, abortions and same-sex marriage … “God is trying to send us a message.”

God’s message to Tony Perkins is, “Sit down, fool.”

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God and Mother Nature Have a Sense Of Irony

Some folks say ‘Karma is a bitch’; I like to think that sometimes Karma is a hoot and a half.

Let’s go back a moment …

In 2010, Tony Perkins, the Head Bigot-and-Homophobe of the Family Research Council, once praised Uganda’s Kill The Gays Bill, calling it an effort to “uphold moral conduct that protects others and in particular the most vulnerable.”

He also blamed the Boston marathon bombing on "sexual liberalism" in Massachusetts.

And last year when “Christian prophet” Jonathan Cahn was a guest on Perkin’s radio show and claimed that Hurricane Joaquin was a sign of God’s wrath for the legalization of same-sex marriage, Tony Perkins agreed, saying that while “those on the left like to mock these things,” many throughout history know “God is trying to send us a message” through natural disasters.

You don’t say, Tony. Then, please to explain how a massive flood destroyed your own home this past week in Southern Louisiana.

What was God saying, Tony?

Well, Tony, who called into his own radio show to describe the floods as being of “biblical proportions” and said that he and his family will have to live in a camper — actually a luxury RV — for 6 months until the damage is repaired, wants y’all to know that this flood wasn’t because of the gays, but rather an “incredible, encouraging spiritual exercise to take you to the next level in your walk with an almighty and gracious God who does all things well.”

Uh huh.

I like to think it was God looking down on Tony Perkins and his ilk and saying,

“Have a seat, Tony. You should be quiet now.”

DeadState

NCRM

Guns Nuts, Christians and GOP Politicians Love A Good Mass Murder

I promise to get back to regularly scheduled blogging soon, but my heart still aches and my stomach still hurts and my eyes water every time I think of Orlando.

And then I read things and I get angry, and maybe angry is better; because, with anger sometimes comes action, and with action maybe we can stop this NRA goose-stepping being done by politicians and conservatives and gun nuts — and I separate gun nuts from responsible gun owners because I know some responsible gun owners.

But this is about the Christians and the Republicans and the NRA and the vile things they have said and done after the mass murder at Pulse nightclub early Sunday morning …

After two days of saying nothing the NRA broke their silence on the Orlando attack with this:

“The terrorist in Orlando had been investigated multiple times by the FBI. He had a government-approved security guard license with a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security. Yet his former co-workers reported violent and racist comments. Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s political correctness prevented anything from being done about it.”

And had checks and balances been put in place maybe he wouldn’t have been able to buy an assault weapon.

“Repeating the same thing but expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. "

Like when the NRA repeats the same filth while dead bodies are being removed from churches and schools and movie theaters and nightclubs.

“Law-abiding gun owners are tired of being blamed for the acts of madmen and terrorists. Semi-automatics are the most popular firearms sold in America for sport-shooting, hunting and self-defense.”

An automatic weapon isn’t used for hunting, unless you want to mutilate your prey … which is the purpose of those guns.

The NRA will do whatever, and pay whomever, to keep their agenda of more guns, more guns, better guns, more ammo until we do something.

Do.Something.

“Pastor” Roger Jimenez, a Baptist preacher in my hometown of Sacramento, is actually praising the attack on Pulse nightclub because gay men and women were killed:

“Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today? Um no, I think that’s great! I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida is a little safer tonight.”

Jimenez then went on to call for even more death at the hands of the government:

“If we lived in a righteous government, they should round them all up and put them up against a firing wall, and blow their brains out.”

Yes, this man is a Christian.

Remember when Ted Cruz, Lying, hypocritical, gay-hating, NRA cocksucker Ted Cruz stood alongside Kevin Swanson, another Christian “pastor”, who called for killing The Gays?

Now, he’s using The Gays as a weapon in his war on Muslims by posting this to his Facebook page:

“For all the Democrats who are loud champions of the gay and lesbian community whenever there is a culture battle waging, now is the opportunity to speak out against an ideology that calls for the murder of gays and lesbians. ISIS and the theocracy in Iran … regularly murder homosexuals, throwing them from buildings and burying them under rocks. This is wrong, it is evil, and we must all stand against it. Every human being has a right to live according to his or her faith and conscience, and nobody has a right to murder someone who doesn’t share their faith or sexual orientation. If you’re a Democratic politician and you really want to stand for LGBT, show real courage and stand up against the vicious ideology that has targeted our fellow Americans for murder.”

Yes, Ted Cruz is now painting himself as an ally to the LGBT community because it means he can continue his Hate Speech against all Muslim people.

Tony Perkins, of the Hate Group Family Research Council, and another Christian Republican, took to the airwaves to politicize murder by blaming President Obama has said this:

“Unfortunately, the attacks on U.S. soil have only grown in this administration’s refusal to call them what they are — Islamic terrorism. The gunman, a homegrown extremist who reportedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS before his bloody rampage, left little doubt about his motivation — a motivation the president still refuses to confront.”

Not guns, not religion, not homophobia, but Obama.

And let’s talk Tennessee Republican Congressman Andy Holt, who, in light of the use of an assault weapon to slaughter 49 Americans over the weekend, will continue with his plan to give away AR-15 rifles, the same firearm used in Sunday’s deadly attack in Orlando, as prizes at a fundraiser later this month.

Yes, he wants to give guns away as a prize.

But let’s end with the worst of all, Donald J [t]Rump, who spoke yesterday about the massacre, and smiles every time he got a round of applause when he denigrated Muslims.

Think on that: talking about 49 people being murdered and a presidential candidate smiled.

And then he used the massacre to promote his bigoted immigration policies and attack Hillary Clinton, claiming he is a better friend to women and the LGBT community:

“This shooter, and amazingly, in Orlando was the child of an immigrant father who supported one of the most repressive regimes on earth. Why would we admit people who support violent hatred? Hillary Clinton can never claim to be a friend of the gay community as long as she supports immigration policies that bring Islamic extremists to our country and who suppress women, gays, and anyone else who doesn’t share their views or values. Ask yourself who is really the friend of women and the LGBT community. Donald Trump with actions, or Hillary Clinton with her words? I will tell you who the better friend is and someday I believe that will be proven.”

Two things:

1] Upon hearing him say this, I Tweeted this to [t]Rump”

As a lifelong member of the LGBT community I can safely say we don’t need friends like you. Kindly fuck off.

2] Donald j. [t]Rump blatantly lied when he said the shooter was “born in Afghan to Afghan parents who immigrated here.” The shooter was born in New York, where  [t]Rump was born. Should we be looking at all New Yorkers as terrorists, because I can think of one, one who looks like a wet bag of Cheetos dust, who comes to mind.

And so therein lies my rage: Christians, conservatives and powerful gun groups, standing on the bodies of dead Americans, not caring about dead Americans because they’re gay — you know, all the right people are dying … something religious people and conservatives said about the early victims of AIDS — and smiling and laughing and blaming and running for office.

I may need another day to get over this ….