Frankly, I am in shock as I write this.

Rick Santorum’s wife had a second-term abortion to save her life, so reports oursilverribbon.org:

Rick Santorum is one dangerously confused denialist. The former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential aspirant is best known for his inability to associate his professed compassion for life at the level of the zygote, with the physical realities of human sexuality.  He has equated loving same-sex relationships to bestiality.  He is opposed to abortion under any circumstance. Almost.

In October, 1996, his wife Karen had a second trimester abortion.  They don’t like to describe it that way. In his 2004 interview with Terry Gross, Santorum characterizes the fetus, who must be treated as an autonomous person, as a practically a gunslinging threat, whom the mother must murder in self-defense. Karen has had to justify her decision to save her own life by explaining that if she died her other children would have lost a mother.

The compassionate side of me says this is an incredibly private family issue. However, the Santorums have already discussed this publicly.

Read for yourself and decide: http://oursilverribbon.org

Ron Paul with white Supremacists Don and Derek Black

Ron Paul says he “wouldn’t be happy” with support from the white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied to his support, but he will not disavow their support, saying, “They’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say.”

So Ron Paul will accept support from Neo-Nazis. He simply won’t endorse anthing they say, except, of course, that, for whatever reason, they support Ron Paul.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The American Free Press, which markets books such as “The Invention of the Jewish People” and “March of the Titans: A History of the White Race,” is urging its subscribers to help it send hundreds of copies of Ron Paul’s collected speeches to voters in New Hampshire. The book, it promises, will “Help Dr. Ron Paul Win the GOP Nomination in 2012!”

Don Black, the director of the white nationalist website Stormfront, said in an interview that dozens of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments.

“I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one. Far right groups like the Militia of Montana say they are rooting for him as a stalwart against government tyranny.

A response to Rick Perry’s latest bizarre ad where he declares, "There’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school."

Well, I know plenty of kids who celebrate Christmas in school, yea, even public schools.

And I know of plenty of kids who pray at school. See You at the Pole, yes?

Anywho, thanks to our friends at Second City for this very appropriate retort to Governor Rick "Texas will secede!" Perry.

For what it’s worth.

Haven’t posted in a while.  With the 2012 presidential election heating up, it’s time to get back into action.

With that comes a new look with some of our old colors from our previous look.

Heading to 2012, my friends. Let’s get to work.

The Weird Right is stranger than ever.

I really don’t care for Chicago politics. Let me start with that disclaimer.

I don’t understand how there are churches in the Chicagoland area that can be so overtly political, while others work overtime to keep the pols out of the pulpit.

I don’t understand how Carol Moseley Braun can vanish so completely from the public eye affter leaving office, and then return only to be christened in a church as the leading black candidate for mayor in Chicago.

Don’t get me wrong. I supported Moseley Braun when she ran for the United States Senate. Even joined her and Senator Durbin for a morning gathering of coffee and rolls with others from Illinois.

That was more theater than substance.

And that is pretty much my impression of Carol Moseley Braun: more theater than substance.

I will watch the mayoral drama unfold from 30-and-some-odd miles south of the Loop.

No desire to be a part of it.

People For the American Way today released "The Rogues’ Gallery," profiling 15 far-right Republican nominees for Congress. From pledges to radically restrict reproductive choice to demands that the EPA and the Department of Education be abolished, the report makes clear that the Republican slate of nominees is everything the Tea Party or the Religious Right could want. Included in the report are:

• Joe Miller of Alaska who says that the Department of Education should be eliminated because it’s not in the Constitution.
• Carly Fiorina of California who pledges that she would "absolutely" vote to overturn Roe v. Wade if given the opportunity.
• Ken Buck of Colorado who says he "doesn’t know" whether Social Security is constitutional, but calls it a "horrible policy."
• Sharron Angle of Nevada who says government assistance to the poor is a form of idolatry that violates the first of the Ten Commandments.
• Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire who says same-sex couples should not have the right to adopt children.
• Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania who thinks abortion should be illegal and doctors who perform abortions should be jailed.

"After years of tracking the Right, it’s clear that this batch of Republicans is the most extreme slate yet," said Michael B. Keegan of People For the American Way. "These candidates aren’t interested in addressing the serious problems we face; they’re interested in exploiting serious problems to impose their rigid, ideological agenda on all of us. Voters should go to the polls with their eyes open, and that means understanding the kind of extremism these candidates represent."

In addition to the candidates above, the report profiles Christine O’Donnell (DE), Marco Rubio (FL), Rand Paul (KY), Roy Blunt (MO), Richard Burr (NC), Rob Portman (OH), Mike Lee (UT), Ron Johnson (WI) and Dino Rossi (WA).

You can read the report and view a slideshow of right-wing candidates here.

People For the American Way is dedicated to making the promise of America real for every American: Equality. Freedom of speech. Freedom of religion. The right to seek justice in a court of law. The right to cast a vote that counts. The American Way. Our vision is a vibrantly diverse democratic society in which everyone is treated equally under the law, given the freedom and opportunity to pursue their dreams, and encouraged to participate in our nation’s civic and political life. Our America respects diversity, nurtures creativity and combats hatred and bigotry.

Source: commondreams.org

Mostly, the author is still hurting for Ross Perot, who took heat during the 1992 presidential campaign when he referred to African Americans as "you people." Yes, you see, Perot is the victim here.

From the post:

It seems that the American People have just about had it with the contrived leftist power technique of “Political Correctness.” Yes, power technique, the technique of changing a simple word and meaning to another and over and over again. Example, the word used to describe people from the African Continent. We first used the name “colored people” than to “negro” and on to “black” and now “African-American.” It’s funny, I specifically remember in the 60’s when my black friends in college insisted that I call them black instead of colored. That was fine with me, it made sense and it seemed they were happy about the new name. Then came the very political name in the 1980’s “African-American.” Now, that name was purposely issued direct from the Democrat National Committee to manipulate the majority of whites in America. It irritated many in America that the black population needed to change their name again. Many just came to the conclusion that the black population in America had an identity crisis. But the real reason was to have more ammunition and issues to attack the majority white population, who usually voted Republican. It’s simply manipulation and power control over a majority for which they cannot gain control in other ways. Anyone who didn’t conform was labeled racist, thus the political overtones and manipulation.

Ross Perot found that out in his attempt at the Presidency when he made an off handed comment referring to a group of black voters as “You People.” Boy, you would have thought he used the “N” word.

As a Christian, I really don’t get some of these so-called "Christians." What is anyone losing by calling our black brothers and sisters "African American?"

How dare any group decide for themselves what they should be called without asking white Americans first? Racism is about power, and the writer misses the power of those words.

Blessings to all on this day celebrating the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blessings and peace to all.

From The Advocate:

David Bahati, the author of Uganda’s so-called “kill the gays” bill, which proposes the death penalty for gay people, has announced that he will attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4. President Obama is also expected to attend the event.

According to the article, the annual prayer breakfast is organized by The Family, a conservative Christian organization that counts several high-ranking politicians among its members and whose teachings are said to have inspired Bahati’s bill.

I love Crazy for God. I intend to read Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism).

I like Frank.

From The Brad Blog:

Before he’d served even one year President Obama lost the support of the easily distracted Left and engendered the white hot rage of the hate-filled Right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds — including this white, straight, 57-year-old, former religious Rightwing agitator, now progressive writer and (given my background as the son of a famous evangelical leader) this unlikely Obama supporter — are sticking with our President. Why? Because he is succeeding.

We faithful Obama supporters still trust our initial impression of him as a great, good and uniquely qualified man to lead us.

Obama’s steady supporters will be proven right. Obama’s critics will be remembered as easily panicked and prematurely discouraged at best and shriveled hate mongers at worst…

Read the rest of the commentary here.

Evangelist Oral Roberts, who rose from tent revivals to found a multimillion-dollar organization and an Oklahoma university bearing his name, has died. He was 91.

His spokesman A. Larry Ross said by phone from Carrollton, Texas, that Roberts died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach, Calif. Roberts was hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. He had survived two heart attacks in the 1990s and a broken hip in 2006.

I still remember 1987, when Roberts claimed to have had a vision from a 900-foot-tall Jesus who told him that unless he raised $8 million by that March, God would "call him home," that God would kill him.

He got his money.

Read more here.

From Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick (This Film Is Not Yet Rated) comes OUTRAGE, a searing indictment of the hypocrisy of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to. Boldly revealing the hidden lives of some of the United States’ most powerful policymakers, OUTRAGE takes a comprehensive look at the harm they’ve inflicted on millions of Americans, and examines the media’s complicity in keeping their secrets.

With analysis from prominent members of the gay community such as Congressman Barney Frank, former NJ Governor Jim McGreevey, activist Larry Kramer, radio personality Michelangelo Signorile, and openly gay congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (Representative, Wisconsin 2nd district), OUTRAGE probes deeply into the psychology of this double lifestyle, the ethics of outing closeted politicians, the double standards that the media upholds in its coverage of the sex lives of gay public figures, and much more.

Source: http://www.outragethemovie.com/

Learn more about OUTRAGE on Facebook.

Right-wingers know Drudge is gay, right?

From the lead-in to the list:

Power and Money have always been close companions, and the global economic crisis has only made them more so. But the Out Power 50 list has never been only about person wealth: congressman Barney Frank rose to the top this year because of his power over national financial policy. On the other hand, since just about everyone from Warren Buffet (not on our list — he’s not gay) to Dolce & Gabanna (also not on the list — they don’t live and work primarily in North America) has taken a personal financial hit, changes in person wealth generally didn’t affect rankings.

Any surprises?  Rosie O’Donnell dropped from 31st to 42nd.  The editors are sorry to not hear from Rosie any more, “We’ll admit it: The world is quieter, and maybe even a bit more boring, without daily updates from the mouth of Rosie. (She’s even abandoned her blog, at least for the time being.)”

Jodie Foster dropped from 13th to 36, “There’s not much doing in the life of Jodie Foster these days. But as the highest-paid openly lesbian actor in Hollywood — she got $15 million for her role in The Brave One — she’s got a lot of sway.”

Facebook creator Chris Hughes makes his debut on the list at number 32, “Not only is the 25-year old Harvard grad a cocreator of one of the most triumphant starups in recent history — a little marvel called Facebook — he also helped Obama land in the White House. Hughes left Facebook in February 2007 to serve as director of online organizing for Obama and launch My.BarackObama.com (orMyBO), allowing supporters to form groups, raise funds, and plan events online. ”

Neil Patrick Harris debuts at number 28, the editors saying, “Named one of last year’s Entertainers of the Year by Entertainment Weekly, Out cover guy Harris could do no wrong wherever he showed up.”

Suze Orman moved from 24th to 22, “Personal finance guru Orman came out publicly in The New York Times two years ago, but with the economy now on life support we need her more than ever. ”

Making his debut to the list at number 7 is Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson, “Baptized Vicky Gene (his parents had been hoping for a girl), Bishop V. Gene Robinson has been a lightning rod in the debate over the church and homosexuality ever since his consecration in 2003. But while the 77 million — member Anglican church of which Robinson is a member remains deeply conflicted over the issue, his series of meetings with Barack Obama in the run-up to last year’s election was a powerful signal of the new administration’s inclusiveness. ”

In what may be the biggest surprise, or disappointment, to the right wing and conservative America in general, Matt Drudge debuts on the list at number 6:

Matt Drudge — the archly conservative 42-year-old owner of the right wing news–aggregating site Drudge Report—also happens to love Chaka Khan, The Young and the Restless, and sex with men. Though he often plays coy about his homosexuality — “I go to straight bars. I go to gay bars,” he once said — he had a long-term relationship with a male landscaper. The power of Drudge is formidable; he reports that his site averages 20 million page views a day. Unfortunately, his agenda is often antigay, anti-choice, and anti-tolerance. No one said power was always used for good.

The weird right is taking being led over the cliff by a gay man.  I suppose there’s poetic justice there somewhere.

Visit Media Matters for America.

Notre Dame President Fr. Dan Jenky will not rescind the university’s invitation to invite President Barack Obama to give the 2009 Commencement address at Notre Dame and receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.  Jenky is right to stand by his invitation.

The invitation has drawn the attention of two media whores: radical pro-life activist Randall Terry and radical closeted anti-gay activist Fred Phelps.

Randall Terry respects life so much that he once arranged to have a dead fetus sent to Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.  No word on where or how he procured the fetus.

Terry tells The Observer that his movement had, regretfully, fallen out of the spotlight, and needed a boost.  He said he first heard the news that Obama was going to Notre Dame last month:

“And when we came back, and I followed the news of President Obama’s invitation, a light went off in my head, that, that’s the line,” Terry said. It was the “golden opportunity,” as he called it, for the pro-life movement.

So Terry packed his bags and moved himself and his family – his wife and four children – to South Bend just a week after the announcement was made. And he’s staying, he said, until the Commencement ceremonies on May 17.

“We’ve already got over 20 local volunteers, within the next 10 days we will have six full time staff on the ground. Many local alumni are bending over backward to help us because of their outrage at this,” Terry said.

Terry has already held press conferences at ND.

Members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church have also announced their intention to picket the Notre Dame Commencement.  The group was in Pittsburgh today picketing the funerals of the three police officers shot and killed last week.

I won’t link to Phelps’ Web site — don’t care to contribute to his Google page rank.  But the site does indicate that Fred and his group will picket at ND.  Their rationale?

Obama Hates you, take U 2 Hell! E Angela Blvd & N Notre Dame Ave How appropriate that the biggest pedophile mill in the whole entire world would have Beast Obama speaking at their 2009 Commencement.

And it goes on from there.

Terry has pledged to “make a circus” of the Commencement.  Well, the stage is set.  Phelps and Terry will have to compete for the spotlight.

Who will win?

Time to call out the angels.

Conservatives can’t seem to find the right poster child.  They’re still looking for the right face to steer their ship.

They tried Sarah Palin, who can’t pass up any chance to appear on television, even in front of the slaughter of Thanksgiving turkeys. They flock again and again to Rush Limbaugh, who wants America to fail.

And then there’s Samuel Wurzelbacher, who, for some strange reason goes by the name Joe the Plumber (Not a Joe, not a plumber).  Sam-the-Joe-the-Plumber wants to make money, and lots of it.  He’s desperate for attention from the conservatives, even though he didn’t really support John McCain in the last presidential election.

Joe the Plumber supports Joe the Plumber.  So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that his comments “in the ballroom of Washington’s Grand Hyatt hotel for the Media Research Center’s annual “DisHonors Awards” ceremony designed to bash the dreaded liberal elite media,” according to the Washington Post’s Mary Ann Akers:

The Republican’s Working Man hero Joe the Plumber could barely contain himself last night before a crowd of adoring, media-bashing conservatives.

“God, all this love and everything in the room – I’m horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.

The particular state of his libido was way too much information, certainly for the Sleuth. But she wasn’t the only slack-jawed person in the room.

The remarks did not go over too well among the apparently un-horny crowd:

“Did Joe the Plumber really just say he’s horny?” “Did you hear Joe say ‘horny’?” “Why is he horny and why is he telling us?”

And those were only the comments overheard at the Sleuth’s table.

Joe was all hot and bothered over the standing ovation he received as he walked on stage to accept accolades from the top liberal media watchdog. Len Greenwood‘s GOP country classic “God Bless the USA” boomed overhead as Joe, wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a flannel shirt unbuttoned to his navel, strolled on stage.

After declaring he was horny, Joe mumbled a few other things about being the “token redneck” and the media loving him, and then sat back down in a sea of conservative luminaries that included G. Gordon Liddy, former Attorney General Ed Meese, radio talk show host Mark Levin, Fox News’ Brit Hume and former House speaker (for half a minute) Bob Livingston.

This is your poster child, far right?