]]>ek was PACKED and I can’t believe how much fun I had! I mean, granted, I got caught trading tank tops in the parking lot with my best friend, but I had a freaking blast. I even got to bust a move with one of the most fabulous gay boys I know on stage. [...]
My state is getting over its fringe-conservative hangover, having turned Blue in the last election, but we've still got a General Assembly full of lawmakers willing to honor a bigot and homophobe like the late Jesse Helms. But not all of them. (QNotes):Sen. Julia Boseman (D-New Hanover), North Carolina's only openly gay or lesbian state legislator, voted against a resolution honoring the life of the late Jesse Helms on Wednesday, June 10. She was the only legislator to register a vote against the honorary resolution. Twenty-six other legislators, meanwhile, sat out of the vote.Mark Binker of the Greensboro News & Record saw members of the legislative black caucus just walked off of the floor rather than vote.The resolution, which passed the Senate 41-1 and the House 98-0, states, "The General Assembly of North Carolina expresses its appreciation for the life and public service of Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr., and honors his memory."
..."I could have never voted in favor of a resolution honoring Sen. Helms because of his divisive history and his anti-civil-rights principles," said Sen. Floyd McKissick (D-Durham), according to an Associated Press report.
"This is just the best place for me to be right now," said Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat and chairman of the caucus.Why did all those legislators vote for the resolution honoring the late racist and gay-hater? Well, as a U.S. Senator, he brought home the bacon, was very responsive to constituents, and well, the genteel folks in the General Assembly don't like to disrespect the dead.Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, was more evasive: "I'm just taking a break," he said.
Quite frankly all of the people who died of AIDS during Helms's tenure in the Senate, where he disapproved of funding to fight the spread of the epidemic were disrespected -- and he slept like a baby at night.
He said gay men were "weak, morally sick wretches" who contracted the disease thr ough their own "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."Related:In 1988, Helms said, "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."
* Jesse Helms memoirs: race matters. A snippet from that post:
I would watch good old Jesse back in the day when he was a commentator on WRAL in Raleigh. I remember as a child listening to him rail on race on our black and white TV. I wondered why this man was so hateful. You didn't have to be an adult to get the clear message that he didn't like black folks encroaching on his lily-white world. They belonged in their place."We will never know how integration might have been achieved in neighborhoods across our land, because the opportunity was snatched away by outside agitators who had thad their own agendas to advance. We certainly do know the price paid by the stirring of hatred, the encouragement of violence, the suspicion and distrust. We do know that too many lives were lost, businesses were destroyed, millions of dollars were diverted from books and teachers to support the cost of buses and gasoline. We do know that turning our public schools into social laboratories almost destroyed them."
We've learned a lot in the past few months about Larry Stickney, the campaign manager for Protect Marriage Washington. This is the misnamed group trying to repeal of Washington's Domestic Partnership Expansion Law of 2009 via Referendum 71.
Since a lot of what we know about this anti-family activist is scattered across newspaper articles, blog posts and public documents, I thought it worthwhile to begin assembling it in one place, in the form of a link library. Items are categorized according to my opinion - your mileage may vary. Be sure to bookmark this page because I will update it as new information becomes available. Similar reviews of Mr. Stickney's colleagues at Protect Marriage Washington will be forthcoming.
Professional History
1. Listed campaign failures as accomplishments on online resume.
2. Managed the 1999 anti-choice I-694 campaign which Washington voters roundly rejected.
3. Managed John Koster's 2000 Congressional bid, which Koster lost to the pro-LGBT Democrat Rick Larsen (D-WA02) who still holds the congressional seat almo st 10 years later.
Managing the Anti-Domestic Partnership Campaign
Media Savvy
1. Unprepared to deal with press during major political event.
2. Failed to capitalize on free press promotion during major political event.
3. Imprudently derided the media.
4. Failed to meet own deadline for press release.
5. Cultivated baseless impression that non-Seattle media oppose domestic partnerships.
Financial Management Skills
1. Admitted spending scarce donor money on pointless attack ads against pro-equality legislators in electorally secure seats.
Corporate Management Skills
1. Failed to achieve consensus with and cooperation of natural allies.
3. Allowed Gary Randall to misdirect campaign donations into the PAC of his Oregon-based organization rather than into the dedicated referendum PAC, even after the fundraising widget on the campaign web site finally became functional.
4. Failed to organize major campaign endorser Joseph Backholm to promote the referendum on Backholm's weekly radio broadcast.
5. Failed to keep campaign website current.
6. Lost control of organization as major co-sponsor Gary Randall confusingly set up parallel web site and continued to misdirect donations into the PAC of his Oregon-based organization, which is not the official referendum PAC. Failed to explain confusing development to supporters.
Honesty and Truthfulness
1. Misrepresented the truth repeatedly about pending legislation and existing law.
2. Ran deceptive t.v. ads which claim ed that the domestic partnership expansion bill would "redefine marriage" and lead to "teaching that gay marriage is normal and healthy in public schools."
3. Obfuscated differences between referenda and initiatives allegedly to avoid admitting why an initiative to completely repeal all domestic partnerships would be unpalletable to Washington voters. (see item 2 on linked page)
4. Failed to inform supporters of severe time constraints on and higher signature requirements for referenda this year. (see item 2 on 2 on linked page)
5. Ignored the fact that the Washington State Supreme Court has already ruled that the state DOMA law is constitutional. (see item 3 on linked page)
6. Admited a reliance on voter confusion to win his campaign. (see item 5 on linked page)
7. Perpetrated untruthful feel-good claptrap when saying that a referendum would not take anything away from anyone. (see item 7 on linked page)
8. Paded endorsement list with multiple entries, one-person "organizations", tiny fringe groups and individuals who have publicly trashed the referendum campaign.
Follow-through
1. Failed to meet own deadline for press release.
2. Failed to fulfill promises to supporters repeatedly.
Knowledgability
1. Pretended that the Washington State Supreme Court hasn't already ruled that the state DOMA is constitutional. (see item 3 on linked page)
2. Demonstrated ignorance of the 1st Amendment repeatedly. (see item 4 on linked page)
3. Demonstrated ignorance of the chronology of Washington state lawmaking. (see item 4 on linked page)
4. Confused "liberty" and "tyranny" (see final item on linked page).
5. Showed understanding that voters are increasingly pro-equality. (see item 8 on linked page)
Judgment
1. Promoted on campaign web page an allegedly delusional zealot sure to offend the average voter.
2. Went live with a non-functional donor web page.
3. Embarrassed the campaign by featuring a Twitter account on the campaign web page that Board members and major endorsers never bothered to subscribe to.
4. Wasted precious petition time by waiting the maximal time possible before challenging the referendum ballot language.
5. Displayed gross incompetence by dropping the challenge to the referendum ballot language before the challenge process was complete.
6. Admited vested interest in volunteers remaining unemployed "during these rough economic times". (see item 9 on linked page)
7. Ran a referendum campaign to repeal a law supported by a super-majority of voters, making it a "goldmine" for membership-building for the pro-equality organization Equal Rights Washington.
8. Included three problematic legislators on his organization's board. Rep. Shea is divorced, Sen Swecker promoted state subsidies for radical-right fringe organizations he belongs to and Rep. McCune is viewed by reasonable people to be zany.
9. Distracted himself from job at hand with concurrent high-paying political job working for John Koster.
Personal History
1. Married thrice, divorced twice.
2. Served with a restraining order after allegations of wife battering.
Quotes
1. Marriage equality "will demolish the historical understanding and definition of marriage as that of uniting a man and a woman for life."
2. "[T]he happiness and well-being of both the parents and the children are best served by the family unit."
3. "[Estranged wife No. 2, Cheryl] was born with a silver spoon and is very feminist in her outlook and has been depressed for years with her lot in life (raising children, married to a middle class working man etc..), and subsequently lacks respect and is very rebellious towards me and refuses to give me the authority and support I, as a the father of our two small children need to run a functional household." --L. Stickney in response to a request for restraining order served him by the Superior Court of Washington.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Related Stories
Pam's House Blend and Washblog by Lurleen
* Would You Give Larry Stickney Your Money?
* The Washington Hate Coalition: What a Bunch of Whiners
* Ten Rationalizations for Running a Doomed Referendum Against Domestic Partnerships
* Larry Stickney's Referendum off to a Bumbling Start
* Larry Stickney's Referendum 71 Has No Support from its Natural Allies
* Protect Marriage Washington Pads its Endorsement List
* Bat. Shit. Crazy.
* Washington Newspapers: Domestic Partnerships Good, Ref 71 Bad
* A Simple Question for Gary Randall & Larry Stickney
* Still Waiting for an Answer, Fellas
* Nobody Can Hear Larry Stickney Tweet
* I Did Not See This Coming
* Rinky-Dink Minister Count Upped to Five!
* Not Good for Donor Morale
* Larry Stickney, Always a Beat Behind
* A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand
* Are Gary Randall and Larry Stickney Capable of Keeping a Promise?
* The Gary and Larry Chronicles: Numerical Update Edition
* Protect Marriage Washington's BWAKing Points
The Stranger by Dominic Holden
* Last Gasp
* Heavy-Handed
* Know Thy Enemy
The Stranger blog by Dominic Holden or Dan Savage
* Stickney to Attempt Repealing Domestic Partnership Bill
* Just One Day
* Governor's Inaction Stalls Homophobic Referendum
* "This is Probably Our Opponents Worst Nightmare"
* Three Lawmakers Join Anti-Gay Campaign
* Gregoire Speaks
* Time Running Out For Bigots
* Heavy Handed
* Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
* Their Own Worst Enemies
* Who's Going to Challenge Referendum 71
* Stickney Withdraws Lawsuit
* The People I'm Persecuting Are So MEAN!
* Have You Seen It?
I tried to choose my words carefully. Unless it's shown that either man had accomplices, we have to be clear that the men responsible for those murders are the ones who pulled the trigger. Still, it's hard not to think about the extreme right-wing rhetoric, especially about Barack Obama, and whether it could conceivably lead to more right-wing violence. You can see whether I succeeded here (more text follows the video):Joan goes on to mention Bill O'Reilly's constant on-air vilification of the recently assassinated abortion provider as "Tiller the Baby Killer" and comparison of the doctor to Nazis and the amoral stoking of the "Angry, Disenfranchised White Man" by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Lindsey Graham and the GOP's Michael Steele by suggesting that the Sotomayor nomination means a white man can't get a break in today's society.
The range of crazy ideas about Obama is broad and wide: He's a secret Muslim, he's going to take our guns, he's even the anti-Christ! James von Brunn just happened to be a "birther," one of the nuts who believe that Obama wasn't born here, his birth certificate is fake, and he thus isn't eligible to be president. I thought it was strange and maybe a little ominous last summer when suddenly Obama was labeled a "socialist" and a "Marxist"; Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are arguably more liberal than Obama; why did he get tagged with that sinister, subversive, alien ideology? It seemed linked to the fact that he's just so ... different from other politicians, so easy to marginalize and, frankly, demonize.
Then came Rush Limbaugh with his sexual fears about having to "bend over and grab the ankles" for a black president. Soon Limbaugh was saying he hoped Obama fails; last week he said Obama was more dangerous to our country than al-Qaida, our terrorist enemy who has killed thousands of Americans. Could that conceivably inflame someone marginal and isolated to act against a president who's more dangerous than terrorists?
Are statements like this directly responsible for the murder of Holocaust Museum security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns? No. What the mainstream GOP has to take responsibility for is the fact that its continued reliance on the politics of division that gives extremist views safe harbor. Race, gender, class, sexual orientation/gender identity, and religion have constantly been used to win votes. The appeals to the lowest common denominator -- ignorance and fears of the "other" displacing white male supremacy, God and family in no uncertain terms attracts a demographic we saw on display at the McCain/Palin rallies -- bold, hateful, openly racist people who proudly stood before the cameras emitting bigotry igotry as a badge of honor. And they were standing outside a rally for the Republican, not the Democratic candidate.
Below the fold, look at the video evidence that the party has capitalized on the worst instincts in people.
Did the GOP stop using those tactics and decrying the bigotry? Well John McCain made a feeble attempt to do so when his town halls became out-of-control embarrassing spectacles for the well-heeled country club wing of the party.
You might recall that McCain was strongly booed at his concession speech by the angry crowd for asking that they unite behind the new president.
You see, the GOP country club set desperately tries to ignore the party's base of theocrats and ignorant bigots, and they kept surfacing over and over in the mainstream media last year, proud voters for McCain/Palin. It wasn't supposed to be that way, I'm sure they were saying to themselves. But the party made its pact with this devil long ago. The ghosts of the Southern Strategy, Lee Atwater, and my late Senator, Jesse Helms, continue to haunt the party. As long as this kind of imagery continues to be defended by the GOP as benign...
The Elizabeth Dole campaign against Kay Hagan hit such a low point in terms of coddling haters, that it desperately overreached with its "Godless" ad that even Lou Dobbs, Ed Rollins tore up the party hacks for it:
Rollins: "There is a long history of despicable ads run by Republicans led by Jessie Helms which is I'm sure is now running Elizabeth Dole's Campaign."
Needless to say, Dole lost. But has this helped the GOP understand the appeal to bigots is hurting them? I don't think so, because look at the defense and denial that anything about tactics like these is wrong, let alone whether the party is responsible for coarsening the debate and feeding already-wound-too-tight fringe elements who take these messages as license to kill. If there were no place in either party for messages like this, perhaps we could move on in this country to the issues that do matter.
I don't understand why the GOP doesn't rid itself of the very messages that drive the mighty middle away; it's a party in the midst of remaking itself, it should seriously consider dropping the bigot appeals if it wants to have a future and get back to basic conservative principles that are consistent. (The problem is, that would anger the Base).
That's the argument presented by black GOP consultant Raynard Jackson in his latest column (sent via email). The answer is the party is in such desperate, self-defeating straits that it needs time on the couch; it has to rid itself of its addiction to fear and smear:
***Republicans and Cognitive Dissonance
by Raynard Jackson
In layman's terms, cognitive dissonance is the inability to see what one doesn't believe. Republicans have been suffering from this psychosis for many, many years. Below, I will play the role of "political" psychiatrist and try to help the patient work through their issues.
The sole purpose of any political party is to win elections so they can implement their policy agenda. So, if that is the raison d'etre, the Republican Party is in bad shape.
They want to win elections, but earlier this week on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh called President Obama a "fool." Earlier this week at a major Republican fundraising speech, actor Jon Voight called President Obama a "false prophet." In a recent editorial, former high ranking State Department official in the Reagan administrations, Frank Gaffney wrote, "The man (President Obama) now happy to have his Islamic-rooted middle name featured prominently has engaged in the most consequential bait-and-switch since Adolf Hitler duped Neville Chamberlain over Czechoslovakia at Munich....
There is mounting evidence that the president not only identifies with Muslims, but actually may still be one himself."
They want to win elections, but they issue these highly personal attacks on the president of the United States. Regardless of your views on his policies, most Americans think our president should be shown respect in our public discourse. These personal attacks on the president are antithetical to Republicans winning elections. But, they are so blinded by their dogma, they refuse to accept the fact that he won the election. The inability to see what they don't believe.
Gaffney compared President Obama to Hitler; Newt Gingrich called Sonia Sotomayor (nominee for the Supreme Court) a racist; Laura Ingraham (radio talk show host) criticizes the president for taking his wife out to dinner and a Broadway play. Republicans are supposed to be a principled party. But, their rhetoric is not consistent with any of the party's stated principles. The inability to see what they don't believe.
Republicans are supposed to be the party of less government and more indive individual freedom, until it conflicts with a belief they want to force others to accept. They want less government, but then want the government to tell a woman what she can/can't do in the privacy of her doctor's office. They want more individual freedom, until Terri Schiavo's husband wants to take his wife off life support. The inability to see what they don't believe.
True enough, President Obama inherited a plethora of problems from a Republican president and years of a Republican controlled Congress (they controlled 6 of Bush's 8 years). But, in the nearly five months in office, there is no disputing the fact that President Obama has increased the size and scope of government, increased the federal deficit, and is threatening to raise taxes. If the Republicans will take their medication for their psychosis, President Obama has presented them an easy way of getting back to Republican principles.
One of the most effective means of treating cognitive dissonance is with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to influence dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and cognitions through a goal-oriented, systematic procedure.
President Obama and the Democrats have presented a great opportunity for Republicans to present their governing vision to the country. But, they must first decide whether they are going to continue the idiotic name calling or present a serious alternative to the president and his party.
Republicans claim they don't like what President Obama and the Democrats are offering. So, therefore it is incumbent upon Republicans to make their case directly to the American people. Republicans must first and foremost define who they are and what it means to be Republican.
What is the legitimate role of the government in dealing with the financial crises? How will a Republican prescription affect the economy? If we are the party of law and order, why has there been no move to prosecute (or institute more congressional oversight based on Republican principles) corporate executives who violated their fiduciary obligations within their companies?
Americans don't necessarily want more government regulation, but they do want the assurance of knowing that our government is creating an environment where we can believe that a corporation's financial documents are honest and accurate. What is the Republican plan to make this happen?
What is the Republican solution to the tectonic shift in the political landscape? We can get 100% of the conservative white vote and still lose every national election. What is the Republican approach to building coalitions within the Black and Hispanic communities? And it cannot be based on irrelevant issues like abortion, affirmative action, or "reverse racism."
Detailed answers to the above questions will be a good start towards the Republican Party working through it's cognitive dissonance. This type of disorder has to be treated over the long term, therefore, it's imperative that the party honestly reflect on these questions and then put together a realistic plan. Implicit in this plan is the fact that President Obama (and the Democrats) won the election, he is an American citizen, he is a Christian (not Muslim) and he deserves to be respected.
If Republicans are willing to accept these premises, then there is the possibility of getting beyond this cognitive dissonance. If not, we will relegate our party to irrelevancy.
All of this reminds me a lot of a post from last year "Filing the Edges off of Racism," where I excerpted Portly Dyke over at Shakesville. She noted that the increasing bile being spewed on the air by right-wingers gives comfortcomfort to those on the fringe who harbor even more virulent views -- the MSM that they respect is validating their beliefs.
But as a society, even well-meaning progressives are finding ways to excuse statements that would have never flown a couple of decades ago. I had a similar reaction to Portly Dyke when she started hearing this excuse...PD:I entered a conversation about whether a white news commentator might not have known that suggesting that other golfers "lynch him (Tiger Woods) in a back alley" was a racist comment worthy of public sanction.The edges are so filed down on the "benign" aspects of racism that the label is reserved only for extreme violence against a POC, or extreme cases of institutionalized bigotry that cannot be ignored.Among the various arguments I read was this one: Given the commentator's age, she might not really understand the charged context of the word "lynch" in reference to a person-of-color.
And somehow, vaguely, in the back of my mind, I remembered a time when I could not imagine that I would be hearing this argument from progressives.
...I could remember that, in the 80's, even though there were still many, many confrontations with the MSM and mainstream culture, and much consciousness-raising yet to be done, I didn't think I would have been having this very basic argument about using the word "lynch" (or arguing about whether rape was "gray", or "gag gifts" featuring detached female body parts were "just a joke" rather than sexist) -- with progressives.
...My problem with filing off the edges of our outrage at such racist words and actions is just that -- it's filing off -- it's erosive -- and the problem with erosion is that if you let it go on long enough, you'll eventually wind up with nothing at all.
On the eve of the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall, come join us in celebrating the achievements of the LGBT equality movement:
I'll Toast to That
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 6:00pm Charles Froelick Gallery 714 NW Davis $40 beforehand, $50 at the door (tickets available here)
Ag/basicrightsor/events/toast/details.tcl">tickets available here)
Attire: Pizazzulous
A special thank you to our sponsors: Organic Nation Spirits Devil's Food Catering Raptor Ridge
Music by: DJ Scotty D
Ticket price qualifies for the Oregon Political Tax Credit which means you can get every penny of your ticket price back at tax time! Click here for more information on the Oregon Political Tax Credit. Questions? Call 503/222.6151
1 comment:
A lot of good information here, all of which boils down to a simple fact: There are still many persons who regard gays and other minorities as second-class citizens - or worse. That is the salient point of my recently released biographical novel, Broken Saint. It is based on my forty-year friendship with a gay, bipolar man, and chronicles his internal and external struggles as he battles for acceptance (of himself and by others) and stability. You can learn more about the book at www.eloquentbooks.com/BrokenSaint.html.
Mark Zamen, author
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