Author: Trish

Gay Son, Unwed-Mother Daughter Campaign Against Wingnut Dad Randall Terry

Trish

Things are getting good in a Florida state senate race that’s coming down to the wire on Tuesday. Anti-abortion zealot Randall Terry is running against moderate Republican incumbent Jim King to represent much of Northeast Florida.

Terry’s family values include divorce and remarriage to a younger wife and abandoning fatherhood when children disappoint you

Two of Terry’s children are coming forward to offer some reality checks on their dad, whose family values include divorce and remarriage to a younger wife and abandoning fatherhood when children disappoint you.

Terry’s adopted son has inserted himself into the election – publicly criticizing his father’s claim to uphold family values as hypocritical and even offering to help his opponent.

Jamiel Terry, 26, who is gay, said he is estranged from his father because Randall Terry disapproves of his sexuality. His sister, Tila, said she is also estranged from their father because she had a child out of wedlock.

…Tila, 21, who was also adopted by Randall Terry, said she asked her father for help with her child, but he turned her down.

“He told me he couldn’t help me because he was running for office and he had his own baby on the way,” Tila Terry said.

I’ve heard that many of these anti-abortion crusaders are only interested in babies before they’re born, not after. I wonder what Tila thinks about that?

For his part, King took the high road and declined the Terry children’s offers of assistance.

“I am a father just like Randall Terry is a father, and there are things that happen in a family that are personal, and they shouldn’t have much to do with a campaign,” King said.

Terry’s low blows in the race include getting not one but two cronies to qualify as last minute write-ins, shutting non-Republicans out of the primary vote, which in this case, will decide the seat.

Repost: Flashlight, Batteries, Bottled Water, Hurricane Condom

Trish

This is a repost of an article from Pensito Review’s coverage of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It originally appeared one year ago today, August 31, 2005.

We could all use some humor right about now, and this appears to be legit. The father of a Florida Atlantic University student is upset because his son received a condom in the hurricane supplies issued by the school in preparation for Katrina.

Palm Beach Post:

As Hurricane Katrina swirled toward Boca Raton, freshman John Lehman, 18, was surprised to be handed protection from more than the storm.

The boy’s father, Charles Lehman of Tequesta, checked with his son to see whether he was safe from the hurricane in his Heritage Park Towers dorm.

“And he said, ‘The RA passed out the hurricane supplies — a condom,’ ” the father said. “That was it. I was so taken aback. Did they give him a flashlight? No, they gave him a condom.”

Hey, stuff happens Dad. You gotta be ready at all times. Besides, maybe they meant for it to be used as a flotation device, or as extra rain gear. Get your mind out of the gutter already.

The school claims that one resident assistant, who was supposed to distribute the outer wear to dorm dwellers as part of a safe sex program, decided to kill two birds with one stone.

“The administration was not aware of it,” [school spokeswoman Kristine] McGrath said. “And we think it’s inappropriate to think that a natural disaster is a reason to have sex.”

The condoms, she said, had been sent in boxes to resident assistants in dorms, but they weren’t supposed to be passed out in this way. The school, she said, has a comprehensive safe-sex program, which includes a lecture and some printed material…

“A safe-sex program should be more than just handing out a condom,” McGrath said, “and I don’t know that this was a time or place to do something like that. However, there were a lot of social events happening in the multipurpose rooms.”

You really can’t make this stuff up.

Jack Kemp on Lieberman’s Campaign Trail

Trish

Former Republican candidate for president and vice president, Jack Kemp, is back on the campaign trail. This time, he’s not asking for votes for himself but for an old sympatico pal:

Joe Lieberman.

Kemp’s supporting the Republican this time around too.

“I think if anyone complains about Jack Kemp coming in on my behalf, it just shows that they’re still blinded by the old partisan politics,” he said. “Jack’s a devoted Republican, I’m a devoted Democrat, but we agree on a lot of stuff.”

Joe needs a little help with terminology. First, there’s his use of the word, “devoted,” which normally means “loyal” and “committed.” Then there’s “Democrat,” which more often than not excludes people who run for office as Independents.

As to Kemp, who served as HUD secretary under Bush I and Bob Dole’s running mate when he lost against Clinton/Gore in ’96, I think he’s got it right. He’s supporting the Republican this time around too.

The Bushwhackers: He Swapped the Bottle for the Bible

Trish

Tired of being tired of Bush? Go to the Bushwhackers’ site and watch the video for their song, “He Swapped the Bottle for the Bible.”

Their sound is traditional country, but don’t look for songs from their CD, “Beatin’ Round the Bush” to be played on your local Hot Country format station

The Bushwhackers’ sound is traditional country, but don’t look for songs from their CD, “Beatin’ Round the Bush,” to be played on your local Hot Country format station. Not with lyrics like these:

He swapped the bottle for the bible
Now he might be liable
To blow us all to bits…won’t that be nice?
He swapped the bottle for the bible
He’s as stubborn as a child,
How did we make this crazy mistake twice?

…A few more years, we won’t have to see his silly grin.
We’d be so much better off if he was three sheets to the wind.

Other songs on the CD include “Buckshot Dick,” “The Daughters Love To Drink,” and “Never Saw No Weapons.”

The group’s leader, Richard Levy, a former Herman’s Hermit, lives in my own hometown of St. Augustine, Fla.

As Bush Polls Go, So Go Gas Prices

Trish

They posited an interesting theory today on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. I don’t know if it’s original or not, but radio host Tom Joyner suggested it:

Every time Bush’s poll numbers tank — and both Newsweek and FoxNews have him at 36% approval right now — gas prices go down.

I don’t know about you, but we’re paying about $2.83 a gallon in these parts, about $.15 less than we were paying at the beginning of the month, when closer to 40% of Americans approved of Bush.

Kind of makes you go, “Hmmmm.”

Preparation H (Hurricanes, That Is)

Trish

When a hurricane strikes, there is an undercurrent in other parts of the country of victim-blaming. “What do those idiots expect if they live on the coast?” “Why don’t those morons evacuate when there’s a hurricane out there?”

The obvious answers to the first question are a) It wasn’t like this when I moved here 37 years ago…and I don’t really want to start over in Fargo at my age, and b) Like there’s no weather where YOU live?

For the answer to the second question, you just have to be here. In the time since we (meaning those of us in Florida and the Gulf states) started tracking Ernesto, it has been variously forecasted to hit New Orleans, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Cedar Key, Tampa, and the Keys. At what point do you say, “O.K., this is it! I’m packing the car!”

When Rita hit last year, post-Katrina, people in South Florida were chastised (mostly by the governor and other Republican officials) for not stocking up on enough emergency supplies. After all, they should be prepared to fend for themselves for a couple of weeks now that everyone’s had fair warning government will not save them. But what does it mean, exactly, to fend for yourself?

Here’s an idea. This helpful piece of advice is in my local paper today, since my town is in the current forecast to be the exit point for Ernesto as it leaves Florida.

Disaster checklist for pets:

Your written family/pet disaster plan

Crate/carrier and bedding

Food, water, manual can opener, dishes

Plastic bags, paper towels, newspaper (when shredded, can be used as cat litter)

Cleaning supplies, disinfectants

Collar, leash, harness

Muzzle, gauze rolls

Identification tags

Current medical and vaccination records

Extra bottles of daily medications or copies of prescriptions with expiration dates

Current photos of you and your pet(s) together

Pet comfort items: towels, blankets, toys

A list of hotels, motels and boarding kennels that accept pets

Detailed instructions for animal care and rescue workers

First aid kit for your pet(s)

Flashlights, batteries

Flat tire repair kit

Out-of-state telephone contact number

Label all pet supplies with your name, address and telephone number

Source: St. Johns County Office of Emergency Management

I can’t imagine what the flat tire repair kit is used for, but maybe my dog and cat will appreciate it.

The list seems a tad ambiguous. Why do I need detailed instructions for animal care and rescue workers if I’m taking my pets with me? What’s the out of state phone number for? Should I be teaching Pepsi and Stinky how to dial on my cell?

The point is, hurricanes are a crap shoot, and the best we can hope for is to make the right last-minute decision — because until the science of meteorology gets a little more precise, that’s all we can do. So please, Fargoans and the rest of you, don’t get mad at us if we get hit. We really did try to think of everything.

Bankrollers of Swiftboat Vets and McCain Smear in Trouble With the Feds

Trish

The Wyly brothers (as in Wiley Coyote) are finally being investigated for their byzantine finances. The guys who funded the smear campaign on John McCain that led to Bush’s primary victory in 2000, and more recently, the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, are in trouble for evading taxes.

The Wylys represent the ultra-rich of Dallas.

They started, bought and built several successful businesses including Earth Resources, Sterling Software, Michaels Stores, the Bonanza restaurant chain and electricity supplier Green Mountain Energy…

Sam [Wyly] says they decided to pay for the attack ads because, ultimately, they back their friends.

A report released this month by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations alleged that the Wylys established the offshore trusts in the Irish Sea’s Isle of Man, a commonly used tax haven, to get around their U.S. tax obligations…

Senate investigators allege that the Wylys used the offshore trusts to buy $30 million worth of artwork, jewelry, furniture and other items for their personal use. Among the purchases: a $937,500 portrait of Ben Franklin; a $13,000 French bronze chandelier; $721,000 in official documents from Abraham Lincoln’s presidency; and a $759,000 emerald necklace.

Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who launched the investigation, said the Wylys “participated in a 13-year scam and scheme to circumvent U.S. tax, securities and anti-money laundering requirements.”

With the brothers in so many powerful back pockets, it’s surprising they needed to resort to all this.

Staunch Republicans, the Wylys have been big party donors since the Nixon presidency, personally giving about $10 million to Republican causes and candidates since the early 1970s, they say…

They’re invited to the most elite Christmas parties at the White House. They’ve spent time at Camp David. Sam [Wyly] used to motorboat on the Potomac with former President George Bush.

“George the younger kind of inherited us,” Sam said…

[…]

Rumsfeld to Troop Families: We Own You

Trish

According to Donald Rumsfeld, if you didn’t want to hand your whole life over to ruthless megalomanics to be chewed on and tossed out like the straw in your chocolate McShake, then you shouldn’t have signed up for the military. What did you think you’d be doing anyway, serving your country? Puh-lese.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Saturday praised the work of an Army brigade whose one-year tour in Iraq was extended just as they prepared to return home, and said he saw no reason for the soldiers or their families to be angry at him.

“These people are all volunteers. They all signed up. They all are there doing what they’re doing because they want to do it.”

“I don’t put it in that context,” he said. “These people are all volunteers. They all signed up. They all are there doing what they’re doing because they want to do it.”

And don’t start whining about coming home by 2007, either.

Rumsfeld said he would make no promises that the full brigade would be back home by the holidays.

“I’d love to be Santa Claus. I’m not,” he said in an interview with reporters during a flight to Fairbanks.

If it turned out that by December, U.S. commanders in Iraq felt they needed an unscheduled infusion of troops, “our first choice obviously would be to have them be someone other than the people we just extended,” Rumsfeld said. “But I’m not going to get into the promises business. That isn’t my style.”

What is your style, exactly, Rummy? Besides dunderheaded incompetence and cold-blooded apathy, I mean.

CYA is Not an Effective Infrastructure Policy

Trish

If you thought the government response last year to Hurricane Katrina was bad, stay tuned.

Blogger and Washington analyst Christian Beckner is predicting more trouble ahead, as the Bush Administration continues to ignore domestic needs and divert domestic funding while pre-emptively blaming state and local governments for impending disasters.

The Seattle Times notes a growing list of failures.

The Commission on Public Infrastructure at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said in a recent report that facilities are deteriorating “at an alarming rate.”

British oil company BP announced this month that severe corrosion would close its Alaska pipelines for extensive repairs. Analysts say this may sideline some 200,000 barrels a day of production for several months.

Then an instrument landing system that guides arriving planes onto a runway at Los Angeles International Airport failed for the second time in a week, delaying flights.

Those incidents followed reports that the National Security Agency (NSA), the intelligence world’s electronic eavesdropping arm, is consuming so much electricity at its headquarters outside Washington that it is in danger of exceeding its power supply.

“If a terrorist group were able to knock the NSA offline, or disrupt one of the nation’s busiest airports, or shut down the most important oil pipeline in the nation, the impact would be perceived as devastating,” Beckner said. “And yet we’ve essentially let these things happen — or almost happen — to ourselves.”

Wait, there’s more.

The Commission on Public Infrastructure at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said in a recent report that facilities are deteriorating “at an alarming rate.”

It noted that half the 257 locks operated by the Army Corps of Engineers on inland waterways are functionally obsolete, more than one-quarter of the nation’s bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete, and $11 billion is needed annually to replace aging drinking-water facilities.

So how does our courageous leader respond? Does he step up to the plate and do the hard stuff? Has he ever?

President Bush, asked about the problem during a public question-and-answer session in an April visit to Irvine, Calif., cited last year’s enactment of a comprehensive law reauthorizing highway, transit and road-safety programs.

“Infrastructure is always a difficult issue,” Bush acknowledged. “It’s a federal responsibility and a state and local responsibility. And I, frankly, feel like we’ve upheld our responsibility at the federal level with the highway bill.”

What Pres. “I’ve Never Made a Mistake or At Least Taken Responsibility for It” is saying kinda sorta worked when he tried to defend himself for blowing it during Katrina. It gave the rightwing pundits something to harp on, the idea that maybe local officials were really to blame for the multi-state disaster. And as we know, if a dodge kinda sorta worked once for this idiot, he’ll trot the same horseshit out again and again.

The only problem with all the talk and no action is that in the meantime, our country is at risk. And CYA is not a policy.

Harris View of the World Pisses Off Jews, Other Non-Christians, Christians, Democrats, Republicans, Gays, Straights, and Model Airplane Enthusiasts

Trish

Florida Jews and other non-Chrisitians are expressing outrage at U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who recently stated that only the twice-born are fit to hold office.

Since He chooses our rulers, He chose Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton as surely as He chose Katherine herself. God sounds a little conflicted.

As PR Editor Buck noted, statements by Harris published in the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist Convention surpassed even her own unmatched record of looniness. Others are starting to agree.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she was “disgusted” by the comments “and deeply disappointed in Rep. Harris personally.”Harris, Wasserman Schultz said, “clearly shows that she does not deserve to be a Representative . . .”

State Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, demanded an apology, saying the statements were “outrageous, even by her standards.

“What is going through this woman’s mind?” said Slosberg. “We do not live in a theocracy.”

…Ahmed Bedier, the Central Florida Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said he was “appalled that a person who’s been in politics this long would hold such extreme views.”

Bedier said most Christians would find such comments “shameful.”

…The criticism was not limited to Democrats.

Ruby Brooks, a veteran Tampa Bay Republican activist, said Harris’ remarks “were offensive to me as a Christian and a Republican.”

“To me, it’s the height of hubris,” said Brooks, a former Largo Republican Club president and former member of the Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee.

And Jillian Hasner, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said: “I don’t think it’s representative of the Republican Party at all. Our party is much bigger and better than Katherine Harris is trying to make it.”

What did Harris say to get everyone so upset? It’s best to read it for yourself. […]