Tag: Conservative Values

Randall Terry for Florida Senate?

Trish

The bad news: Anti-abortion violent wingnut Randall Terry has all but announced he is running for state senate in my district in Florida.

The good news: Randall Terry might be running for state senate.

First, the news itself, then I’ll explain.

St. Augustine Record:

On Thursday, Terry was flanked by his wife, new baby and a dozen supporters at a Plaza de la Constitucion press conference in St. Augustine. He first scheduled a morning announcement in Jacksonville, drove to St. Augustine for a second press conference, then left for Daytona Beach for a third.

At each stop, Terry gave away copies of his 1995 book, “The Sword: The Blessing of Righteous Government and the Overthrow of Tyrants,” now in its fourth printing.

Yes, it sounds suspiciously like he’s running. Why not? He is enjoying newfound respectability, in light of his exploitation of the Terri Schiavo fiasco.

Terry said he became involved in the Schiavo case in 2003 through a mutual friend of Schiavo’s parents. He frequently appeared on TV this year as the parents’ spokesman in their effort to keep her alive.

“Certainly my ability to be in everyone’s living room night after night was a help to me in this race, if I decide to do it,” Terry said.

Yeah, right, “If.” Terry is targeting Jim King, former Florida Senate president, who caved to Jeb during the first Schiavo wars a couple of years ago and got “Terri’s Law” passed. That very specific bill (it only applied to her) kept the woman on life support so her parents and Randall Terry could fight another day. King later called it the worst decision of his life, in view of his own ordeal to help his parents pass peacefully in hospice care, and did not support government intervention in the recent Schiavo battle.

Terry hammered at King’s record, saying the senator is pro-choice, not pro-life, “repeatedly offered special rights to homosexuals,” is “more interested in teacher’s unions than in kids,” and had named Democrats to committee chairs.

If Jim King ends up with no Democratic opposition, I’m signing up for his campaign. He sounds like my kind of guy, plus I have come to respect him in the dealings I’ve had with state politics.

Terry, on the other hand…Well, what can I say?

Terry, 46, of Ponte Vedra Beach, gained national notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s by organizing anti-abortion rallies, closing abortion clinics and aggressively harassing women seeking abortions.

Aggressively harassing pregnant women? What a values-burdened soul.

In 1986, he founded Operation Rescue. He now operates The Society for Truth and Justice.

… Terry said his inflammatory language and actions got him in trouble in the past. Google his name and 1.5 million sites will discuss his personal, financial and political history.

Terry said much of what he is quoted as saying is false or taken out of context. Some was humor that didn’t translate to a page.

“And a lot of us have said (and done) stuff in our 20s that we regret,” he said Wednesday. “That’s not who I am now.”

There you are, just going along having fun, bellowing death threats at pregnant women and the doctors who treat them, blowing up buildings without regard to who might be inside, getting arrested more than 40 times, and people go and try to make that sound…not good. I hate it when that happens.

In any event it sounds like the concept, “personal responsibility” doesn’t keep Terry up at night.

The Palm Beach Post has more:

Terry moved in 2003 to a house in Ponte Vedra Beach that was purchased with donations from anti-abortion activists after he said he was wiped out financially by court judgments stemming from his anti-abortion activities…

Ponte Vedra, in case you don’t know, is the whitest, richest, most Republican enclave you’ll find in Florida north of Palm Beach. It’s the home of The Players Championship PGA tournament, and passes its days behind the security gates that line A1A. Ever wonder where all that money went when the stock market crashed under Bush I? Come to Ponte Vedra, and you’ll find all the Barbarians at the Gate you’ve been missing. It’s a common bankruptcy strategy to sink $5 or $6 million into a home in Ponte Vedra and then file. In Florida, no one can touch your personal residence.

And these folks like to make their dreams come true. According to OpenSecrets.org, the zip code that represents most of Ponte Vedra gave over $1.3 million in the 2004 election, while the average zip gave about $45,000.

So why am I not entirely appalled that Terry is running for the Florida Senate?

First, I think his candidacy will ensure that Republicans feed on their own during the primary. This will be an all-out war between the most extreme right wing of the party and those who have been skating by because people like Jim King let them say they’re Republicans without taking on the social agendas the GOP has become known for in Bushistan.

King himself acknowledged all this and is counting on reason to prevail in his party. From the Post:

King said Thursday that since the Schiavo vote, he has been expecting a challenge from the “far Republican right.”

King described himself as moderate on social issues. He supports abortion rights but favors parental-notification laws and a ban on late-term abortions.

King called abortion repulsive but said, “I just don’t think it’s the place for the government to be. It’s the same thing in the Schiavo situation.”

Second, if King is defeated, it could clear the path for almost any Democrat who isn’t Hillary Clinton to win. Terry is so far out, and so in la-la land, that he failed to grasp that most Americans did not want the government to force Michael Schiavo to keep his wife on life support. He was quoted at his St. Augustine press conference:

“According to a Zogby poll, the American people were overwhelmingly in favor of intervention, for keeping Terri alive,” he said. “Our Republican base believes in life, not euthanasia.”

Maybe his Republican base, but not Jim King’s.

Third, and finally, if Terry wins it will mean the wingnuts have gone as far as they can go. Florida already had a Republican governor and Republican House and Republican Senate this past session, and found out even one-party rule did not ensure smooth passage of stupid bills. If more guys and gals like Randall Terry go to Tallahassee, and someday to Washington, they will become the status quo and it will mean the pendulum is at its highest arc. You know what happens after that.

Baptist Preacher: ‘Koran Needs to Be Flushed’

Jon Ponder

“The Koran needs to be flushed!” is the message a Baptist church in rural North Carolina is sending to the world. And the Christianist extremist preacher who runs the Danieltown Baptist Church says he would have no regrets if his message enflames violence in the Moslem world.

Rev. Creighton Lovelace told MSNB’s Keith Olbermann on the May 24, 2005, edition of “The Countdown” that the violence won’t be his fault because God gives people free will, and angry Moslems would be making a wrong choice if the sign’s message angered them so much that they became violent.

Not that it would matter. Moslems are all going to hell anyway because the Koran is an instrument of Satan, Lovelace said on Olbermann’s air.

In published reports, Lovelace adopted a softer tone:

“I don’t hate Muslims. I don’t hate Islamic people. I just hate the false doctrine.”

Lovelace, 23, says he chose to demean the Koran, the holy book for the world’s second largest religion because Moslems “don’t worship Christ as the son of God.” He was also quoted in a local paper as saying:

“I believe that it is a statement supporting the Word of God and that it (the Bible) is above all and that any other religious book that does not teach Christ as Savior and Lord as the 66 books of the Bible teaches it, is wrong,” said Lovelace. “I knew that whenever we decided to put that sign up that there would be people who wouldn’t agree with it, and there would be some that would, and so we just have to stand up for what’s right.”

Lovelace posted the message on a portable highway sign outside his church near Forest City, N.C., as a reaction to a Newsweek report that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet in order to torture Moslem detainees. The Newsweek story reportedly further enflamed protests already planned in Afghanistan, during which more than a dozen people were killed. President Bush’s spokesman all but laid the blame for deaths caused by rioting in Afghanistan at Newsweek’s door.

The head of the Southern Baptist Church was quick to disavow the sign and its hateful message. Morris H. Chapman said, “Of course, the Koran does not support the beliefs of Southern Baptists, but we recognize and respect the rights of Muslims to believe as they choose. Furthermore, Southern Baptists wish to relate to our Muslim neighbors in a respectful manner that allows mutual sharing of our beliefs.”

Florida Dem Confronts Hypocritical Jeb

Trish

Crackerjack press release today from the Florida House Democratic Caucus, sharing a memo from one House member to Gov. Jeb “I’m Such a Hypocrite I Can’t Believe It Myself” Bush.

Florida Media Outlets and Other Interested Parties:

Below you will find an e-mail that State Representative Tim Ryan (D-Dania Beach) sent to Governor Bush this morning regarding the Governor’s new found support for redistricting reform—for California residents.

Dear Governor Bush:

I was thrilled to hear that you had embraced the idea, and even held a fundraiser here in Florida, to support the concept of having an independent redistricting commission, not politicians, draw the boundaries for state legislative and congressional districts — until I realized you were only supporting the idea for California, and not for Florida.

Both our states have seen one party use gerrymandering to unfairly dominate their respective state legislatures. In Florida, the Republicans have used squiggly lines on district maps to give themselves a 2-to-1 advantage in both the state legislature and Congressional delegation, despite the fact that there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state. In California, Democrats have pretty much done the same. But just because both parties do it, that doesn’t make it right.

So how about it, governor? I’ll endorse an independent redistricting commission in California — even though it’ll mean fewer legislative seats for my fellow Democrats — if you’ll join AARP, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and a host of other good-government groups and endorse the idea of taking redistricting out of the hands of politicians with a vested interest in the process here in Florida.

I look forward to joining you and Governor Schwarzenegger at a future fundraiser in support of reforming Florida’s redistricting effort, along with Attorney General Charlie Crist, Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings and Members of Congress Ander Crenshaw, Mark Foley, Mario Diaz-Balart, Ginny Brown-Waite, who all voted for independent redistricting as members of the State Senate in 1993.

F***in� A.

Washingtonienne Outs GOP Official as Fan of Spanking

Jon Ponder

Karena’s Blog:

Last year, Robert Steinbuch, legal counsel to right-wing Republican Senator, Mike DeWine, ended up in this girl’s blog. Jessica Cutler, an aide to (R) Mike DeWine, wiled away her office hours blogging about her sex life. According to Cutler, who blogged under the pen name, The Washingtonienne, six men on Capitol Hill were her current lovers, including one Bush appointee.

Her tale included lurid details of sex-for-pay, anal sex, and bondage. On her blog, she referred to her lovers by initials only. DeWine fired Jessica for improper use of Senate computers and other bloggers, including Wonkette, who exposed the story, and Calico Cat who uncovered details about “RS,” launched the story into the blogosphere. The lover that Jessica referred to as “RS” was quickly identified as Robert Steinbuch. However, it was already known around the Senate office that the pair were engaged in randy sleep-overs. Jessica had blabbed to her office mates about Robert’s passion for spanking.

Robert Steinbuch, now Senior Deputy Counsel for the IRS, claims he suffered emotional trauma and humiliation when Jessica revealed the lurid details of their sex life on her blog. In his suit, posted by The Smoking Gun, Robert Steinbuch says, “It is one thing to be manipulated and used by a lover. It is another thing to be cruelly exposed to the world.” You can read the entire legal filing on The Smoking Gun.

What is Steinbuch thinking? First of all, this cruel exposure happened over a year ago and no one even remembers this guy. Jessica has a book deal, but who the heck would buy her book? And even if it’s a best seller, what private details were in her blog and upcoming book that could have caused this recent bout of emotional distress for Steinbuch?

What’s behind this lawsuit? I find it hard to believe that “hand-cuff man” just wants his day in court. Why would he put himself through that mess? Maybe the right-wing is trying desperately to prove they’re heterosexuals. Maybe that is why Ms. Mary Carey is going to Washington. Bring out the babes to detract from Jimmy Jeff Guckert Gannon, Neal Horsley, and horse wanking “W”. Is this part of a well-orchestrated Rovian plot to out right wingers as heterosexuals?

Because We’re Republicans, That’s Why

Trish

Arnold’s going nationwide in his Rules Were Meant to Be Broken Tour.

Today’s Miami Herald says what Arnold and Jeb are doing doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to make money.

The California governor is trying to raise about $30 million for three ballot initiatives designed to help him bypass the legislature by setting up an independent commission for redistricting, increase qualifications for teacher tenure and impose a spending cap on the state budget.

The fundraising swing will also take Schwarzenegger to Orlando, Chicago and Dallas in the next three days.

Critics say both Bush and Schwarzenegger are hypocrites. They note Bush doesn’t support Democrat-backed efforts in Florida to create an independent redistricting commission, and he has called for rolling back the citizen initiative process, saying it has been corrupted by out-of-state money. ”The hypocrisy is thick,” said Ned Wigglesworth, from the California campaign finance watchdog, therestofus.org.

Even talk-your-way-out-of-any-contradiction Jeb seems unequal to the task of explaining how this one could possibly be consistent with his efforts in Florida.

He wouldn’t comment on the criticisms, responding to a Herald reporter’s email only by saying: “I support the governor.”

The end is in sight for Florida at least (read on). Let’s just hope the Bush dynasty ends for the nation too.

Bush EPA Official Admits Helping Developer Destroy Wetlands

Buck Banks

In a move that places him squarely in the pantheon of Republican environmental “watchdogs,” Jimmy Palmer, chief of the southeastern region for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testified against the agency and on behalf of a former client – a real estate developer – in a criminal trial. Under oath, Palmer, whose title is Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 Office, admitted advising the client to ignore EPA cease and desist orders regarding a real estate development in a wetlands area.

According to information released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Palmer peppered his testimony with criticisms of the EPA. Meanwhile, his former client, an unscrupulous developer who bucked the EPA, Mississippi state government and even the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was found guilty.

Palmer was selected by President Bush to oversee EPA operations in the eight-state Southeastern Region in October 2001 and was sworn in following Senate confirmation the following January. At the time of his selection, Palmer was the lawyer for a Mississippi developer named Robert Lucas who sought Palmer’s help in subdividing land and installing septic tanks in a 2600-acre development called Big Hills Acres.

In March 2005, after a jury trial, Lucas was convicted for misrepresenting the habitability of the lots and installing septic systems in saturated wetland soils at Big Hill Acres, despite warnings from the state Department of Health that doing so created a public health threat. Lucas also ignored numerous warnings, as well as cease and desist orders, from both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA because the deteriorating systems threatened to contaminate the local drinking water aquifer.

At the trial, Lucas called Palmer as a defense witness. Palmer, testifying on his own time under subpoena, confirmed his role in advising Lucas in how to sell lots for development despite official cease and desist orders. Palmer also admitted that he regarded EPA staff as “unethical” and overzealous in enforcing the Clean Water Act and aggressively resisted earlier enforcement efforts.

PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noted that during Palmer’s tenure the EPA has not vetoed a single development project for wetlands violations, or any other reason. There is little chance that trend will change in the southeastern region.

In his official capacity as EPA Regional Administrator, Palmer now has before him more than a score of questionable mega-projects that would destroy thousands of wetlands acres in endangered species habitat in order to build projects such as gated golf-course luxury condominium complexes. Palmer has signaled that he will greenlight every project, despite concerns about violations of the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws that Palmer and his agency are supposed to be enforcing.

Read the trial transcript and supporting documents here.

Read Jimmy Palmer’s resume here.

Christian College to Bush: You Don’t Speak for Us

Trish

Score one for the (formerly) good guys. A Christian college is protesting having to hear a graduation address from God’s Friend and Yours, George W. Bush.

Washington Times (sorry):

One-third of the professors at an evangelical Christian college in Grand Rapids, Mich., are taking out a large ad in a local newspaper Saturday to protest President Bush’s commencement speech.

“As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers and to initiate war only as a last resort,” the ad will say. “We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq.”

The 130 signatories, which include 20 staff members, work at Calvin College. Founded in 1876 as a school for pastors of the Christian Reformed Church, it now is one of the nation’s flagship schools for a Christian liberal-arts education.

Whoever wrote the ad kicked Bush butt and took no prisoners.

“No single political position should be identified with God’s will,” says the ad, which also chastises the president for “actions that favor the wealthy of our society and burden the poor.”

Christians are to be characterized by love and gentleness, it adds, but “we believe that your administration has fostered intolerance and divisiveness and has often failed to listen to those with whom it disagrees.”

Moreover, says the letter, set to run in the Grand Rapids Press, the Bush administration’s environmental policies “have harmed creation,” and it asks the president “to re-examine your policies in light of our God-given duty to pursue justice with mercy.”

Apparently no one’s told our leader that he can’t run for a third term. And everybody’s favorite evil comparative genius, Karl Rove, is still muscling his way to the head of the line.

The publication pointed out that the president had been looking for a speech venue in Michigan, a state he failed to carry in 2000 and 2004.

After U.S. Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers, a Republican whose district includes Grand Rapids, got an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove, the college sidelined its previously scheduled commencement speaker, Yale University professor Nick Wolterstorff, in favor of the chief executive.

Thanks to the fabulous WTF Is It Now for noticing this story.

“They Will Know Us By Our T-Shirts” – Jesus?

Trish

At last, someone has figured out how to make even more money off the faithful: T-shirts for teens, adorned with messages of God’s love.

Or not.

AP:

Along with ones saying “Got Jesus?” and “Fear God” are shirts declaring, “Satan Sucks,” “My God can kick your god’s butt,” and “To Hell with the Devil.”

“Our shirts are a little extreme, but I think God is spreading the word and having the youngsters shout out their faith,” Devins said…

Strongly worded religious apparel is a growing trend, said Catherine Stellin, vice president of The Intelligence Group in Los Angeles, which forecasts trends. She said Devins “is ahead of the curve” with her stores.

Teens and those in their early 20s see consumerism as a way to express convictions, she said…

But it’s about more than being obnoxious, these enterprising entrepreneurs insist.

“I couldn’t feel any other way than doing this is doing the work of the Lord. He filled us with this purpose to do this,” she said…

Hard to believe with such a winning and Heaven-sanctioned idea, but there could be a downside.

“My concern with the T-shirts is that may be good for rallying the faithful, but offensive to those outside that circle,” Detweiler said. “Did Jesus build bridges or burn them? Did Jesus ever say they shall know us by our T-shirts?”

Yeah, wasn’t that in the New Testament, between the part about not doing stem cell research and the part that says gays can’t serve in the military?

…Wearers often want to make a point, said Kelton Cobb, professor of theology and ethics at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.

“If I wear it, I’m not only saying that I’m a religious believer but that I’m also a cool and clever religious believer,” Cobb said.

Thanks for explaining that. The point would have actually eluded me.

And Pretty Soon You’re Talking About Real Numbers

Trish

I didn’t plan to post today but sometimes fate intervenes. I can’t resist this.

First we have the story about the Seminole County (near Orlando) GOP chair winning his defamation suit against another GOP officer who said he had been married six times when he was only married five so far.

Circuit Judge Clayton Simmons ruled Wednesday that a mistake on the number of Stelling’s marriages was harmless but concluded a spousal abuse claim was false and defamatory…

Stelling had been married five times but the letter said six.

“I believe in family values,” Stelling testified Tuesday.

Goettman asked Stelling whether being off by one really matters when the number gets that high.

“I beg your pardon,” Stelling said. “Of course I don’t agree with that statement.”

Two of Stelling’s wives were in the courtroom, including his current wife Lorayne.

Then you have a story about how Democrats are doing much better in Seminole County. With the Republican party leaders they have down there, is anyone surprised?

A longtime Republican said a rejuvenated Democratic Party would be a good thing in that it would encourage campaigns that focus on issues instead of personalities.

“If you have a viable opposing party, the discussion is issue-focused,” former County Commissioner Fred Streetman said.

Could not have said that better myself.

Whining and Dining for DeLay

Trish

Are you going to the “Keep Tom DeLay Out of Jail” dinner tonight in Orlando? All you need is $250 and you can join the other 1,000 devoted followers.

Orlando Sentinel

It’s too early to know whether the dinner is the beginning of the end for DeLay or part of a comeback against the allegations.

“It’s usually a sign you’re in deep trouble,” scholar Norm Ornstein of the think tank American Enterprise Institute said of the dinner. “They wouldn’t do this if it was just a few pebbles.”

Of course, most of tonight’s diners have gotten much more than $250 from DeLay over the years. This is just a pittance, as paybacks go.

Florida Republican lawmakers have benefited from thousands of dollars in campaign donations from DeLay and his political-action committee, often just when some of them needed it most during tight races.

[Rep. Tom] Feeney, for instance, received $10,000 from DeLay’s political-action committee in his first congressional campaign. Rep. Ric Keller of Orlando got $21,000 from DeLay and his PAC in his first two elections. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, received $20,000 in her first two elections.

Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., R-Fort Lauderdale, who is in a swing district, has received more than $31,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics…

Shaw said the donations from leaders such as DeLay, which are common, are for the purpose of “maintaining the majority.”

“He is our leader, and in my opinion he will remain that leader,” Shaw said.

Funny they should mention Clay Shaw. He has own “DeLay Problem” at the moment. Read on.