Slow Learner? No – Obama Shows He Doesn’t Have to Make the Same Mistake Twice

A man who takes an inordinate amount of interest in gay people: Rev. Louie Giglio

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog applauds the announcement from the Obama Inauguration Committee that a Christian pastor who has preached that homosexuality is a “malfunction” that can be cured (cue Macklemore) has been pulled from the roster of the day’s events. Aravosis:

This statement makes it sound more like Giglio was asked to leave, rather than his having parted ways amicably:

Below is a statement from the Presidential Inaugural Committee on Rev. Giglio’s decision to withdraw from the Inaugural Ceremony:

“We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this Inaugural. Pastor Giglio was asked to deliver the benediction in large part for his leadership in combating human trafficking around the world. As we now work to select someone to deliver the benediction, we will ensure their beliefs reflect this administration’s vision of inclusion and acceptance for all Americans.“ – Addie Whisenant, PIC Spokesperson

That is a GREAT statement. It’s exactly what we could have asked for. Yes, I’d have preferred that this snafu didn’t happen in the first place. But they fixed it perfectly, directly, head-on with no waffling. I didn’t expect this.

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Justice Scalia Said WHAT?

Justice Antonin Scalia

Count Justice Antonin Scalia among those who consider homosexuality to be a lifestyle choice, like whether to drive an SUV or a hybrid; whether to vote Democratic or Republican; whether to have lunch at Taco Bell or McDonald’s.

But for those of us who know we couldn’t just wake up one day and “choose” to be attracted to one gender or the other (i.e., anyone who’s honest with him or herself and who is not bisexual) think Scalia’s recent comments, even though he’s trying to sell a book, are outrageous.

Scalia: If we legalize homosexuality, we’ll have to legalize masturbation and sex between consenting, unmarried adults too

“Many Americans do not want persons who openly engage in homosexual conduct as partners in their business, as scoutmasters for their children, as teachers in their children’s schools, or as boarders in their home,” Scalia wrote. “They view this as protecting themselves and their families from a lifestyle that they believe to be immoral and destructive.”

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Huckabee, Who Once Called Romney’s Church a ‘Satanic Cult,’ Now Puts Out Ad That Says, Vote for Mitt Or You Will Go to Hell

In 2007, when he was running against Mitt Romney in the Republican primaries, Mike Huckabee, the evangelical Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas, suggested that Mormonism was a “satanic cult,” based on an assertion that it is part of the cult’s dogma that Jesus and Satan were brothers.

Now Huckabee is out with a pro-Romney ad that warns voters that if they do not vote for Romney, they are bound for hell.

Partial transcript:

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Religious Right Voters in N.C. and Virginia Are Uneasy about Romney’s Money and the Mormon Church

North Carolina and Virginia are both large swing states — the tenth and twelfth most populous states, respectively — where the political polarity between left and right could not be more extreme. Both states are home to millions of multiethnic white-collar liberals and moderates, most of whom live in the urban enclaves, as well as roughly the same numbers of rural, white evangelical voters who hold extreme, often fantastical right-wing views.

Thirty-five percent of voters overall, and the same proportion of lower- and middle-income white Bible Belt voters, say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who is Mormon.

Pres. Obama won both states in 2008, but in the current campaign, it has become conventional wisdom that he will likely lose North Carolina and win Virginia — although these predictions are not supported in the most recent polls. A PPP survey released on Monday found the president up by 1 point — 49 percent to 48 percent — in North Carolina, while a local poll in Virgina found that Romney was up by 4 points there, 49 percent to 45 percent.

In most states where polling is close, the race will be decided by moderate swing voters, and while that is true for the most part in North Carolina and Virginia, the Romney campaign has an additional worry: an evangelical base with a generations-deep suspicion of outsiders, especially those of different faiths, including Jews and Muslims, of course, but also Catholics and Mormons.

Reuters has been in the field in Virginia talking with white Bible Belt voters and found that many of the say they are concerned about Mitt Romney’s wealth and his religion:

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Pat Robertson, Fresh Off the Campaign Trail with Mitt, Advises a Man to Beat His Wife

Keep in mind as you watch Pat Robertson advise a man whose wife insults him that he needs to move to Saudi Arabia so he can “become a Muslim and beat her,” that Mitt campaigned this weekend with Pat at his side. Make no mistake about the “conservative” attitude toward women: we are to submit to male authority and if we don’t, well a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.

Nice try by the CBN host to save Pat from saying more, and to laugh off his comments, but we get it. It’s called the Republican War on Women, and it just keeps escalating.

Update: Someone on Facebook reminded us that Vice Pres. Joe Biden was the author of the Violence Against Women Act, and that our choice in November couldn’t be clearer.

H/T to MBH

Buzz Over FOX News’ “Resident Liberal” Using L-Word to Describe Paul Ryan’s Speech

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FOX News' Sally Kohn

Who knew FOX News even had a “resident liberal?” Apparently they do, and the internets are afire over Sally Kohn’s description of Rep. Paul Ryan’s Republican National convention speech titled, Paul Ryan’s Speech in 3 Words: Dazzling, Deceiving, and Distracting.

Two things set apart the column from the others from fact-checkers who dispute almost every word uttered by Ryan and Romney. First, Kohn uses the L-word, something most mainstream outlets bar.

…to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies [emphasis added] and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold.

Second, the column appears on the FOX News website’s opinion page.

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Is God Planning to Smite Republicans in Florida?

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Remember when Christian Coalition founder and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson said the American Civil Liberties Union, feminists, blacks, and gays were responsible for the Sept. 11 terror attacks? Or when he said that Hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans as God’s answer to those who were pro-choice? How about when he said a Haitian earthquake was the result of a deal early Haitians made with the devil?

It looks like Florida, which Pat previously predicted would feel God’s wrath over Disneyworld’s annual “Gay Days” park admission, is finally getting its due. When Pat warned us in 1998, he turned out to be wrong, and the hurricane he thought was coming to Disney instead turned north to Virginia and smote the state that the 700 Club calls headquarters.

Now it looks like God is pissed again, and what is, as of this writing, Tropical Storm Isaac (but which will likely become Hurricane Isaac) is set to hit as Florida opens itself to the pit of inequity that is the Republican National Convention.

Consider how Republicans have recently earned God’s anger.
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