BARACK OBAMA SPEAKS OUT!

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA IS THE FIRST TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE ANTI-GAY BIAS OF BUSH NOMINEE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL~

"America’s top doctor should be a doctor for all Americans, and so I have serious reservations about nominating someone who would inject his own anti-gay ideology into critical decisions about the health and well-being of our nation. As with other nominees, I will listen to the testimony of Dr. James Holsinger, but this Administration must know that the United States Surgeon General's office is no place for bigotry or ideology that would trump sound science and good judgment."


Surgeon General Nominee Holsinger Has Broad Anti-gay Bias

George Bush's nomination for U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger

Holsinger's anti-gay bias has come under closer scrutiny in the past couple of days with the release of a paper he wrote in 1991 on the dangers of "anal eroticism" in which he concluded that gay sex is "intuitively" unnatural. Here's a bit of it:

"In fact, the logical complementarity of the human sexes has been so recognized in our culture that it has entered our vocabulary in the form of naming various pipe fittings either the male fitting or the female fitting depending upon which one interlocks within the other. When the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur..."

Holsinger also voted to oust a lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church, the NYT reports:

"As president of the Methodist Church's national Judicial Council, Holsinger voted last year to support a pastor who blocked a gay man from joining a congregation. In 2004, he voted to expel a lesbian from the clergy. The majority of the panel voted to keep the lesbian associate pastor in place, citing questions about whether she had openly declared her homosexuality, but Holsinger dissented."

The congregation Holsinger helped establish, Hope Springs Community Church, as I noted earlier, advocates "curing" gays and lesbians.

FOR YOUR READING PLEASURE!

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I've discovered two new BLOGMASTERS! Acutally, they found me, but I'm responding......

I don't want to say much about either one; instead, I invite you to visit each of these two fine gentleman and see/read for yourself why I'm so honored to include them on my blogmaster list.

In Coming Out in Mid-Life in Red America, Michael writes about politics, life with his partner, publishes some great "eye candy"; but most importantly, he writes about the difficulties he's encountered as a married man with children after realizing he is gay (look for those posts, specifically - sad but enlightening). Michael is on my BLOGMASTER list as Michael-In-Norfolk.

In Out in the Middle of Idaho, Dylan simply writes beautifully. His post Blue Eyed Country Menfolk is just wonderful (read every word and you'll understand why I've fallen in love with Big Bob). Dylan is on my BLOGMASTER list as Out In Idaho.

ENJOY~ and tell them dondon009 sent you!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

LET'S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.....
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Al Gore: The Conscience of the Democratic Party

He's eloquent, passionate, relentless, undaunted.

The first political figure to oppose the Iraq war, Al Gore is also the lead champion in the fight against global warming, a passionate defender of our Constitution, and an unyielding voice against the Bush Administration's abuse of power.

Given his unmatched experience and leadership on issues of moral imperative, Gore is increasingly seen as Democrats' best bet to win back the White House.

Timetables..........

Reacting to President Bush's veto of the Iraq supplemental bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted this evening that Bush once believed it was important for a president to lay out a timetable:

The president wants a blank check. The Congress is not going to give it to him.

The president said, in his comments, he did not believe in timelines, and he spoke out very forcefully against them.

Yet in 1999, on June 5th, then-Governor Bush said, about President Clinton, "I think it’s important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they would be withdrawn."

Despite his past statements, President Bush refuses to apply the same standard to his own activities. Standards - that's the issue.

If the president thinks that what is happening on the ground in Iraq now is progress, as he said in his comments tonight, then it's clear to see why we have a disagreement on policy with him. I agree with Leader Reid. We look forward to working with the president to find common ground, but there is great distance between us right now.

Another Bush Clown makes an exit!

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Bush administration's so-called "AIDS Czar," Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias was criticized by some for emphasizing faithfulness and abstinence over condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS.

In a 2004 interview, Tobias explained his approach as "A and B and C. . . Abstinence works. 'Be faithful' works. Condoms work. They all have a role. But it's not a multiple choice, where there is only one answer."

As a top official overseeing global AIDS funding to other countries, Tobias was responsible for enforcing a U.S. policy, enacted during the Bush administration, that requires recipients to swear they oppose prostitution and sex trafficking. USAID adopted a similar policy in 2004.

Tobias submitted his resignation Friday, one day after confirming to ABC News that he had been a customer of a Washington, D.C. escort service whose owner has been charged by federal prosecutors with running a prostitution operation.

Tobias, 65, director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), had previously served as the ambassador for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief.

A State Department press release late Friday afternoon said only he was leaving for "personal reasons."

On Thursday, Tobias told ABC News he had several times called the "Pamela Martin and Associates" escort service "to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage."

A Question of Morality ~ Part 2

Under pressure from gay rights groups, two rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, issued statements yesterday saying they believed homosexuality was not immoral.

Mrs. Clinton, who has particularly cultivated gay voters and donors, found herself under the most intense fire yesterday after she said on Wednesday that the morality of homosexuality was for "others to conclude." Later that day, after complaints from gay rights groups, she put out a statement indicating she thought homosexuality was not immoral, though she did not use those words.

Her remarks left some gay donors and advocates angry; several said yesterday that they believed she was afraid to say the words "moral" or "immoral" because Republicans might use them against her.

The issue arose this week after Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in published remarks that he believed homosexuality was immoral.

Officials from the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said they had a conference call with Clinton campaign officials yesterday to argue for a clearer statement; they did not speak to Mrs. Clinton directly. Other gay advocates, including the Empire State Pride Agenda, also lodged complaints. Blogs about gay politics and culture, too, excoriated Mrs. Clinton for raising money from gay donors yet being unable to reject the idea that homosexuality was immoral.

"Given the emotionally charged politics of the situation, for the sake of clarity, I hope she expressly rejects the word 'immorality' as it applies to gay people," Ethan Geto, a gay supporter and fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, said in an interview.

As Mr. Geto was speaking, Mrs. Clinton put out a statement saying just that.

"I have heard from many of my friends in the gay community that my response yesterday to a question about homosexuality being immoral sounded evasive," she said. "I should have echoed my colleague Senator John Warner’s statement forcefully stating that homosexuality is not immoral because that is what I believe."

Gay advocates, including representatives of the Human Rights Campaign, also spoke to Mr. Obama’s campaign yesterday. Mr. Obama side-stepped the morality question three times on Wednesday, then put out a statement that night that rebuked General Pace but did not directly address morality. He did so in a statement yesterday, saying he did "not agree with General Pace that homosexuality is immoral."

New York Times
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: March 16, 2007

Gay Porn Star ~ Republican Poster Boy

Life just gets a little crazier every day!


Marine reservist Matt Sanchez, 36, was awarded an Academic Freedom Award at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where Ann Coulter hurled her now-infamous "faggot" insult against Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards. Sanchez was photographed posing with Coulter at the conference.

Sanchez recently appeared on conservative TV talk shows, including The O'Reilly Factor, criticizing "radical antimilitary students" he met while recruiting at Columbia University in New York, where he is a student.

Prior to his political career, Sanchez worked as a gay-porn star under the names Rod Majors and Pierre LaBranche. He starred in "such art films as Jawbreaker, Donkey Dick, and Glory Holes of Fame 3.

Matt Sanchez

"Now, porn stars are entitled to enter the military, although Sanchez obviously had to do it on the down low. Porn stars are entitled to have a right-wing ideology, even though the very people he supports would love to see gay porn stars strung up by the nuts." Blogger: Joe.my.god

Which of the following Gay Porn starring Matt Sanchez as Rod Majors/Pierre Labranche will they feature at the Republican Convention?

The Best of Dave Logan (1999)
Touched by an Anal (1997)
Jawbreaker (1995)
All About Last Night (1995)
Built Tough (1995)
Beat Off Frenzy (1994)
Bi-conflict (1994)
Conflict of Interest (1994)
Idol Country (1994)
Laid to Order (1994)
Lunch Hour 2: Sweating Grease (1994)
Man to Men (1994)
Secret Sex 2: The Sex Radicals (1994)
Montreal Men (1993)
Woody's (1993)
Call of the Wild (1992)

"I am embarrassed to admit that was I worried that my fellow conservatives would distance themselves from me when the news about my film career broke. The opposite has happened. I've been asked to give my point of view, invited to speak at various functions, and invited back on television. My peers on the right have gone out of their way to give me a vote of confidence and avoid a rush to judgment." Matt Sanchez

Politics as usual

NEW YORK At least one newspaper has canceled Ann Coulter's column after she implied that Democratic politician John Edwards is a "faggot."

The daily Lancaster (Pa.) New Era, in a note to readers, said it "halted publication of Ann Coulter's syndicated column following her crude characterization of presidential candidate John Edwards as a homosexual at a public appearance on Friday. Coulter's use of name-calling, sarcasm, and overstatement in her columns too often detracts from the arguments she seeks to make. ...

"Lancaster County residents of whatever political view -- conservative, moderate, or liberal -- deserve intelligent discussion of issues. Ann Coulter no longer provides that."

IThe editor added: "My primary objection to Coulter's antics are that they distract attention from the issues that are important -- the war in Iraq, immigration policy, spending policy, health care. Her schoolyard taunt of John Edwards is just so irrelevant to American life. I resent having to spend a moment dealing with it."

In other fallout, several advertisers -- including Verizon -- withdrew ads from Coulter's Web site on Monday. "Per our policy, the networked Web site ad purchases are supposed to be stripped of certain kinds of Web sites," said a Verizon spokesperson. "This one could be considered an extreme political Web site, should be off the list, and now it is off the list."

AT&T also pulled ads, announcing: "Many of our ad placements -- particularly on the Internet -- are secured in bulk with placements made by third-party buyers with a goal of trying to reach the broadest audiences possible. We ask our media buyers to avoid sites that might generally be seen as offensive or polarizing to the public, which appears to be the case with this political Web site. Our ads have been withdrawn."

Universal Press Syndicate distributes Coulter to about 100 newspapers. The syndicate declined to comment to E&P yesterday on Coulter's slur, saying she hadn't made it in her newspaper column.

Coulter's exact words Friday, when speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, were: "I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards."