As The Congressional GOP Falls Apart, The Party Is Looking More And More Like TRUMP

We've been commenting lately about how mainstream Republicans are starting to announce their retirements from Congress earlier and in greater numbers than normal. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Charlie Dent (R-PA) and David Trott (R-MI) have already announced they've had it and won;'t be returning to Congress in 2019.  None of them specifically mentioned the new report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, a study that shows hate crimes-- crimes targeting people based on their race, religion, sexuality, disability or national origin-- rose about 5% since Trump was installed in the White House. States with the biggest rates of increase were Indiana (+123%), Minnesota (+27%), Michigan (+22%), New York (+20%), California (+11%) and Kentucky (6%). Cities with the biggest increases in hate crimes are Portland, Oregon (+200%), Phoenix (+46%), NYC (+28%), Seattle (22%), DC (+22%), Cincinnati (22%), Los Angeles (+13%), Philadelphia (+9%) and Chicago (+8%).

Professor Brian Levin, who directed the study, says that attacks against Muslims and transgender people have been rising rapidly and he attributes the rise in general to Trump's rhetoric, which appears to Nazis and racists to be offering them unintentional permission to go on the offense, even violently.

That said, Charlie Dent was interviewed by Andrew Desiderio for the Daily Beast and he seemed to be blaming the retirements on Trump's "isolationism, protectionism, and nativism" plus the nihilism and dysfunction that have marked his first half year in the Oval Office. Dent admitted he didn't vote for Trump last year, neither in the primary nor in the general election.

Since Trump’s inauguration, Dent has clashed with Trump on a host of issues. He criticizes the president’s “economically isolationist tendencies on trade” and his “restrictionist approach” on immigration. He calls the president’s travel ban “ill-considered and horribly executed,” for example, and fought hard against Trump when he was pushing for the passage of the American Health Care Act-- the House version of an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill.

Ahead of the AHCA’s eventual passage, Dent took his concerns straight to Trump-- a man who he believes focuses too heavily on personalities in his approach to politics, rather than substantive policy.

“I was in two meetings with the president. One went well, the other not so much,” Dent said with a laugh. “We just came down on different sides of that. I was opposed to the House bill, and he spoke negatively of the House bill after the fact-- said it was mean. So I don’t know. Go figure.”

Dent was suggesting that Trump decided to lobby support for the bill when he thought it was in his own interest, and soured on it when he realized it could be more of a political ticking time-bomb.

Dent’s pushback against the president on the merits of the AHCA was something that would earn most elected Republicans a primary challenger at their next election. In his meetings with Trump, Dent suggested fixes to the AHCA that went entirely against Republican orthodoxy: that some of the Obamacare taxes remain in place, that the Medicaid aid cuts be softened, and that a provision defunding Planned Parenthood be scrapped.

“He wasn’t happy that I was not supporting the bill, and he let me know it,” Dent said. “He said it was pretty clear it would undermine tax reform if we didn’t pass that bill and that I was going to cause great damage to the Republican party. And he blamed me. OK, but it didn’t change my opinion.”

Unlike Trump, Dent doesn’t make his criticisms personal. He decries the shift toward personality-based politics that he believes predates Trump, but has taken center stage in the Trump era-- and when he agrees with the president, he does so enthusiastically.

Dent applauded Trump’s recent agreement with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to combine Hurricane Harvey relief funds, a debt ceiling increase, and a government funding mechanism into one piece of legislation. The deal was met with disgust from conservatives.

“It was absolutely the right call,” Dent said. “There are not 218 republican votes to extend the debt ceiling for three months, six months, 18 months. So clearly the Democrats had some leverage and the president recognized that. So for the guys in my party that are complaining about the deal… the reason why we got the deal that we got is because a lot of our guys wouldn’t vote for a debt ceiling anyway.”

Dent, who hails from what he calls the GOP’s “governing wing,” was referring to the party’s ideological purists-- those who, in his view, are “very good at telling us what they can never do because it violates their principles.” In recent years, for example, Republican lawmakers have demanded that modest spending cuts be tied to any increase in the federal debt ceiling.

...[T]he conservative hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus have gained immense power and leverage over the years. They successfully forced out embattled House Speaker John Boehner in 2015, and have threatened to shut down the government if their demands for spending cuts aren’t met. Their votes were critical for the passage of the AHCA, which many of them threatened to vote against on the grounds that it wasn’t conservative enough. Dent refers to them as obstructionists who remain “cohesive as a unit” to derail any negotiations with the other side.

“They can’t pass what they want, but they can stop things from happening,” Dent said, referencing the government shutdown in 2013 as the first incident that sparked his consideration of retirement.

“Some of the frustrations predated Donald Trump,” Dent added. “The difficulty of enacting just the most basic fundamental items of governance-- from keeping the government open to not defaulting on our nation’s obligations, and other similar things like budget agreements and just necessary bills that had to be enacted or re-authorized-- these types of matters were becoming extraordinarily difficult to enact.”

Still percolating is the uptick in internecine warfare that will manifest itself in destruction, ideological (and careerist) primaries. We've been reading about Bannon's and Mercer's plans to finance neo-Nazi extremists against mainstream GOP Senate incumbents in Alabama, Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee and Mississippi. The likeliest result will be candidates less able to compete for the votes of independents in general elections-- and seriously depleted campaign war-chests. Even Paul Ryan has a Republican opponent from the Trump wing of the party, one who Bannon is trying to persuade to run as a third party candidate in the general election where he can do Ryan the most harm. Crazy Republicans, huh?

Resisting Arrest Can Now Be Considered a Hate Crime in Louisiana

Cops copping a feel. Is it a hate crime in Louisiana to react to this ... or complain?

by Gaius Publius

Just a brief note while I work on a longer piece about the bipartisan history behind the most obvious of the multiple coups we're experiencing, the Trumpian one.

This has trial balloon written all over it. From Jacob Sugarman at Alternet:

Resisting arrest can now be considered a hate crime in Louisiana

The bill empowers police to pursue more draconian punishments if crimes are motivated by animus towards the police

In May of 2016, Louisiana’s Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards signed the “Blue Lives Matter” bill, which protects police officers, firefighters and EMS officials under the state’s hate crime statute. The law went into effect in August, and now at least one police chief is ready to apply it to anyone resisting arrest.

“We don’t need the general public being murdered for no reason and we don’t need officers being murdered for no reason. We all need to just work together,” St. Martinville Police Chief Calder Herbert told a local ABC affiliate. “Resisting an officer or batter of a police officer was just that charge, simply. But now, Governor Edwards, in the legislation, made it a hate crime.”

While the bill does not specifically list resisting arrest as a qualifying offense, it empowers police officials to pursue more draconian punishments of crimes deemed to be motivated by animus towards the police. The Huffington Post’s Julia Craven offers a chilling scenario: “If a police officer grabs a protester’s arm during a demonstration and that person makes a movement the officer considers aggressive, a minor trespassing or disturbing the peace charge could be bumped up to assault and possibly considered a hate crime.”

The Trump administration has taken notice: "On WhiteHouse.gov, the Trump administration has vowed to make life uncomfortable for “the rioter, the looter [and] the violent disrupter.” It also pledges to increase the number of officers on the streets."

Again, a trial balloon, but in this cop-and-prosecution worshiping country, it's almost guaranteed to take flight. After all, given the current Congress, I'd be shocked if a federal version wasn't attempted.

Note also the provisional language in the write-up — "can be considered" a hate crime. This means, the charge is available if the prosecutor wants to use it, selective prosecution, in other words, used against selected targets. After all, if the cop tells a judge, "She called me a 'pig,' your honor," ("pig" being a hippie-era epithet for "cop"), that may be all it takes to get a conviction. And note, the charge doesn't even have to be true, just asserted by police (who of course, never lie).

As I said above, there are multiple coups going on, including an obvious one made invisible by the media and cheered by the Democratic Party (see "Who’s Blackmailing the President?"). There are also at least two counter-coups, one hidden and big-footed by the other (for a hint, see "The Sanders Conundrum"). But the coup one in plain sight should not be ignored. It really is happening.

GP
 

Trump -- The Art And Acts Of The Emboldened: The Rise In Hate Crimes Under The Influence Of Comrade T

2016 In Review: America Off The Rails, Part 8

[Click to enlarge.]

by Noah

There have always been hate crimes, but now, since Comrade Trump's incessant hateful spew has become a daily segment of news coverage, according to the FBI there has been a 67% uptick in hate crimes just against Muslims. The uptick corresponds particularly well with Trump statements such as a call for a "complete ban on all Muslims." But, of course, Muslims are not the only target of the President-elect.

He directs his words (doesn't he have "the best words"?) at minorities in general. The tacit, and often overt, acceptance of the endorsements and glowing approvals of every white-nationalist and Aryan-supremacy group in the world has led to an increase in pro-KKK, anti-Semitic graffiti and similar anti-"other" utterances around the country. These groups have been listening to Trump and now feel they have a license. It seems that under Trump all is now permissible.

The campaign and election of Comrade Trump, designed to fear-monger and set Americans against Americans, has emboldened the haters. The embrace of Comrade Trump by the Republican Party has brought bigotry of all kinds, a key component of republicanism for decades, to the forefront. It's all about divide and conquer.

[Click to enlarge.]

We haven't heard the likes of Trump and people like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Speaker Paul "Crazy Eyes" Ryan doing much speaking out against such behavior now, have we? No, instead we have seen them embrace the appointments and nominations of virulent homophobes such as Mike Pence and Rick Perry and white-supremacy advocates like Steve Bannon. In the few instances that repug politicians do speak out about such things, it is gratuitous, insincere, and obviously runs counter to their previous statements, policies, and actions.

Below are just a few representative examples of Trump's Brown Shirts at work, spreading the word and acting out. Republicans can call them all hoaxes. That's been a traditional tactic throughout history. But when you have witnesses and film, the claim of "hoax" doesn't stick. It's getting ugly out there. Now there has been retaliation against Trump supporters, which is just as bad. It will get worse on both sides. This is what Trump and his party have unleashed.

THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE.
WELCOME TO TRUMP'S AMERICA.



In Whitefish, Montana, a white supremacy group headed by Richard Spencer, aka "The Heil Trump Guy," has decided to take to the streets and has scheduled a "March Against Jews." Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, editor of The Daily Stormer, says:

We are continuing our barrage against the criminal Jews of Whitefish. We are planning an armed protest in Whitefish. . . . We can easily march through the center of town carrying high-power rifles.

Well, that kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it? It's almost poetic, if one was to interpret it as Andrew Anglin saying, "We can easily march through the center of town naked, carrying our high-power penis-compensation devices." Anglin rails against what he calls "The Jew Agenda" and has issued reminders of his beloved Nazi Germany by superimposing yellow Jewish stars on photos.

Here where I live, in New York City, a Muslim transit worker was recently shoved down some stairs at Grand Central Terminal as she was reporting for work. The assailant shouted "terrorist" at her and told her to go back to "her own country," adding, "You shouldn't work here."

It seems there's no pleasing the righties. They accuse people of not wanting to work. Yet when people are just going about their own business and going to their job, they have an issue with that, too.

Hate crimes in New York are up 115% since Election Day, with 43 hate crimes reported compared with 20 in the same period of 2015. 24 of those crimes were anti-Semitic. 4 were anti-Muslim. Arrests have increased by 45%.

Interestingly, the far-right Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post included the fact, right in their headline, that the transit worker who was assaulted was wearing a hijab, as if that was some sort of a crime, or maybe she was asking for trouble. She was also wearing her transit worker's uniform.

In another New York assault, a man threatened to slit an off-duty officer's throat, calling her "ISIS." Apparently, part of her crime was that she too was wearing a hijab. The attacker, sounding like he was at a Trump rally, yelled "We can't allow this."

In Loveland, Ohio, a message of intolerance and racial hate was painted on a park bike trail. The "art" included a 15-foot-wide depiction of Pepe the Frog. Pepe, a once-innocent cartoon amphibian character, has been coopted by anti-Muslim and white-supremacy groups but is mostly used by anti-Semitic types for neo-Nazi propaganda purposes.

[Click to enlarge.]

Depictions of Pepe were known to show up at Trump campaign events. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently added Pepe the Frog to its database of hate symbols. The ADL also denounced Trump's campaign for its apparent promotion of the use of Pepe. Wouldn't you love to know what Trump's alleged white-supremacist, anti-semitic chief strategist Steve Bannon thinks of all this?

This sort of graphic art has been found lately all across the country. In Hartsdale, NY (just north of the city) a wall on a path to the local train station was painted with swastikas, the N-word, Trump, and KKK, among other things the day after the election. It was clearly done as a celebration and "in your face" kind of statement. Similar graffiti "art" was found on a park path on Long Island -- just one of many post-election incidents on Long Island. At least one, on a sidewalk in Mineola, combined red swastikas with the words "Make America White Again."


New York Daily News caption: "Police found a red swastika and the words 'Make American White Again' spray-painted onto the sidewalk along Washington Ave. in Mineola on Long Island on Nov. 30." [Click to enlarge.]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported in late November that just a week before the election, a historically black church in Greenville, Mississippi, was burned in what even Mississippi authorities believe was an act of voter intimidation. The words "Vote Trump" were sprayed on the walls of the church.

These are the kind of incidents that Trump supporters often claim are fake and done by Trump-haters, but really, is this something a Trump-hater would want to be caught doing? Would a Trump-hater risk fines and imprisonment over this? Would a Trump-hater enjoy explaining to his or her community that he or she is not really an anti-semite or whatever? No, the people who does this are proud of what they are doing. They are true believers.

Speaking of true believers, here's one Trump supporter who got so enthusiastic about the election result that he went and got himself banned from Delta Airlines for life.



Such outbursts on planes are never cool, especially since 9/11.

The SPLC has also reported that in the ten days following the election there were an incredible 900 reports of harassment and intimidation around the country. Many of the assaulters used Trump's name while committing their assaults. If you go to that link, you can see that the SPLC has charted the post-election incidents in great detail, including breakdowns as to specific type of incident.

In an effort to be thorough, the SPLC has also charted anti-Trump-supporter incidents, but, just like police reports from around the nation, the number of such incidents is minuscule compared with the numbers of attacks on Muslims, Jews, African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, and LGBTQ people.

One horrific attack on a young white homeless man did occur recently in Chicago and made national headlines. In this incident, young African-Americans did the attacking and they invoked Trump's name clearly as some sort of retribution. The idiots even filmed their crime and put it on Facebook.

Let's never forget that Trump began his rise to political prominence by leading the racist birtherism idiocy. This is the atmosphere that the Trump campaign has created. Its flames have been fanned by the usual media suspects who incessantly whine about "political correctness." I have said for years that the republican war against "political correctness" is waged because republicans long to scream the N-word and similar things from the rooftops. Republicans are ridiculously pointing to the Chicago incident and saying that whites are victims just as often as anyone else. Unfortunately for them, FBI data, not just the data of the SPLC, says otherwise and says it loudly and clearly.

[Click to enlarge.]

Meanwhile, President-elect Trump disingenuously says that he has no idea why white supremacists had been "energized" by his campaign -- a campaign filled with incendiary bigoted statements that make the late Alabama Gov. George Wallace sound like a choirboy.

IN TRUMP WORLD,
HATE GETS A PUSH

In a related matter, book publisher Simon and Schuster (CBS Inc.) has given ultra-right extremist Milo Yiannopoulos, a British writer and public speaker (including American college tours) and technology editor for the far, far right Breitbart "News," a $250,000 advance for a book ostensibly about free speech. The author is known for his own brand of bigoted ravings spun from his virulent homophobic, white supremacist, and misogynistic mind. In other words, Simon and Schuster is peddling hate speech for profit by giving Yiannopoulos a mainstream platform.



I'm all for free speech. After all, it can give people quite an opportunity to reveal how evil they are. However, this is more akin to yelling fire in a crowded theater. Right-wingers have already launched a successful campaign to make this yet-to-be-published book #1 on Amazon's "political commentary and opinion" best-seller list. The book comes out in March on Simon and Schuster's "conservative" imprint, Threshold Editions, also known for their books by Rush Limbaugh and President-elect Trump.

I know we can expect TV appearances with sympathizers and fellow hate-spinners such as Sean Hannity, Bill-O, and Tucker Carlson, who has now been announced as the replacement for the departed Megyn Kelly in FOX's 9pm Bigot Hour. In fact, it would not be surprising if FOX "News" or CNN gives Yiannopoulos his own show before the end of the year. Appearances on CBS would also not be surprising, given its relationship to Simon and Schuster. That's how it is with Trump World. Hate gets a push.

2016 IN REVIEW: AMERICA OFF THE RAILS

Here it is, Noah's completed Year in Review for 2016:

Part 1, "Profiles in Cowardice: The Electoral College" (12/23/2016)
Part 2, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #1: Newt Gingrich" (12/27/2016)
Part 3, "The Trumpf Inauguration Committee Finds The Perfect Inauguration Entertainment At Last!" (12/29/2016)
Part 4, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #2: R-R-Reince Priebus" (1/2/2017)
Part 5, "Comrade Trump: The World’s Worst Cabinet Maker, Believe Me -- Meet The New Russian Oligarchs! (1)" (1/4/2017)
Part 6, "Comrade Trump: The World’s Worst Cabinet Maker, Believe Me -- Meet The New Russian Oligarchs! (2)" (1/5/2017)
Part 7, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #3: Governors' Edition" (1/9/2017)
Part 8, "Trump -- The Art And Acts Of The Emboldened: The Rise In Hate Crimes Under The Influence Of Comrade T" (1/10/2017)
Part 9, "Republican Of The Year Nominee #4: It's A Sad Thing When Cousins Marry Edition" (1/11/2017)
Part 10, "Republican Person Of The Year Nominee #5 -- And Winner!" (1/12/2017)
Part 11, "Comrade Trump: Inauguration Entertainment Update!" (1/15/2017)
Part 12, "A DWT Exclusive: We Have The First Draft Of Comrade Trump's Inauguration Speech!" (1/16/2017)

#

Hate Crimes

On April 29, 2009, the House passed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 249-175, 18 Republican abandoning their hate-filled and bigoted leaders, crossing the aisle and voting with the Democrats. Boehner, Cantor, Ryan and McCarthy were against the bill and they had support from 17 of the most racist and conservative Democrats in the House:

• Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK,) forced to retire
• Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), defeated with the help of Blue America
• Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), defeated with the help of Blue America
• Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), defeated
• Artur Davis (New Dem-AL), defeated, now officially a Republican
• Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), defeated
• Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), pushed into the Senate in a quirk
• Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), defeated
• Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), forced to retire; now a slimy lobbyist
• Parker Griffith (Blue Dog-AL), switched to the GOP before being defeated at the polls
• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog/New Dem-NC), still hanging on by the skin of his racist teeth
• Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), defeated
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), still in Congress
• Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), forced to retire; now running for governor
• Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), forced to retire
• John Tanner (Blue Dog-TN), forced to retire
• Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), defeated

So, of the 18 homophobic bigots and racist renegades only 3 survived politically, two-- Donnelly and McIntyre-- just barely. The rest were almost all part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010 the following year.

I just want to say one thing about the Hate Crimes bill. In the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, the bill was very important to progressives and Blue America used it to help us vet candidates. One candidate who consciously lied to us and portrayed himself as a progressive to get our endorsement and money was a right-wing shithead from Pennsylvania, Chris Carney. One of the lies he told us is that he would unhesitatingly back the Hate Crimes Prevention legislation if he was elected. Years later, a staffer of his told us he was laughing at us when he made that pledge-- which he promptly broke anyway. He was the only Democrat from the Northeast who voted with the Republicans on that. By then it was obvious he played us for fools and we gave him an ultimatum: either return all the money he had gotten from Blue America donors or face the consequences. His response-- and I quote: "fuck you." We put almost a quarter million dollars into defeating Carney and happily, his miserable career in politics ended as part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse of 2010.

When Dan White, Harvey Milk's murderer, was let off with a slap on the wrist by a bunch of clueless and bigoted jurors, San Francisco was convulsed in riots. City Hall was trashed and six police cars-- I counted them but wasn't responsible for all six-- were overturned and burned. Eventually White was "found dead, an apparent suicide" in his garage, although more than a few people know very well he didn't take his own life any more than the police cars overturned and burned themselves. It made quite an impact on the governing elites at the time. Conventional media types-- as you see today-- hate this kind of extreme activism.

Murdered by right-wing bigots

The presumption of innocence is crucial to us. It just seems like rich folks get more of it

by Ken

And it doesn't hurt if you're on the favored side of an ethnic divide either.

Let me say that I'm nervous about jumping into blogprint about this story, with so much unknown. There isn't, after all, anything at all in evidence, because you only get evidence in a trial, and it appears that Mr. Jennings isn't going to face one of those.

I assume that from the prosecutor's standpoint the case involves too much "he said"-"he said," and then when there's talk of contradictory and false statements, it's understandable that prosecutors are reluctant to prosecute a case they don't feel they can prove. At the same time, it's hard not to notice that one of the parties was a hot-shot banker with a $3.4 million house and the other was a cabbie who's an Egyptian immigrant. And there doesn't seem to be much contradiction that the drunken-bum banker who plunked himself into the cabbie's cab for a ride from the West Side of Manhattan to Darien, Connecticut, never did pay for the ride, or that the cabbie had his hand attacked.

This account by John Dillon was posted this afternoon on Bloomberg. (Links onsite.)

Ex-Morgan Stanley Executive’s Stabbing Charges Dropped

By John Dillon - Oct 12, 2012 2:08 PM ET

Charges against William Bryan Jennings, the former Morgan Stanley (MS) U.S. bond-underwriting chief accused of stabbing a New York cab driver over a fare, will be dropped, police said.

“I’m aware that the charges are being dropped,” Detective Chester Perkowski of the Darien, Connecticut, police department said today in an interview. He declined to comment further.

Jennings was accused of attacking the driver, Mohamed Ammar, on Dec. 22 with a 2 1/2-inch blade after a 40-mile (64 kilometer) ride from New York to the banker’s $3.4 million home in Darien. Ammar, a native of Egypt and a U.S. citizen, said Jennings told him, “I’m going to kill you. You should go back to your country,” according to a police report.

Jennings faced assault and hate-crime charges, each of which brings a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He was also charged with not paying the fare, a misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty March 9.

Eugene Riccio, Jennings’s attorney, wouldn’t confirm that the case had been abandoned.

“All I’m saying is we’re showing up,” he said today in a phone interview. “We have a court date Monday, and we’re going to be there.”

Left Bank

Jennings no longer works at New York-based Morgan Stanley, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter who declined to be named because the information isn’t public.

Pen Pendleton, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley, the sixth- largest U.S. bank by assets, said in March that Jennings had been placed on leave. Pendleton didn’t immediately return a call for comment today.

Riccio declined to comment on his client’s employment. Jennings didn’t immediately return a phone call to his home.

Steven Weiss, the supervisory state’s attorney, didn’t return a call seeking comment on the status of the case.

“Mr. Ammar is outraged by the prosecutor’s decision and continues to demand justice,” Ammar’s attorney, Hassan Ahmad of Ahmad Navqi Rodriguez LLP in New York, said in a statement. “He was anxiously awaiting trial this month and had no indication that the prosecutor would take such a drastic turn nearly a year after this crime was committed and within days of the trial.”

‘Seriously Undermine’

On March 28, Jennings filed a motion seeking to have the case dismissed, arguing that Ammar contradicted himself in statements to the police. The arrest warrant contained false statements and omissions that “seriously undermine” Ammar’s credibility, according to the filing by Jennings. That motion was still pending and was to be the subject of an Oct. 15 hearing.

Jennings flagged Ammar down in front of Ink48, a hotel on Manhattan’s West Side, sometime before 11 p.m. after the banker said his car service didn’t appear, according to the police report. Jennings had been attending a company Christmas party.

Ammar told police that once they reached Jennings’s home, he refused to pay the $204 fare they had agreed on. He said he drove away to find police and that during the ride the banker stabbed him in the hand. Jennings said that they never agreed on an amount and that Ammar had demanded $294, which he viewed as exorbitant.

The case is State of Connecticut v. Jennings 12-0176761, Superior Court for the State of Connecticut (Stamford).

To contact the reporter on this story: John Dillon at Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford at jdillon@snet.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

#

The Congressional Homophobes... Where Are They Now?

We're coming up on the 5th anniversary of the passage of HR 1592, John Conyers legislation that included the LBGT community in federal Hate Crimes protection. The final vote, on May 3, 2007 was 237-180, 25 Republicans abandoning their hateful, bigoted party and joining 212 Democrats to strike another blow for LGBT equality. Shamefully, 14 so-called Democrats crossed the aisle in the other direction to show the world that they are unrepentant homophobes. Most have them have either been subsequently defeated or forced into retirement in the face of impending defeat. Only 5 are still in Congress. These are the Democratic anti-gay hate-mongers who voted with Eric Cantor (R-VA), John Boehner (R-OH), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Steve King (R-IA), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and the GOP self-loathing closet cases like Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Adrian Smith (R-NE), David Dreier (R-CA) and Trent Franks (R-AZ).

Marion Berry (Blue Dog-AR), an alcoholic he retired when polls showed he had virtually no chance to win in 2010.

Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), retiring from Congress at the end of this session to become a lobbyist. He has voted more frequently with Republicans than any other Democrat in Congress and is always counted on by Boehner and Cantor when they want to call any piece of insane right-wing legislation "bipartisan." Boren was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), defeated in 2010 when Democratic voters sat on their hands in NE Pennsylvania; now working for an arms merchant and last seen begging Pennsylvania voters to turn out tomorrow for his corrupt Blue Dog crony Tim Holden.

Bud Cramer (Blue Dog-AL), retired in 2008, a banner year for Democrats when it became apparent that Democrats would no longer support his far right voting record; now working as one of the capital's most notoriously sleazy lobbyists and running a corporately-funded Blue Dog PAC; last seen raising money to smear Democrat Matt Cartwright in the hope of saving the ass of his Blue Dog crony, Tim Holden.

Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN), defeated in a landslide in 2010, losing to teabagger Scott DesJarlais 57.1% to 38.6%-- the third-largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle, and the first time an incumbent had been unseated since the district's creation in 1983. One of his final votes in Congress was against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), rather than go down to certain defeat running for reelection, he's decided to go down to certain defeat running for a Senate seat this year. One has to wonder how the DSCC can run a bigot like Donnelly-- who is said to already be lining up a lobbing job for next year-- with a clear conscience.

Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), realizing he would probably lose his House seat in 2010, he decided to go out in a blaze of Blue Dog glory by running for the retiring Evan Bayh's open Senate seat. He was badly defeated by lobbyist and corporate whore Dan Coats, winning barely 40% of the vote and even losing his own congressional district. He immediately got a job as a gloried lobbyist.

Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN), forced into retirement when he saw polls showing he had no chance of being reelected in 2010 and immediately got a job as a sleazy K Street lobbyist.

Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC), still managing to hang on to a congressional seat, although he votes with the GOP on most important issues. The DCCC is wasting inordinate amounts of money to save his seat this year... so he can continue voting with the Republicans. Like Boren, McIntyre was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Charlie Melançon (Blue Dog-LA), defeated in 2010 by David Diapers Vitter, then in the middle of his myriad sex scandals, mostly because Democrats just stayed home rather than voted for the ultra-conservative Melançon. He immediately took a job as a lobbyist.

Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), a paragon of corruption, he's one of the only homophobes left and still in a safe seat, far off in rural, isolated northwest Minnesota. Peterson was one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), another hopelessly corrupt crook headed for K Street as he retires this year after a disgraceful career in Congress. Ross was another one of the 15 "Democrats" who voted against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2010.

Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), looking at polls, he went from almost declaring a run for governor to realizing he couldn't even win a primary in his own district. K Street-bound, of course.

Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS), defeat in 2010 by clueless teabagger Steven Palazzo, Democrats just sitting on their hands and letting him go down to ignominious defeat when it came out that he had not just voted with the GOP on almost everything but that he had also voted for McCain for president in 2008. One of his final votes before leaving Congress was against repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Blue America has a special bipartisan page devoted to replacing homophobes in Congress. Take your pick. Just click the thermometer or the link above. And, remember, there's no such thing as a contribution being too small.

Were Disaffected Gays Part Of The Shellacking?

Gays "get" irony-- it doesn't pay to screw them over because they don't forget or take it lightly as a community

It's become a truism if not a cliche that the Roman Catholic Church is a sanctuary for mentally ill pedophiles driven by a desire for access to the minor children of the faithful. And one of the countries where the scandal has been greatest lately has been Belgium where the whole hierarchy of the Catholic Church was involved in an organized coverup of the systemic priestly rape of young boys for decades. Pope Ratzinger was furious last summer when the Belgian police treated a meeting of the princes and princesses of his Belgian subsidiary as though they were nothing but a gang of hoodlums, barging into a meeting unannounced, searching the joint after credible allegations were made that cases of sexual abuse had taken place there, confiscating mobile phones, seizing documents, interrogating lordly bishops who have come, over the centuries, to view themselves as above the laws that govern mere mortals.

Although we've been following the Belgian predator priest story closely it was Pam Spaulding who alerted me to the newest twist yesterday.

The head of the Catholic Church in Belgium has said that AIDS is "intrinsic justice" for homosexuality.

Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard also said that elderly priests found to have sexually abused children should not be punished.

His spokesman Juergen Mettepenningen resigned over his boss' remarks, AFP reports.

Discussing HIV-positive people, he said: "When you mistreat the environment it ends up mistreating us in turn. And when you mistreat human love, perhaps it winds up taking vengeance.

"All I'm saying is that sometimes there are consequences linked to our actions," the archbishop said, saying of AIDS, "this epidemic is a sort of intrinsic justice." ... At a press conference, Mr Mettepenningen said of his former boss: "Monsignor Leonard at times acts like a motorist driving on the wrong side of a freeway who thinks all the other motorists are wrong."

Here in America the LGBT community suffered a serious setback this week at the elections. For although more gays and lesbians were elected to public office than ever before-- including David Cicilline Providence's Mayor who will now represent half of Rhode Island in Congress and Jim Gray, the new gay mayor of Lexington Kentucky-- the NY Times pointed out a very different perspective voters showed in Iowa Tuesday when the 3 Supreme Court judges who had ruled in favor of gay marriage equality were removed by angry, self-righteous bigots.

The outcome of the election was heralded both as a statewide repudiation of same-sex marriage and as a national demonstration that conservatives who have long complained about “legislators in robes” are able to effectively target and remove judges who issue unpopular decisions.

Leaders of the recall campaign said the results should be a warning to judges elsewhere.

“I think it will send a message across the country that the power resides with the people,” said Bob Vander Plaats, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor who led the campaign. “It’s we the people, not we the courts.”

But critics of the campaign, including those who see the courts as a protector of minority rights, said the politicization of uncontested judicial elections represented a danger.

“What is so disturbing about this is that it really might cause judges in the future to be less willing to protect minorities out of fear that they might be voted out of office,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California, Irvine, School of Law. “Something like this really does chill other judges.”

...[T]he National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association, poured money into the removal campaign. Judges face no opponents in retention elections and simply need to win more yes votes than no votes to go on to another eight-year term. In Iowa, the three ousted justices did not raise campaign money, and they only made public appearances defending themselves toward the end of the election.

Each of the three justices-- Marsha K. Ternus, the chief justice; Michael J. Streit; and David L. Baker-- received about 45 percent of the vote, making this the first time members of the state’s high court had been rejected by voters. The 71 lower court judges on the ballot all easily won re-election.

The justices’ removal will have no effect on same-sex marriage, which will remain the law.

The judges declined requests for interviews but released a statement that decried what they called “an unprecedented attack by out-of-state special interest groups.” The statement defended the system for selecting judges but offered what a veiled warning about populist impulses to remake the judiciary: “Ultimately, however, the preservation of our state’s fair and impartial courts will require more than the integrity and fortitude of individual judges, it will require the steadfast support of the people.”

The defeat was a bitter disappointment to much of the legal community here, which rallied behind the justices, and it was viewed with particular concern in the gay community, which has found state courts more sympathetic than state legislatures.

Like the tip of a spear, gays seem to be leading the way on not being willing to take the bullshit from the country's ruling elites any longer-- at least not as it pertains to using them as scapegoats and sacrificing the LGBT community on the alter of conservative political dominance. As John Arovosis pointed out at AmericaBlog this week, there was a 15% drop in gay support for House Democrats from 2008 to 2010


And that's not because anyone likes the Republicans any better. In fact, it's worth remembering that of the 17 Democrats who joined the 158 Republicans to vote against including the LGBT community in the Hate Crimes bill on April 29, 2009, only 6 will be back in Congress in January: Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Mike McIntyre (NC), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC), and Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), all of whom also voted against repealing DADT. Among those defeated at the polls Tuesday were homophobes and putative Democrats Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), and Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS).

The DC Democrats can prattle on as much as they like about their "biggest tent ever pitched," but gays aren't buying it, not if one of the stakes using in pitching it is hammered right up their yoo-know-whats. In fact, if you want to believe some of the polling (albeit suspect polling from an untrustworthy group of right-wing self-loathers) 31% of gays who voted, voted for Republicans on Tuesday, four points higher than in 2008. On the other hand, Michelangelo Signorile, a very trustworthy voice, asked his radio listeners yesterday and got an earful from gays who had nothing but bitterness towards Obama and the Big Tent, some of whom voted for violently homophobic Republicans out of pure spite.

Blue Dogs And The Gays

Heath Shuler, anti-gay Blue Dog & member of the C Street cult that advocates murdering gays in Uganda

Blue Dogs say they're about fiscal conservatism. But when it came to voting to include gays in the Hate Crimes bill, all 15 Democrats who crossed the aisle to vote with the Republicans against the LGBT community were... Blue Dogs:

* Marion Berry (AR)
* Dan Boren (OK)
* Chris Carney (PA)
* Bud Cramer (AL)
* Lincoln Davis (TN)
* Joe Donnelly (IN)
* Brad Ellsworth (IN), currently running for Senate
* Bart Gordon (TN)
* Mike McIntyre (NC)
* Charlie Melancon (LA), currently running for Senate
* Walt Minnick (ID)
* Collin Peterson (MN)
* Mike Ross (AR)
* Heath Shuler (NC)
* Gene Taylor (MS)

And on May 27 when Patrick Murphy added an Amendment to a Defense Appropriations bill to end the homophobic practice of Don't Ask Don't Tell, 26 homophobic Democrats again joined the Republicans to vote NO. Knowing they would need gay votes if they were to have any chance to win Senate seats, Ellsworth and Melancon realized they couldn't vote against the LGBT community again. Ellsworth voted YES; Melancon avoided voting at all. But among the Democrats in trouble now, who need every vote they can muster to save their careers-- but who voted against gays on May 27, are Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA), Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Mark Critz (PA), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA), Earl Pomeroy (Blue Dog-ND), Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), and Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC). Some of those names look familiar? They should. The bolded ones also voted against including gays in the Hate Crimes bill.

Sunday the AP ran a widely-discussed article by Tammy Webber, Gay voters angry at Democrats could sway election. "If Democratic candidates," she posits, "are counting on long-standing support from gay voters to help stave off big losses on Nov. 2, they could be in for a surprise."

Across the country, activists say gay voters are angry-- at the lack of progress on issues from eliminating employment discrimination to uncertainty over serving in the military to the economy-- and some are choosing to sit out this election or look for other candidates.

President Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago, with its large, politically and socially active gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, offers a snapshot of what some are calling the "enthusiasm gap" between voters who came out strong for Obama and other Democrats in 2008 and re-energized Republican base voters, including tea party enthusiasts who say they are primed to storm the polls.

Webber neglects to mention that reactionary and bigoted Democrat Dan Lipinski, represents Chicago's southside 3rd CD and that he was one of the Democrats to cross the aisle to vote against Murphy's DADT amendment. Instead she discusses how gay anger and apathy could hurt Alexi Giannoulias, a champion of LGBT equality, in his race against craven homophobic closet case Mark Kirk, who opposes LGBT equality. That's bad strategy.

Most Democrats, in fact, the vast majority have worked hard for equality while all but a tiny handful (and that's one handful, not two) of Republicans have been adamantly, often hysterically, opposed. This isn't the time to punish "The Democrats." It's the time to punish The Homophobes, regardless of party. Nothing would persuade me to vote for someone like Heath Shuler, not even the threat of a Republican winning back his seat. But stay away from the polls in the Illinois Senate fight that pits an equality champion against a frightened and pathetic homophobe? No way, Jose. And as long as we're talking about the worst homophobes in Congress, there are Democrats running who are taking them on and deserve our help. Here's a list-- and an opportunity for some smart last-minute contributions.

The Tyranny Of Hate

- by David Kahne

Hate… We all know it, have seen it, felt it, for and against. I understand it's a perfect strategy to overcome fear, and to make sense of the chaos fear creates. People can hate when their favorite CSI is pre-empted by an Obama speech, even if they like Obama. They can hate when they see the face of someone they disagree with, even if they don't know if that person disagrees with them. The 5 seconds of tolerance, reflection, and self-objectivity needed to overcome fear moving to hate, from thought to action, can be an unbearable eternity-- like a skateboarder's ride interrupted by an old man on a walker, or an old man on a walker borne down upon by a skateboarder.

I'm a cyclist, and I often ride my bike across the George Washington Bridge. I live in Manhattan, and I often take the ride to Jersey, over the bridge, down through the Palisades. It's beautiful down on the river road by the Hudson, and the views from the bridge are spectacular. But when I went across today I found only sadness, looking down at the water, seeing in my mind Tyler Clementi falling through the air, overcome by shame and fear, and broken by the despair of never living in this world in peace, with some loving and intimate relationship to others. He was by all reports a gifted musician, and off on his way to being a class-A player. As a musician myself, who found my love for music saving me a couple of times, I also was saddened by Tyler's loss of even that wonderful solitary connection to the outer world through the beautiful structures of sound, and his own inner resonance.

When I was 6, I lived in Germany. My father was in the Air Force, and was flying the Berlin airlift. I had very little idea what it was all about, but all around me, everywhere we went, was bombed out Munich. Husks of buildings, a bathtub still attached to a pipe, sticking up in the middle of a shredded lot, the house vaporized.  

We went to Dachau for a weekend trip; it was cleaned up, but there were hardly any museum-type signs-- just the showers with the thick white tile and the oversized shower heads, and then the ovens which I realized were for humans when I saw the 8 foot long pokers, the same as the ones I'd seen in home fireplaces, except monstrous.The only sign I remember said "blood ditch;" it was next to a trench running down a hill, covered by a dark wooden grate. Prisoners were lined up and shot, and the ditch ran red, down the hill, into the earth. Outside the ovens, I said to my father "why aren't there any birds in here," as I'd noticed the quiet, I guess. He looked around puzzled, and a man said "oh, they don't come in here." As I write this, I remember the chill that ran through me, and the marvel of sparrows repulsed by the constant unnatural death.

One night my father came home and told my mother a mysterious story about an officer he worked with who had jumped to his death from the roof of a building on the base. I was playing with my toys near them as they spoke, and I don't think they realized I was listening or understood… My father remarked how it was odd that the man had his uniform on but had removed his shoes before he jumped (which seemed so eerie to me, and still does). And there was a clear and defined implication that this suicide was justified because there was something wrong with this man. The word was queer. I had no idea what that meant, but I realized many years later that the tone of voice used to justify the suicide-- as if it were the only recourse for that man, given his sad condition-- came from a fear of otherness so deep that it would never be-- and still has not been-- unmasked and released in my family-- loving people acting in unloving ways.

And a fear I never felt, for some reason… I was afraid of bullies, of crackers in Arkansas later who would call me Jew, of students in my classes when I was a high school teacher who I knew were carrying guns, of losing my sweet daughter to cancer-- but otherness that was simply different was intriguing and curious and somehow creative to think about and to struggle to understand.

I moved to San Francisco after I quit teaching. I was pretty broke, had a young family, and looked for work anywhere I could find it. A few times I took a Greyhound back to Sacramento to make a few bucks playing a gig. I came home late one night, and I was walking down Market St hoping a bus or street car would come soon, as I didn't want to waste extra bucks on a cab back to Stanyan St. A car with four fucked up guys in it pulled up next to me. The car and the guys looked immediately East Bay to me, the kind I would see outside the studio I worked at in the Tenderloin-- the driver in the car getting a blowjob from a tranny hooker which I assumed he knew was a man and was either in denial or secretly liked it, or probably both. One of the guys got halfway out his door and slurred something about faggot; they were obviously going to kick my ass. I said "hey, you've got the wrong idea; if you're looking for some dick, you came to the wrong guy; I'm not gay..." It caught them by surprise, having the tables turned, and I was really scared. A trolley was coming and the guy got back in and they drove off. I got on the trolley and shook slightly all the way home.

That was almost 30 years ago.  

The other night a manager came by my studio to talk about a band I might be working with. (He's very handsome, and has a wife and two kids.) We walked over towards 9th Ave. to eat. A car went by on 53rd St. with 4 wasted guys in it and they started yelling gay hate stuff at us. We were walking East, and 53rd is one-way West so they had to keep going. I looked at the manager and said "they think we're gay" and he laughed and I fell into the hatred, the hard unyielding face of others organizing their empty and threatened lives by wishing to dis-organize me, to bring meaning and control their fear by crushing me, their assumed faggot queer other-- to scream and pummel their projections out of their sight. They can't stand their reflection shining back at them. And their projection can cast a human being shoeless from a roof, or hopeless from a bridge.   

At a panel discussion a few weeks ago, a meditator was talking about his master, a Tibetan monk who had been arrested by the Chinese and tortured for several years before he was released. Someone asked the monk if he was afraid during that time, and he said yes, constantly; he was terrified that he would begin to hate his torturers. Hate was so toxic to him that it was life threatening-- not the hate directed towards him, but the generation of his own. Tyler, given more time, may have found ways to absorb the hate and not let it define his reaction to the injustice and raw indignity that he suffered at the hands of those close to him. He may have been able to forgive them for not knowing what they do. But that strength and wisdom had not come to him yet, and now he is gone from the sight of those who tormented him. And now I will remember him with dignity everytime I pedal across that bridge to the natural beauty along the river road. 

Pat Toomey Presents The Extremist View Of Hate Crimes-- Virginia Foxx Without The Petticoats

You don't usually think of wealthy, white conservatives as fighters against discrimination, right? Wrong. Rich, white conservatives will fight with all they've got-- and they've got it all-- when they persuade themselves that they're the victims. Remember, we're talking about people who are adamant about freedom-- freedom to rip off everyone else and freedom to pollute and pillage. That's the conservative definition of Freedom and of Liberty. So it's not all that surprising that a far right sociopath like Pat Toomey opposes Hate Crime legislation and comes galloping to the defense of society's predators.

KDKA ran a segment on Toomey's jihad against Hate Crime legislation. He and his allies don't believe the government should be protecting society against Hate Crimes. He thinks the government should be protecting Freedom-- like in freedom to do whatever the hell you want... such as hate crimes. Toomey's a deranged, self-obsessed psychopath who made millions as a Wall Street derivatives trader, thinking up ways to manipulate "free" markets to rip off his victims. If wouldn't surprise we if he had one of those GOP Caveat Emptor tattoos across his behind. While he was working to enrich himself by undermining the ability of the public to trust the Market, Joe Sestak was an Admiral in the U.S. Navy leading men in battle. He understands law and order in the same ways a low life with a criminal mind like Toomey's understands nihilism and anarchy and how one profits from the Law of the Jungle.

The last time Hate Crimes legislation passed in the House, 18 Republicans broke with Boehner and the other rightists and supported it-- included Charlie Dent, the Republican who succeeded Toomey as the Representative from the Lehigh Valley. And so did the other mainstream conservatives in the area, Todd Platts (R-PA), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ). That was fewer Republicans than two years earlier (it was 25 Republicans then) when the GOP was more of a mainstream party and less radical right.

Keep in mind that, according to the FBI, there have been over 113,000 hate crimes committed since 1991. Their records show that 55% were motivated by racial bias, 17% by religious bias, 14% sexual orientation bias, 14% ethnicity bias, and 1% disability bias. Pat Toomey joins with other antisocial elements in the GOP, like Rand Paul and Sharron Angle, in opposing hate crime legislation, which in 2008 included 7 murders, 11 violent rapes and over a thousand serious assaults.

America's Gayest Cities-- Where Are They And Who Are They Electing To Congress?

Anti-gay Blue Dogs Hill & Shuler represent 2 of America's gayest cities

Yesterday, while I was researching my post about the problem gays have with the Democratic Party, I came across a whimsical article in The Advocate, Gayest Cities in America. And they are not, according "intrepid amateur sociologist Mike Albo," San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Miami or Chicago. Go figure. Well actually, by Albo's criteria the gayest cities in the country are-- from gay to very gay to super gay to FLAMING-- Albuquerque, San Diego, Springfield (MA), Asheville (NC), Gainesville (FL), Seattle, Austin, Portland (ME), Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Madison, Bloomington (IN), Iowa City, Burlington (VT) and Atlanta. "Georgia," he posits, "isn’t the most gay-friendly state, but Atlanta is undoubtedly our gayest city-- with 29 gay bars here, there’s a reason it’s dubbed Hotlanta. Atlanta’s several queer events include one of the nation’s largest Prides in October (returning to Piedmont Park this year), and MondoHomo, a May event celebrating art, drag, burlesque, film, and BBQ. The gay epicenter is Midtown, anchored by Outwrite Books, a giant gay bookstore bucking the national trend-- by staying in business! Atlanta guys are hunky, the ladies are gracious, the gay sports leagues are seriously well organized, and its housewives (and their gay BFFs, complete with handbags and heels) are now camp icons. And who doesn’t love the sweet lilt of a Georgia accent on a knockout guy or gal?"

Uhhh... ok. There are also 3 gay elected officials in town. In fact, that's one of the criterion for deciding how gay a city is. Do they elect gay officials? Iowa City also has 3, as do Austin, and Seattle. Springfield has one. Madison has 4 (and I don't know if that includes the outstanding member of Congress who represents that part of Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin). Burlington has none (neither do Bloomington, New Orleans, Ft. Lauderdale, Portland, Gainesville, Asheville, Albuquerque, nor San Diego).

Now, Atlanta wasn't disqualified-- and it certainly isn't Atlanta's fault that the state of Georgia has chosen to elect two of the most viciously homophobic senators in the United States, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss (each of whom rates a flat out zero on the ProgressivePunch Senate gay rights scorecard. At least the members of Congress who represent the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area itself are mostly gay-friendly. Hank Johnson (D) has a clean 100% score on gay issues as does civil rights champion John Lewis (D); David Scott (Blue Dog) a shady 75.00; Tom Price (R) a startlingly anti-gay 20.00 and Phil Gingrey (R) a flat out zero.

The last big gay rights issue Congress voted on was the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill, on April 29 of last year. The enabling legislation to move the bill passed 234-190, every single Republican voting against it-- including both the closet queen contingent (David Dreier, Patrick McHenry, Adrian Smith, Trent Franks, etc, etc) and Republicans representing significant gay populations, like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (South Beach and Key West), Mary Bono Mack (Palm Springs) and John Culberson (Houston's Montrose district). But what about The Advocate's gayest cities besides Atlanta? We checked 'em all out (scores are in bracket next to their party identification):

#2 is represented in Congress by two pro-gay senators, Bernie Sanders (I- 100%) and Patrick Leahy (D- 100%) and a pro-gay congressman, Peter Welch (D-100%). Iowa City, #3, sports a gay-friendly congressman, Dave Loebsack (D-100%) and one pro-gay senator, Tom Harkin (D- 100%)) and one crazy old homophobe, Chuck Grassley (R- 0.00%). #4 is Bloomington, Indiana, our first really sad story. Evan Bayh (D- 100%) and Richard Lugar (R- 100%) both surprised me with perfect voting records. The sad part is the local congressman from Bloomington, homophobe Baron Hill (Blue Dog- 60%) who was one of only 15 Democrats to vote against the enabling legislation for the hate crimes bill, has one of the lowest scores on gay issues of any Democrat in Congress, slightly worse than his Indiana Blue Dog colleague Joe Donnelly and a fraction better than homophobic maniacs Allen Boyd of Florida, Artur Davis of Alabama, John Barrow of Georgia and fellow Indianan Brad Ellsworth.

Madison (#5) is in great shape of course, having elected the first openly gay woman to Congress, Tammy Baldwin (D- 100%) and two gay-friendly senators, Herb Kohl (D- 100%) and Russ Feingold (D- 60%, who wandered off into some technicalities on a couple of votes but is generally considered a friend and ally of the Wisconsin gay community). #6 is New Orleans are their Senate representation is split. Landrieu (D- 100%) is a friend of the New Orleans gay community and sex-addict and sociopath David "Diapers" Vitter boasts a perfect zero of hatred and bigotry, working diligently to target gay people in every way possible. He's considered one of the gay community's most vicious and aggressive foes. The congressman from New Orleans, Ahn Cao (R-50) isn't as bad as most of his Republican colleagues-- but he represents more gay people than just about any other Republican and he went along with them to vote against the hate crimes enabling legislation, although he did vote for the bill once it was assured passage.

Fort Lauderdale (#7) is gerrymandered up between 3 congressional districts and various parts of the city are represented by gay rights advocates Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D- 100%) and Alcee Hastings (D- 100%) and by tepid supporter Ron Klein (D- 87.50%). The two Florida senators, Bill Nelson (D- 100%) and George LeMieux (R- 0.00%) are polar opposites. This is especially tragic since LeMieux is a political operative and appointee of Florida's closeted gay governor, Charlie Crist, and because Florida has one of the largest gay populations in America.

Maine has two GOP senators with perfect gay rights voting records, Olympia Snowe (R- 100%) and Susan Collins (R- 100%). Portland (#8) is represented by Chellie Pingree (D- 100%) who is a dedicated advocate for Maine's gay community. Austin is #9 and the community there really does have a problem with their representative in DC. Neither Texas senator, John Cornyn (R- 25.0%) nor Kay Bailey Hutchison (R- 20.0%), is any good for gays and Austin itself was carved up and diluted between 3 red-leaning districts to prevent it from becoming a progressive bastion. Michael McCaul R- 0.00%), a dedicated homophobe, represents the eastern part of the city; far right fanatic Lamar Smith (R- 0.00%) represents the UT campus and much of downtown Austin; but Lloyd Doggett (D- 75%), a main target in Tom DeLay's gerrymander, has been re-elected-- with massive gay community support.

Seattle (#10) is a liberal city. Washington's two senators, Maria Cantwell (D- 100%) and Patty Murray (D- 100%), are both strong supporters of the gay community. The Metro Area has 4 congressmen: Jim McDermont (D- 100%) who's got most of the city proper, Jay Inslee (D- 72.73%) in the northern suburbs, Adam Smith (D- 75.00%) in the southern suburbs and anti-gay crusader Dave Reichert (R- 20.00%). Inslee and Reichert are both disappointments for the gay community and Smith could be a lot better. Only Reichert, though, voted against the Hate Crimes bill.

Gainesville (#11) is divided between a dangerous homophobic fanatic, Cliff Stearns (R- 0.00) and a somewhat reluctant ally, Corinne Brown (D- 81.82). Asheville may be an artsy "prime example of the new gay South," as The Advocate terms it, but their congressman, Heath Shuler (D- 50.0%) is a member of the homophobic C-Street cult and he is a dedicated enemy of gay families. He's the only Democrat representing one of these gay cities to have voted against the hate crimes bill (once it was guaranteed passage, Hill voted aye; Shuler still voted "no"). Springfield (#13) is represented by progressive Richard Neal (D- 100%), a gay rights champion. #14 is San Diego and it's divided between two Democrats, progressive and pro-gay Bob Filner (D- 100%) and disappointing Susan Davis (D- 75%), and two violently anti-gay Republicans, Duncan Hunter, Jr (R- 0.00%) and Brian Bilbray (R- 0.00%). And, at #15, Albuquerque is fortunate to have elected a friend of the gay community, Martin Heinrich (D- 100%) and two have two pro-gay senators, Mark Udall (D- 100%) and Jeff Bingaman (D- 100%).

In a comment under the earlier post, progressive grassroots candidate Doug Tudor, who's running for the seat in west Florida being vacated by homophobe Adam Putnam, expressed his own feelings of support for gay people. A lifelong career Naval officer, Tudor has served alongside gay men and women working to protect America. His perspective is clear as a bell-- although something not appreciated by conservatives, whether Republicans or Blue Dog Democrats (one of whom is running against him in a primary; the DCCC, of course, is pushing the Blue Dog and trying to pressure Doug out of the race).

Thank you for very clearly defining the issue. Disappointed and disillusioned Progressives should never join with the conservatives as some sort of a misplaced protest. Instead, they should only support their true friends ... true Progressives.

As every voter should do, Progressives must research the issues, ask the candidates hard questions, and demand real answers, not campaign slogans. Change and Hope are not courses of action.

As for me, I would vote to repeal DADT and DOMA, and I would vote for ENDA. Additionally, I would ensure the Justice Department was fully funded and held fully accountable for prosecuting hate crimes against GLBT citizens.

Statements like this is why Doug Tudor was one of the first batch of candidates who are part of Blue America's Send Democrats A Message page. And he doesn't represent one of America's gayest cities.

Louie Gohmert-- Oscar The Grouch Pops Out Of His Trash Can

Texas reactionary Louie Gohmert may have learned how to wear shoes and a suit and tie over the years, but the Tyler congressman seems to be overly concerned about protecting the rights of some of his constituents engaged in bestiality, pedophilia, necrophilia and other practices that are apparently more common in northeast Texas than in the rest of the country. Gohmert, whose ProgressivePunch score for the current session is a perfect zero, is one of the Republican Party's spokespersons on virulent homophobia. He and Jason Chaffetz are like a tag team of bigotry. By all means watch the video above. It was Gohmert's dissertation on perversions-- and about why gay men and women in the military defending our country are not entitled to protections, in his warped and narrow mind, anymore than some sheep-fucking bucktoothed Republican near Longview or a teabagger in Lufkin who has a hankerin' for his 8 year old daughter couple times a week.

The House passed H.R. 2647 the Department of Defense Authorization Act, yesterday 281-146. Although 44 Republicans voted with the Democrats, 130 joined John Boehner whose love for the troops isn't quite as powerful as his hatred for gays. Of the 15 Democrats who voted "no," for varying reasons, 5 were the very same Blue Dog scum who opposed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes bill April 29: Dan Boren (OK), Parker Griffith (AL), Mike McIntyre (NC), Heath Shuler (NC) and Lincoln Davis (TN). Homophobe Chris Carney, who was one of the infamous 15 in April, avoided the vote yesterday.

Louie Gohmert (left) with David Dreier

Speaker Pelosi-- who lunatic fringe secessionist and teabagging Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA) signaled to gun nuts is "a domestic enemy of the Constitution"-- hailed passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act:

This legislation also gives state and local law enforcement the tools they need to prevent and prosecute hate crimes nationwide, helping protect Americans against bias-motivated violence and securing our fundamental right to feel safe in our communities.

This nation was founded on the promise of pluralism; a commitment to equality and opportunity; and the belief that ‘liberty and justice for all’ is not simply an empty pledge – it rests at the core of our identity as a people. No American should ever have to suffer persecution or violence because of who they are, how they look, or what they believe.

With today’s vote, the House has beckoned the ‘better angels of our nature’ as Americans. We are standing with the families of Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Jr., and countless other victims of hate crimes. Their voices are our inspiration. Their cries for justice are our motive for action. I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who supported this measure and stating in a clear voice that the forces of hate have no place in the United States of America.

Joining hysterical anti-gay sociopaths like Michelle Bachmann, Louie Gohmert, Mean Jean Schmidt, Steve King and Virginia Foxx in opposing the bill were a whole bevy of Republican closet queens eager to demonstrate their hypocrisy:

David Dreier (R-CA)
Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Aaron Schock (R-IL)
Adrian Smith (R-NE)

With the exception of Houston bigot John Culberson, all the Republicans with big gay constituencies-- like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Key West), Ahn Cao (New Orleans), Mary Bono-Mack (Palm Springs), the Diaz-Balarts (Miami-Dade) and C.W. Young (Tampa)-- voted for the bill. Barney Frank (D-MA) spoke directly to the Republicans, like Gohmert, making homophobic remarks on the House floor:

It is clear that there is an animus against those of us who are gay or lesbian, against people who are transgender, on the part of many in the House, and they are reflecting a strong political sentiment in the country. They are entitled to it. I do not lament the loss of their friendship and affection; I can live without it. But it should not lead them to deny protection to vulnerable people, and we are talking here about crimes, not just murder, but about assault and destruction of property which are too often ignored.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I wanted to point out that the only endorsement on the new 2010 Blue America page is for No on 1/Protect Maine Equality. Please consider making a contribution. As an enticement, how about my favorite video from yesterday-- the polar opposite of Gohmert Pyle? This is Alan Grayson, once more standing up on the floor on Congress... and speaking the truth: