One of the strongest-worded editorials to come down the pike against the movement to attack marriage equality comes from
The Seattle Times today. The editorial board minces no works from the headline (emphasis all mine):
Anti-Referendum 74 school ad is shameless
To the deck:
Opponents of same-sex marriage in Washington will say anything — and do — over and over again. The latest ad, about schools, fits the pattern.
To the body:
Preserve Marriage Washington, the campaign to deny all state residents the opportunity to live their own lives, is recycling a television ad that is blatantly false.
The commercial features a Massachusetts couple with a seven-year-old complaint that was rebuffed by the federal courts. The ad is reused around the country, but repetition has not made the contents any more honest.
To the conclusion:
R-74 is about a legal covenant of marriage for loving couples and their families. Ignore the shameless scare tactics. Approve R-74.
It's worth noting this commercial, as demonstrated in the video above, is virtually the same ad that is currently playing in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington.
(Continue reading below the fold.)
The opposition's tactics haven't changed since Prop 8. Filmmaker Joe Fox followed around both the yes and no campaigns in Maine in 2009 for his documentary Question One (now playing). In a candid moment, the leader of the anti-gay campaign, Marc Mutti, admitted he knew the ads they were running were hyperbolic falsehoods:
Marc Mutty - "Hyperbole" from Fly On The Wall Productions on Vimeo.
We use a lot of hyperbole, and I think that's always dangerous. We say things like, "teachers will be forced to…" you know, that's not a completely accurate statement and we all know it isn't.
Mutti was speaking of the Frank Schubert-produced ads that National Organization for Marriage had financed and arranged for his campaign to use, exactly as they are pulling the strings behind campaigns in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington.
The Parkers' complaint, and that of their co-plaintiffs Joseph and Robin Wirthlin, are the only documented cases of such a complaint in Massachusetts in eight years.
Thus far, National Organization for Marriage has paid over $3,000,000 to their henchman Frank Schubert to cleverly leverage a failed case of two pairs of disgruntled parents into an argument against the equality of millions of Americans.
If we continue to see editorial pages have the integrity of The Seattle Times to call "blatant" falsehhoods out for what they are, "shameless scare tactics," in such strong and unqualified language, then perhaps 2012 will be the end of their winning streak.
Action items:
• Donate:
It's not too late, funds can still be put to good use by all four campaigns.
Daily Kos for Marriage Equality ActBlue account is here. Please, give $3 to each of those four campaigns. You can donate to one, two, three or all four campaigns there.
• Phone bank from all 50 states
Marriage Equality USA, working in concert with all four state campaigns, has opened a virtual phone bank so you can call into the battlegrounds from anywhere, from the comfort of your home. They also have in-person phonebanks you can attend. See their website for details.
Marriage Equality USA has been running in-person phone bank from New York City
supporting campaigns in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington.
We are happy to announce the launch of our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) "Phone from Home" Program in cooperation with the campaigns in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota and Washington. In addition to our in-person phone banks, the "Phone from Home" Program allows volunteers from across the country to call and encourage our supporters in those four states to turn out and vote for marriage equality!
See
20millionmore.org for details and to sign up.
• One more very important thing: Thanks for all the great support the Daily Kos community has provided in this battle. You all rock and we're going to rock it out on Nov. 6 together.
Update:
Spread the word!