Greetings from THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS! It's 7:40 AM here and already 80. Ugh. It's a good morning to stay in and hang out with the C&J gang!
I can hear you, spitting out your morning coffee and screaming, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE BILLS?" Well, not to worry, the Bills are both off to enjoy Netroots Nation, and I've been asked to fill in. If you haven't seen me around these parts before, it's not because I don't like you guys, it's because I'm not usually up this early! -yawn- If y'all are nice to me, I might have to start setting my alarm more often, though. :)
Anyway, considering The Other Bill from Portland Maine™, who recruited me to write this diary, knows who I am and what I write about here on Daily Kos, you can blame him for the queer hot mess that follows. So let's jump in.
...too much? Sorry, I guess it's too early for that. Okay, I'll tone it down. I guess. -takes off rainbow feather boa and pink shutter shades-
Just kidding about the pink shutter shades. Those're staying on.
Now, follow me below the doodle-thingy...
I've written a lot here on Daily Kos lately about the irrelevance that is swallowing up anti-gay bigots whole. And, frankly, the process is rather hilarious. We've seen some setbacks, to be sure. Amendment One was a blow to all of us. We'll likely have more setbacks. But, at the same time, nothing illuminates the bending of the moral arc of the universe like seeing some epic bigot fails. And we've seen plenty lately. I mean, for God's sake, this is the face of the anti-gay right wing now:
Need we say more?
In case you've missed my recent diaries, let's recap the ways in which bigots have massively failed as of late. And, if you did catch my diaries...well...won't it be fun to watch the haters board the fail train all over again?
In the world of bigotry fail, perhaps no organization surpasses the fail of A Dozen One Million Moms (OMM), the viciously anti-gay group of a few aging women who can't stop yearning for the year 1955. The OMM moms tend to get their bowels in an uproar over companies like JCPenney recognizing that they have gay customers and, you know, reaching out to those gay customers. Gay superheroes piss them off pretty good as well. Basically, anything that does not conjure mental images of the Cleaver family eating a ham dinner is evil and must be extinguished.
OMM has a problem, though. That problem is, well, nobody gives a shit about what they have to say. When JCPenney selected Ellen DeGeneres as its spokesperson, OMM threw a hissy fit and demanded a boycott. Apparently, the company didn't feel the pinch from OMM's three members boycotting, so it gave OMM the middle finger and sided with Ellen. CEO Ron Johnson had this to say:
One of the great things about America is people can speak their mind. And you know, the organization that believes one thing has spoken and it was great to see Ellen share her views yesterday. And we stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson, and that's a great thing. Because she shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on The Golden Rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like you would like to be treated yourself.
Ouch. What's a ragtag group of aging bigots supposed to do when they can't get any respect?
Throw another fit over JCPenney's ad portrayal of gay fathers, apparently. Because it worked out so well before. They yet again urged their three members to boycott the company, because surely JCPenney will be hurting now that three people aren't buying their bath towels once a year anymore. OMM bellowed:
Our persistence will pay off! One day we will answer for our actions or lack of them. We must remain diligent and stand up for Biblical values and truth. Scripture says multiple times that homosexuality is wrong, and God will not tolerate this sinful nature.
The official response from JCPenney:
Not getting anywhere with JCPenney, OMM turned its attention to DC Comics, which recently made its Green Lantern character...brace yourself...GAY. OMM took to Facebook immediately, warning its three legions of followers that DC Comics has embraced the homosekshual agenda! The result?
Well...I guess that didn't turn out so well...
After attempting to censor the pro-gay comments, OMM decided it would be more efficient just to delete the whole post. Then, after receiving much ridicule for that, OMM just deleted its entire Facebook page. The stated reason? Vacation Bible School is rapidly approaching, and the OMM administrator just can't juggle cyber-bashing gays and indoctrinating children to be bigots at the same time. It's all too much! A bigot's life is just too difficult to manage sometimes!
And that's the sad, sad story of OMM.
The American Family Association (AFA), an SPLC-certified hate group, is also enjoying a heaping helping of fuck-you. The Home Depot, which had sponsored and participated in gay pride parades and incurred the AFA's wrath, gave the hate group the middle finger last year. This time, it's Target telling the AFA to go to hell.
After announcing a line of gay pride shirts in partnership with the Family Equality Council, Target found itself on the receiving end of an AFA boycott. In other words, all the right-wing goobers who aren't classy enough to shop at Target anyway are pledging to really super duper not shop at Target. The AFA also encouraged its followers to send obviously sexually repressed, misspelled, ALL-CAPS e-mails to Target through the AFA Action Alert system. Screamed the AFA:
Target has pledged $120,000 in cash to promote the legalization of homosexual marriage.
[...]
Target is joining President Obama in ramming same-sex marriage down the throats of the American people.
TAKE ACTION
Send an email to Target Chairman Gregg Steinhafel. Let him know that a majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage and are able to use their pocketbooks to voice their opposition to companies that support it.
What is it with these people and the obsession with ramming things down their throats?
Well, not only did Target not respond, but the AFA later announced that the retailer had blocked all e-mails from the AFA Action Alert system. Um...ouch. That had to sting. That's a heavy dose of "I don't give a fuck" right there.
Not even Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council can catch a break anymore. What's a hate group leader to do when he can't even get respect and legitimacy on CNN?
It's getting tougher and tougher to be an anti-gay bigot in America. It's only going to get tougher. Can we get some sympathy for the haters, please?
Well, as a consolation to the anti-gay right wing, we're going to give out the very first Waaaaambulance Award right here in C&J this morning. The winner will get one free ride in the Irrelevant Bigot Waaaaambulance straight to The Wrong Side of History, where they will enjoy a lengthy (eternal) stay. Vote below!
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BUT FIRST...
CHEERS to improving poll numbers in Minnesota when it comes to the anti-gay constitutional amendment. Public Policy Polling reports that the plurality of Minnesotans now oppose the amendment and favor the legalization of marriage equality 47-42. This is a reversal from just four months ago, when the amendment was favored 48-44.
JEERS to batshit crazy religious fundamentalist reality TV.
CHEERS to very clever YouTubers who can make the President sing songs everybody hates.
JEERS to Dictionary.com, which hasn't quite caught up with the times.
Feel free to sign the change.org petition calling for the website to change its definition of marriage to account for the thousands of legally married same-sex couples throughout the United States and the world.
CHEERS to Ontario, Canada, which just passed an anti-bullying bill requiring that all schools, including Catholic ones, allow the establishment of gay-straight alliances. And the Catholic Church is pissed. From CBC:
Ontario's anti-bullying bill, also known as Bill 13 or the Accepting Schools Act, passed through the legislature just before noon today by a margin of 65-36. Only the Progressive Conservatives voted against the legislation.
Catholic educators and church leaders oppose the bill because it requires schools to allow students to call anti-homophobia clubs gay-straight alliances if they wish.
[Ontario Premier]McGuinty (pictured) said the issue of protecting kids from bullying transcends all faiths and partisan politics. He added Catholics would understand the true significance of the bill is to build a stronger, more cohesive society.
JEERS to the North Carolina GOP, which apparently thinks gay people aren't an "appropriate category." Our own
The Nephew reports that the state GOP just adopted a platform which includes the following:
Government should treat all citizens impartially, without regard to wealth, race, ethnicity, disability, religion, sex, political affiliation or national origin. We oppose all forms of invidious discrimination. Sexual orientation is not an appropriate category.
I think it's safe to assume that by "wealth," they don't mean "lack of wealth." Because we all know that people are never fired because they're gay, but people are fired because they're filthy rich
all the time. Assholes.
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And, of course, the thing on all of our minds this morning...
JEERS to our stinging loss in Wisconsin last night. It hurts.
But CHEERS to the fight we put up.
And CHEERS to the future of progressivism and the Democratic Party. We suffered a setback...one of many we've already suffered and will continue to suffer. But our future is bright, and we will prevail.
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Well, that's it! It was fun! Don't forget to vote for the lucky winner of the Waaaaambulance Award below!