Sanity Pills

I would say that this is the biggest story in Sports this year. The biggest star of a sport just came out of the closet. Jus the second time in sports that this has happenned (see martina navratilova). The WNBA isn’t the biggest sport but it is popular enough and enough people know about Sheryl Swoopes that it should have a positive impact on society. Since Sports is all about the $$ I would really be interested to know if 1. She gets endorsements etc, 2. The WNBA will continue to market her, 3. What the backlash is. Two great articles in ESPN:

Swoopes and business
Swoopes in her own words

The oh-so-cute James Dobson and his huggable bunch of bigots at Focus on the Family have released the most useful parenting guide since Leviticus. The seven part series is called “Helping Boys Become Men, and Girls Become Women.” Part 6 is my favorite: “How to prevent homosexuality.”

The key point is:

3. Recognize that most homosexuals “were not explicitly [so] when they were children. More often, they displayed a ‘nonmasculinity’ that set them painfully apart from other boys: unathletic — somewhat passive, unaggressive and uninterested in rough-and-tumble play. A number of them had traits that could be considered gifts: bright, precocious, social and relational, and artistically talented.”

Thanks to Sadly, No!

It turns out that Rick Santorum’s Communications Director is actually an openly gay man. Robert Traynham somehow finds no problem with being openly gay and working for the biggest bigot of them all:

When asked how a gay man could speak for one of the nation’s most notorious homophobes, Traynham, left, protested that has “been with the Senator for eight years.” Traynham went on to say “Senator Santorum is a man of principle, he is a man who sticks up for what he believes in, I strongly do support Senator Santorum.”

I (heart) hypocrisy and self-hate.

I think this news further supports the belief that Santorum is just an extremely repressed gay man without the guts or the decency to be open about it. Instead, he’s led an all-out attack on the thing he is most ashamed of in himself. One can only imagine what happens at late night “strategy” sessions between the Senator and Mr. Traynham.

My question is: who plays catcher?

And do they leave the santorum clean-up for the Capitol Hill janitors?

What better to do on a Saturday night than read some quotes from people who claim to love america.

Here’s some tidbits to get you started:

Beverly LaHaye (Concerned Women for America)

“Yes, religion and politics do mix. America is a nation based on biblical principles. Christian values dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office.”

ob Dornan (Rep. R-CA)
“Don’t use the word ‘gay’ unless it’s an acronym for ‘Got Aids Yet’”

David Trosch
“Sodomy is a graver sin than murder. – Unless there is life there can be no murder.”

Fred Phelps (Westboro Baptist Church)
“American Veterans are to blame for the fag takeover of this nation. They have the power in their political lobby to influence the zeitgeist, get the fags out of the military, and back in the closet where they belong!”

“Not only is homosexuality a sin, but anyone who supports fags is just as guilty as they are. You are both worthy of death.”

Henry Morris (Institute for Creation Research)
“When science and the Bible differ, science has obviously misinterpreted its data.”

James Dobson (Focus on the Family)

“State Universities are breeding grounds, quite literally, for sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV), homosexual behavior, unwanted pregnancies, abortions, alcoholism, and drug abuse.”

Jesse Helms (Sen. R-NC)

“Your tax dollars are being used to pay for grade-school classes that teach our children that cannibalism, wife-swapping and murder of infants and the elderly are acceptable behavior.”

Michael Savage (Savage Nation)

“Oh, you’re one of the sodomites. You should only get AIDS and die, you pig. How’s that? Why don’t you see if you can sue me, you pig. You got nothing better than to put me down, you piece of garbage. You have got nothing to do today, go eat a sausage and choke on it.”

Spain legalizes gay marriage.

Great quote from the Prime Minister:

We were not the first, but I am sure we will not be the last, after us will come many other countries, driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable forces: freedom and equality.

Does his last name, Zapatero, mean shoe-maker?

In another instance of a Repug showing disdain for the Constitution, Utah-transplant Mitt Romney wants a referendum on gay marriage AND civil unions. ‘Yes’ means I hate gays and can no longer make the argument that I just don’t like the idea of homosexual marriage, and ‘No’ means I’m not a fucking moran.

Hey Mitt, go kill yourself.

I can’t wait for this fucker to be out of office and investing tons of his own money into what will surely be a failed bid for the presidency. He may be a conservative Christian, but Southern Baptists and Methodists are just as freaked out by Mormons as they are by Catholics.

I’ll just let the excerpts speak for themselves.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that gay veterans unhappy with the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment should move elsewhere.

Perry’s comments were in response to a question during a news conference about what he would tell gay war veterans returning from Iraq.

Enjoy.

I haven’t told too many people, but I’ve been hiding James “Cartoon Sodomy” Dobson books at the bookstore I work at. When the books come into the store, I “misplace” them on carts that don’t correspond to the section they are supposed to be in. I think Dobson fits in more in the sci-fi or the lesbian fiction section rather than where he is supposed to be: the family and parenting section. It’s just my way of trying to make sure that Dobson is never taken seriously and never allowed to influence the raising of children.

Take a look at this hilarious post from our friends over at DailyKos.

The diary entries are probably not real, but I pray to “god” that they are.

Over the last several years, an increasing number of intellectuals and historians have begun to warn about the gradual descent of America into fascism. While America, at present, is far from a fascist state (as the term is commonly understood), it is becoming increasingly clear that the roots of incipient fascism are beginning to take hold. This is commonly understood to be a result of 9-11, its aftermath, and this administration’s subsequent grabs for power. In the aftermath of 9-11, Americans were willing to allow unprecedented levels of state control in the name of safety and security (this expansion was justified by the common belief that “9-11 changed everything.” In this way, 9-11 planted the seed of fascism in this country. Since that day fascist ideology has slowly grown. At its current pace, it would seem that fascism is still far off. However, should another 9-11 (or worse) occur, there is little doubt that it would be used and accepted as a justification for a complete fascist takeover.

I hesitate to use the word “fascist,” because it is such a value-laden word which conjures up specific images of Hitler, Nazis and the like. When you think of it this way, it seems impossible that America could ever descend into such a state. Aside from this imagery, the average American has no idea what forms fascism might take, has no idea that Americans toyed with the idea of fascism in the 1930’s, and consequently will laugh off the suggestion that fascism has any sort of hold on American soil.

The reason I bring this up now is that a current news story conjures up the type of fascist imagery that might hit home to the average American. It seems that a UNC “fraternity” has just won a preliminary injunction allowing them to exclude gays and Jews. By itself, this story may not seem all that important (it is only a preliminary injunction), but in the larger context it is critical. Americans need to stop pretending that fascism is some kind of exotic disease which affected a few Germans several decades ago. It can happen here.

I’m reminded of the famous poem by Pastor Martin Niemoller.

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