Today's Cultural Warfare Update

How the Republican party uses the fundamentalist right, in the words of a Tom DeLay's former aide Michael Scanion; I think what I like best is that Focus in the Family has been all busy screaming about reconstruction aid being available to casinos - apparently they've been part of the scam! Yay!;

Focus on the Family promotes several social conservative state ballot initiatives, and one including "funding [that] could conceivably go for support of embryonic stem-cell research" and therefore they oppose;

FotF and CWA say that Alito would work to build an anti-abortion majority on the court, but would not overturn Roe v. Wade; I suspect they don't like getting trapped out on these things in print; includes ACTION ITEM to support him;

FotF rails against Washington State court decision saying that lesbian couples can fall under Washington State's common-law marriage statues for certain purposes;

FotF says 9th Circuit "declares war" on parental rights; uses story to plug Alito for Supreme Court, includes ACTION ITEM to support him;

FotF attacks study showing no link between abortion and depression;

FotF reports poll showing zomg Arkansas is not pro-marriage rights;

CWA article on anti-marriage Federal Marriage Amendment;

Former President Jimmy Carter slams Democrats for being too supportive of abortion rights - Washington Times;

Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) floating revised indecency bill with half-million dollar finds AND which INCLUDES CABLE;

LifeNews also reports on Carter's anti-abortion commentary;

FRC blasts Senate for not holding immediate hearings on Alito;

FRC supports requiring husbands be notified before a married woman can have an abortion;

FRC supports anti-marriage amendment, urges passing out of committee;

FRC ACTION ITEM to support anti-marriage amendment;

Concerned Women for America on badgering department stores to specifically advertise Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, ; talks about how even a commercialised Christmas is good because "it means the whole world has to focus on Christmas. They can't really escape it. You hear Christmas carols in the mall, you do hear Christmas music in ads, they can't quite wipe it away." Also calls the Sandanista communists the Nicaraguan ACLU. No, really;

Article 8 - anti-marriage-rights group in Massachusetts - spins the anti-ex-gay protests even harder than Focus on the Family did;

Jerry Falwell joins the "Christmas is Oppressed" theme expressed by CWA above.

( Articles, transcripts, excerpts )

Four or five scary articles

The first four are the big ones; the fifth is interesting just because the rioting isn't really slowing down. France gets to face some serious, serious problems now.

South Korea to dissolve the Combined Forces Command?

"Why Paris is Burning"

Sarkozy touches nerve over 'unFrench' future

Military dumped thousands of tons of chemical weapons and nuclear waste off American shores before 1970; they don't know how much; they don't remember where; it's starting to show up.

Rioting spreads across France

( Articles )

Today's Cultural Warfare Addendum

Thanks to rmd for the pointers to these top two stories, which I wouldn't have caught on my own. The others below that are sources I forgot to check for the previous post.

Massachusetts: Local Fox affiliate catches petition fraud on camera;

Massachusetts GOP denies involvement in anti-marriage petition, but is discovered to be collecting signatures for the anti-gay movement in exchange for a copy of their mailing list.

Faith and Freedom Network celebrates Oregon court upholding anti-marriage amendment;

Families Northwest posts "Preserving Marriage for Kids' Sake" dinner; they're explicitly anti-gay (see next article for example) and consider the big task in "preserving marriage" to be keeping fags and dykes from hitchin' up; the big list of corporate sponsors for their fundraising dinner includes the activist fundamentalist Overlake Christian Church... and Microsoft Corporation. Anybody know what Borg is doing this time?;

Families Northwest ups the visibility level of their anti-marriage-right page, pushes for state and Federal anti-marriage amendments - though there doesn't seem to be any new content of note.

( Excerpts below )