Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Jan. 25th, 2006 06:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdThe CBC's Reality Check Team counts marriage rights votes as of late election day; assuming new party members vote with their parties (as is typical), marriage rights would be sustained 155-152-1; their guess is no vote will come up soon, as a result, so if correct, this is a pretty good election overall, particularly with Martin resigning;
IRS rules that gender reassignment surgery is purely cosmetic, serves no medical function, and is therefore not deductible - this is new policy; in the past, transmen and transwomen could apply GRS as any other medical expense, now they can't; I have from other sources that I can't quote that this is a high-level political overruling of IRS policy and a previous IRS ruling in this very case; GLAD is deciding where to appeal, not whether, as they have two options (tax court or Federal appeals court);
"REAL Women of Canada" press release applauding Tory victory, looking forward to a "change of direction," claims Liberal defeat stemmed from C-38 (marriage rights bill);
Eastside (Seattle-area) pastor Hutcherson announces latest permutation of anti-Microsoft action over their support of a Washington GBLT civil-rights bill: everybody who hates queers should buy "one or two shares" of Microsoft stock and then sell it on May 1st; clearly, he does not understand scale;
US joins Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, and Egypt in blocking two LGBT NGOs from being on the United Nations Economic and Social Council;
At a time when the US is having trouble getting even minimally-qualified troops, kicking out queer doctors and medics is apparently still no problem;
Omar at IraqTheModel says that - predictably - women are losing out in this new, fundamentalist-dominated Iraqi parliament;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to barrage Senators with pro-Alito phone calls; note the HI-LARITY! of the copyright notice saying you can't use this email for political purposes;
Focus on the Family pleased with election result in Canada;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to push abortion BAN in South Dakota, no health exemption for the woman; expects it to go to the Supreme Court if passed;
Focus on the Family article on Alito confirmation hearings - they're sure he'll be confirmed at this point;
Faith and Freedom Network urgent ACTION ITEM to oppose GBLT rights in Washington State;
Second ACTION ITEM by Focus on the Family to call Senators, confirm Alito;
More Focus on the Family Alito coverage; opponents "are working to stop Alito at the behest of pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activist groups";
Focus on the Family talks with CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton about abortion;
FotF: 51% of Americans wouldn't consider Hillary Clinton for President; 46% say they wouldn't consider Condi Rice.
Army and Air Force Exchange Services theatres won't show Brokeback Mountain due to print shortage; I'm passing it on because FotF saw fit to headline that;
Concerned Women for America talks about "Liberal Disarray," but there's an interesting section about needing to purge "the evil that has sprung up in our own midst";
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services takes down LBGT-oriented substance abuse pages after Warren Throckmorton and other fundamentalists complained they were "pro-homosexual propaganda";
RenewAmerica condemns AOL for having GBLT-oriented message areas in its "People Connection" sections; runs through usual anti-gay rhetoric, anti-gay statistics from other anti-gay organisations (including Focus on the Family and other famous ones), concludes with ACTION ITEM to complain to America Online, Time Warner, NBC, ABC, and CBS for GBLT-inclusive shows; also to write your lawmakers to oppose everything GBLT-rights related;
CWA's "Is America Ready to Overturn Roe?" talks about the need to move beyond Roe v. Wade to abortion bans in every state, and also to work more seriously on bans against embryonic stem-cell research and protections for embryos in fertility clinics;
Traditional Values Coalition ACTION ITEM to support Alito;
Family Research Council launches ad campaigns in South Dakota, Arkansas, and Louisiana targeting Democrats to vote for Alito;
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention expels church for support of a sub-church with a female pastor and which is GBLT-welcoming; both sited as violations of Southern Baptist teaching;
American Family Association: "United Methodist Pastor Criticizes Ministers' Ad Supporting Homosexual Membership";
AFA story on Canadian anti-marriage/anti-abortion social conservatives happy about the election and Stephen Harper as PM; looking forward to revote on C-38, the law that extended marriage rights to lesbian and gay couples;
Exodus International leader: "Brokeback Mountain" is just the "tip of the iceberg";
An anti-marriage amendment being pushed forward in the Pennsylvania state house;
Focus on the Family Canada sees Tory win as a chance to introduce restrictions on abortion, set the stage for further restrictions on abortion rights;
CBC article: polling says 66% of Canadians do not want C-38 revisited; only 30% do; only 2% of voters list same-sex marriage issues as a reason for voting Conservative.
----- 1 -----
Analysis & Commentary
Election Day Analysis
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBC.ca's Reality Check Team – Ira Basen, John Gray, Robert Sheppard and Karin Marley – post their thoughts on election day developments as they unfold, Monday, Jan. 23, 2006.
[...]
What will happen if the same-sex marriage issue comes up for a free vote? It will be a nail biter – of that we can be sure. Of the 31 Liberals running this election who voted against the same-sex marriage bill last year, 26 were re-elected. All five Bloc MPs who also voted no are going back to Ottawa. However, the same goes for the three Conservatives who voted in favour of the same-sex bill.
There are nearly 70 new faces in Parliament, meaning there is quite a bit of room for change. Of those, 38 are Conservative, 12 NDP, seven Liberals and one Independent. Assuming the newbies vote on side with their parties, this would put the count at 155 supporters of same-sex marriage and 152 voting against, with an Independent wild card. With those kinds of numbers, the vote isn't likely to get to Parliament any time soon. —KM
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
IRS Denies Medical Expense Deduction for Costs of Gender-Reassignment Surgery
TaxProf Blog
January 23, 2006
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/01/irs_no_medical_.html
The IRS has ruled in Chief Counsel Advice 200603025 that male-to-female gender reassignment surgery does not qualify as a deductible medical expense under § 213:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0603025.pdf
----- 3 -----
CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT
For Immediate Release
Ottawa, Ontario January 23, 2006
REAL Women of Canada
http://www.realwomenca.com/press.htm#01_23_06
The Liberal pigeons came home to roost tonight.
The Liberals thought that the public would forgive and forget their many crimes and misdemeanors. The Liberals genuinely believed that they were entitled to govern Canada believing no one else was as capable of doing so. They mistakenly thought Canadians would show their gratitude by giving them their fifth mandate in a row.
How out of touch the Liberals are with real life and real people.
The defeat of the Liberal government in this 2006 election was predicted by REAL Women in a media release dated June 29, 2005. We stated in that press release:
* Liberal arrogance in 1957 over the pipeline led to Liberal defeat
* Liberal arrogance and intensive pork barreling in 1983 led to Liberal defeat
* Liberal arrogance over Bill C-38 and its imposing of the Bill which is unacceptable to the majority of Canadians, and by compelling the Cabinet and pressuring the Liberal backbenchers to vote for the Bill, plus the Liberals' overt corruption, will lead to its defeat in the early 2006 federal election.
The Liberal government has outlived its usefulness. It will not recover from Bill C-38. Corruption, imposing on Canadians third world politics by way of arrogant top-down government, open bribery to obtain votes, and the manipulation of the Parliamentary process will bring down this despotic Prime Minister and his cronies.
Liberal history repeats itself.
We made this prediction based on the established pattern of behaviour by successive Liberal governments and the public's reaction to it. Once a Liberal government reaches the stage where it sincerely believes that it is the only party that deserves to govern, as an entitlement, rather than by earning that right, its loss of power is inevitable and becomes cast in stone. This occurred tonight.
During this election campaign, the Liberals and their supporters tried to manipulate the voters to convince them that the Conservative Party candidates, especially socially conservative ones, were dangerous. They endeavoured to dig up past statements by social conservatives on issues, such as abortion and the same-sex issue, to indicate that these issues would be prominently featured in the Conservative party's agenda. We wish it were so, but believe this is not likely to be the case.
The direction of Canada nonetheless has been changed by this election. We may now look forward to more respect being paid to the taxpayer, his/her money and his/her concerns, rather than the concerns and interests of the Liberal party elites and their followers both in and out of the government.
Canadians have voted for a long overdue change in government.
- 30 -
Contact persons:
C. Gwendolyn Landolt Tel: (905) 731-5425, 787-0348, 889-1993
Diane Watts Tel: (613) 236-4001
----- 4 -----
Pastor Urges Microsoft Stock Buy - And - Dump
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 24, 2006
Filed at 10:54 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Gay-Rights-Boycott.html?_r=2
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- A pastor who threatened a national boycott against Microsoft and other major corporations for endorsing a gay rights bill urged supporters Tuesday to buy up the companies' stock and dump it to drive prices down.
Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said the stock-dumping plan had been part of his strategy all along.
''You got to find out how you affect a company,'' Hutcherson said, conceding that it would be hard to get people to shun products from companies that dominate the marketplace as Microsoft and Boeing do.
He wants supporters to buy one or two shares over the next few months, then sell them May 1.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
U.S. Nixes Gay Inclusion At UN
by Doug Windsor, 365Gay.com New York Bureau
Posted: January 24, 2006 - 11:00 am ET
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/01/012406unGay.htm
(New York City) The United States joined with four of the world's most repressive regimes to reject an application by two international LGBT groups seeking to join a UN agency that advises the world body on economics and social issues.
The application by the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Danish Association of Gays and Lesbians was dismissed without a hearing.
The groups had sought inclusion on the United Nations Economic and Social Council, a think tank made up of non governmental agencies from around the world.
The United States voted with Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon against granting a hearing for the application.
ECOSOC status allows NGOs to attend UN meetings and speak in their own name. The Council already has participation from labor and social rights groups.
The governments of Iran and Zimbabwe are considered to be among the most repressive anti-gay regimes in the world.
President Mugabe of Zimbabwe has long scapegoated and persecuted gay men and lesbians. The recently-elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has overseen an anti-gay campaign in recent months, in which many young people accused of homosexual acts reportedly have been executed.
Egypt also voted against considering the application. That country too has a history of persecuting gay men.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Hundreds of military officers, health care professionals discharged under gay policy
WKYT-TV 27 (Lexington, Kentucky)
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4408011&nav=4CAL
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of officers and health care professionals have been discharged in the past 10 years under the Pentagon's policy on gays, a loss that while relatively small in numbers involves troops who are expensive for the military to educate and train.
The 350 or so affected are a tiny fraction of the 1.4 million members of the uniformed services and about 3.5 percent of the more than 10,000 people discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy since its inception in 1994.
But many were military school graduates or service members who went to medical school at the taxpayers' expense _ troops not as easily replaced by a nation at war that is struggling to fill its enlistment quotas.
"You don't just go out on the street tomorrow and pluck someone from the general population who has an Air Force education, someone trained as a physician, someone who bleeds Air Force blue, who is willing to serve, and that you can put in Iraq tomorrow," said Beth Schissel, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989 and went on to medical school.
Schissel was forced out of the military after she acknowledged that she was gay.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Women are the biggest losers..so far.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Iraq the Model
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/01/women-are-biggest-losersso-far.html
The talks among the winning-and losing-political parties in Iraq have slowed down quite a bit, actually the whole process is somewhat taking a pause since the announcement of the final results which by the way seem to be objection-proof; Aadil al-Lami from the election commission appeared on TV today and said that all 20+ objections that came form different blocs since Thursday have been rejected by the interim judicial electoral committee that has replaced the election commission since the latter has completed its mission…or has it?
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
***CITIZENLINK ACTION ALERT***
Focus on the Family
January 24, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Judge Alito Needs Your Calls of Support Today
Senate liberals are continuing their purely partisan
efforts to derail the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to
the U.S. Supreme Court -- despite his stellar
qualifications for service.
The next few days are particularly critical in ensuring
Alito is seated on the high court. In fact, family
advocates have identified today as a key day for residents
of several states to urge their Democratic senators to
vote in favor of Alito.
If you live in any of the following states, it is
imperative that you take the time in the next few hours to
call your senator or senators listed below and deliver a
simple message: "You represent people like me, not radical
liberals like Ted Kennedy and Charles Schumer, and we
believe Judge Alito is well-qualified to serve on the
Supreme Court. We expect you to help ensure he gets a fair
up-or-down vote -- and to cast your vote in support of
him."
The calls should take no more than a minute or so to make.
Should you have extra time, we encourage you to call not
just your senator's number in Washington, but as many of
the district offices as you can. To make an even greater
impact, you could send one or more faxes -- that's the
most effective way to make your voice heard.
Here are the key states and senators who need to hear from
you during business hours today – the earlier the better.
(If you don’t find your state below, but would still like
to do your part for Judge Alito, you can find contact
information for your senators in the CitizenLink Action
Center at the link below.)
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
Arkansas
Sen. Mark Pryor
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2353
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-0908
District office phone: (501) 324-6336
District office Fax: (501) 324-5320
Sen. Blanche Lincoln
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-4843
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-1371
District office phones: (501) 375-2993, (479) 251-1224,
(870) 774-3106, (870) 910-6896, (870) 382-1023
District office faxes: (479) 251-1410, (870) 774-7627
(870) 910-6898, (870) 382-1026
South Dakota
Sen. Tim Johnson
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5842
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-5765
District office phones: (605) 332-8896, (605) 226-3440,
(605) 341-3990
District office faxes: (605) 332-2824, (605) 226-2439,
(605) 341-2207
North Dakota
Sen. Byron Dorgan
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2551
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-1193
District office phones: (701) 250-4618, (701) 746-8972,
(701) 239-5389, (701) 852-0703
District office faxes: (701) 250-4484, (701) 746-9122,
(701) 239-5112, (701) 838-8196
Sen. Kent Conrad
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2043
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-7776
District office phones: (701) 258-4648, (701) 232-8030,
(701) 775-9601, (701) 852-0703
District office faxes: (701) 258-1254, (701) 232-6449,
(701) 746-1990, (701) 838-8196
New Mexico
Sen. Jeff Bingaman
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5521
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-2852
District office phones: (505) 988-6647, (505) 622-7113,
(505) 523-6561, (505) 346-6601, (505) 454-8824
District office faxes: (505) 992-8435, (505) 622-3538,
(505) 523-6584, (505) 346-6780, (505) 454-8959
Louisiana
Sen. Mary Landrieu
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5824
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-9735
District office phones: (504) 589-2427, (225) 389-0395,
(318) 676-3085, (337) 436-6650
District office faxes: (504) 589-4023, (225) 389-0660,
(318) 676-3100, (337) 439-3762
Florida
Sen. Bill Nelson
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5274
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-2183
District office numbers: (407) 872-7161, (850) 942-8415,
(813) 225-7040, (305) 536-5999, (561) 514-0189, (904)
346-4500, (954) 693-4851, (239) 334-7760
District office faxes: (407) 872-7165, (850) 942-8450,
(813) 225-7050, (305) 536-5991, (561) 514-4078, (904)
346-4506, (954) 693-4862, (239) 334-7710
===================
Gary Schneeberger
Editor
Stuart Shepard
Managing Editor
Pete Winn
Associate Editor
Wendy Cloyd
Assistant Editor
Peter Brandt
Senior Director, Government & Public Policy
Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy
Jim Daly
President and CEO, Focus on the Family
Dr. James C. Dobson
Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family
---------------------------------
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If you would like further information on Family News in Focus stories, call (800)A-FAMILY or (800) 232-6459.
----- 9 -----
PRO-FAMILY CANADIANS CALL ELECTION 'A GREAT DAY'
It wasn't a sea change, but the government of Canada will
change hands to the Conservative Party.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039291.cfm
Canadians went to the polls Monday and voted the Liberal
Party out of power and the Conservative Party in.
Gwen Landolt, national vice president of REAL Women of
Canada, a pro-life, pro-family group, said the
Conservative Party -- known popularly as "the Tories" --
won the day.
"We're enormously relieved that the Liberals were
defeated, because it means that Liberals will not be
forming policy," she said.
Liberals held the reins of power for more than a dozen
years.
"The Liberals had formed the government after four
successive elections and they were the ones who brought in
same-sex marriage," Landolt said. "They were the
government that was planning to decriminalize
prostitution, decriminalize marijuana -- and were
suggesting they were going to bring in a euthanasia bill."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
South Dakota Considers Outlawing Abortion
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
SUMMARY: State also looking at requiring doctors to
explain the risks of the procedure.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039288.cfm
Lawmakers in South Dakota will soon consider two bills
that target abortion -- one that would require an abortion
provider to explain the danger of the procedure and one
that would ban it altogether in the state.
Republican Rep. Roger Hunt, the author of both bills, said
the majority of South Dakotans are pro-life and support
the laws he has proposed.
The first, HB 1215 -- The Women's Health and Human Life
Protection Act -- would outlaw abortion, allowing an
exception only if a woman's life is at stake.
"Abortion should be banned," Hunt said. "DNA testing now
can establish the unborn child has a separate and distinct
personality from the mother. We know a lot more about
post-abortion harm to the mother."
[...]
TAKE ACTION: If you live in South Dakota, please contact
your state representative and urge him or her to support
HB 1215 (The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act)
and HB 1216 (The Negligent Screening Bill). For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/directory/statedir.tt?state=SD&lvl=state
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
PANEL APPROVES ALITO ON STRICT PARTY-LINE VOTE
The Supreme Court nominee is one step closer to a full Senate vote.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039292.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 today to send
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito to the full Senate for
an up-or-down vote.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family
Action, said there were no surprises.
"The vote was expected to be along party lines, and that's
exactly what happened," he said. "Democrats used the
occasion to criticize the Bush administration and looked
more like they were posturing for the 2006 elections than
voting on a Supreme Court justice. And they looked as
extreme and far left as possible."
Committee members had the opportunity to speak before the
final vote.
Democrats used their time to revisit the same accusations
they leveled during Alito's hearings earlier this month.
They continued to charge that Alito's past rulings were
unfair to minorities and that he has an improper view of
the role of the president.
Another common theme: Alito's view of court precedents.
It's a not-so-secret way of questioning whether he would
uphold Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court decision that
legalized abortion on demand.
[...]
Hausknecht said the timing appears to be focused on
holding the vote until Monday or Tuesday, on the eve of
the president's State of the Union address.
"The Democrats are not about 'advising and consenting' in
a fair and timely manner," he said. "Their goal is to
delay the inevitable confirmation of Judge Alito for
whatever partisan goals they can achieve, even if it's for
something as petty as the timing of press coverage on the
confirmation.
"At the end of the day, however, one of the finest jurists
in the nation, Samuel Alito, will be sworn in as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Faith and Freedom Network
January 25, 2006
Update on House Bill 2661
[Received in email; no URL]
Yesterday the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Consumer Protection Committee held the hearing on HB 2661. The chair permitted only five people to testify on each side of the issue. The five who testified for our side were Ken Hutcherson, Pastor of Antioch Bible Church, Alec Rowlands, Pastor of Westgate Chapel and director of “Sound the Alarm”, Randy Leskovar, Pastor of Calvary Chapel of West Seattle, Pastor Dwain Wolfe and Bob Higley, the Senior Lobbyist for Faith and Freedom Network. There were 51 people who signed in, opposing the bill, and 43 who signed in support of the bill. The Chair permitted each of our people to speak for only two minutes. There were many more people there who wanted to speak against the bill but who did not get to speak.
The vote was seven YES votes to pass the bill, all Democrats plus Senator Finkbeiner and three NO votes with Senator Brandland leaving before the vote was taken.
THE GOVERNOR WANTS THIS BILL OUT THIS WEEK, SO THE FINAL VOTE WILL LIKELY BE FRIDAY BY THE WHOLE SENATE!
ONCE AGAIN. Call all Senators, especially yours! Call the Hot line 1-800-562-6000. AND PRAY FOR A MIRACLE!
Please give this message wide dissemination and forward to your family and friends.
Thank you for your commitment to "Advancing Judeo Christian Values across America!" And please forward this Alert to your friends and family concerned about these issues!
God Bless You,
Bob Higley, Senior Lobbyist
Faith and Freedom Network
email: faithandfreedom@aol.com
phone: 425-486-6594
web: http://www.faithandfreedom.us
----- 13 -----
CITIZENLINK DAILY UPDATE
Focus on the Family
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Keep Those Calls to Key Senators Going
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Senate liberals took their attacks on Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito to the floor of the Senate today.
This is a critical time for your voice to be heard to
ensure Alito is seated on the high court.
If you live in any of the following states -- South
Dakota, North Dakota, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana or
Florida -- and you haven't already made the call, contact
your senator or senators on the list you'll find through
the link below and deliver a simple message: "You
represent people like me, not radical liberals like Ted
Kennedy and Charles Schumer, and we believe Judge Alito is
well-qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. We expect
you to help ensure he gets a fair up-or-down vote -- and
to cast your vote in support of him."
The calls should take no more than a minute or so to make.
Should you have extra time, we encourage you to call not
just your senator's number in Washington, but as many of
the district offices as you can. To make an even greater
impact, you could send one or more faxes -- that's the
most effective way to make your voice heard.
You'll find all the numbers you need by clicking on the
link below.
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0039290.cfm#jump
----- 14 -----
DEBATE BEGINS; DEMS MAY AGAIN DELAY ALITO VOTE
Upsetting coverage of the State of the Union may be the goal.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 25, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039305.cfm
Debate on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito got under way
today in the U.S. Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., kicked off
what is expected to be a marathon discussion lasting at
least the rest of this week -- one which alternates
between Republicans and Democrats. He accused Senate
Democrats of misusing last week's confirmation hearings to
try to brand the appeals court judge with false
accusations -- saying that Democrats have been, in his
words, "smearing a decent and honorable man."
"There is no question that Judge Alito is
well-qualified,'' Frist told his colleagues.
[...]
With both the Democrats and Republicans rehashing the
issues they raised last week, the real question has
become: When will the final full-Senate vote take place?
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, told reporters this morning he thinks
the vote is likely to come next Tuesday -- not this week
as Democrats initially agreed.
"I feel quite confident that it's going to take place by
next week, and a possibility still exists that it would
occur this week although I think that's probably fading
because we haven't had a time agreement, and everybody's
going to want to have their say."
[...]
Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary,
suggested politics may be motivating the delay. She said
it's no coincidence that Tuesday is also the president's
State of the Union address.
"You have to think like a liberal here," she said. "If you
were faced with the prospect of the State of the Union
address, in which the president could use this national
spotlight as a bully pulpit, you as a liberal could then
also use that national spotlight in the response for all
of your issues, now couldn't you?"
Senate Democrats, Daly said, won't try a filibuster -- but
will just slow down the debate.
[...]
Daly said the liberals, who are working to stop Alito at
the behest of pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activist
groups, are looking ahead to the November congressional
elections.
"They've turned this into a campaign issue," Daly said.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Psychiatric Association's Pro-Abortion Agenda Made Clear
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 25, 2006
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039304.cfm
SUMMARY: Web site featured a now-missing claim that
abortion is less dangerous than pregnancy.
Recently, a study on the American Psychiatric
Association's (APA) Web site claimed that abortion is
"less dangerous than pregnancy." But the study cannot be
found anymore.
Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College in
Pennsylvania, told Family News in Focus the study cited
old research to prop up a pro-abortion agenda, while new
research showing the opposite to be true was ignored. He
complained to the APA and the dated information shortly
disappeared.
"I don't think it's taken down because they disagree with
it," he said. "I think it's taken down because they want
to make it more defensible."
[...]
Dr. Robert Rogan of the Christian Medical Association said
the APA has sold its soul to the culture's popular causes.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
More Than Half of America Dead Set Against President Hillary
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A new CNN/Gallup Poll finds that 51 percent of Americans
say they definitely won't vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton if
she runs for president in 2008, The Drudge Report
reported.
Just 16 percent of those surveyed held the opposite view
-- that they definitely would cast a ballot for Clinton,
while 32 percent would only go so far as to say they might
consider it.
Not surprisingly, self-described Republicans and
conservatives are most set in their opposition to a
Clinton candidacy: 90 percent of Republicans and 75
percent of conservatives say there's no way they'd vote
for her.
The poll also asked about voters' opinions of a White
House run by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Forty-six percent of those surveyed said they would not
vote for her if she entered the 2008 race.
----- 17 -----
It's 'Don't Ask, Won't See' for 'Brokeback Mountain'
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
U.S. military personnel serving in Europe won't be seeing
"Brokeback Mountain" at a military theater near them,
according to Stars and Stripes.
The controversial movie documenting the decades-long
affair of homosexual cowboys will not be shown in theaters
operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service
(AAFES).
That decision, though, has nothing to do with the movie's
content. Instead, it's because "Brokeback" is a small,
independent film whose producers don't have enough copies
to spare for overseas duty.
----- 18 -----
Liberal Disarray
Concerned Women for America
1/25/2006
By Janice Shaw Crouse
Does this portend their defeat in the 2006 elections?
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9990/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm
Despite all the problems facing President Bush and the leaders of the Republican Party, liberals continue to have difficulty getting traction with their agenda. Perhaps this is because it consists largely of saying little more than “Bush is to blame.” Nothing was more pathetic and farcical during the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito than the sight of aging liberal lions of the Senate misrepresenting the judge’s writings. They only embarrassed themselves and showed how beholden they were to radical special-interest groups.
Does this portend yet another ineffective effort by liberals in the 2006 congressional elections? Perhaps. It depends in part upon how well conservatives respond to the challenges ahead. One thing is certain, however: Liberals will never concede defeat. Politics is their religion, and they are not going to abandon anti-Americanism or their embrace of the culture of death.
[...]
Ordinary people do not trust liberals with national security. One reason may be their inability to see the threat of evil for what it is and, worse still, their willingness to ignore it for political advantage. Witness the elite’s chorus of protest when The New York Times made its treasonous revelation of the administration’s “spying” on Americans. This is how they couched attempts to protect Americans by eavesdropping on the conversations of terrorists abroad with their supporters in this country--even though House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others had been briefed about this program from the outset and had heretofore not objected.
Many Americans are flocking to conservative talk radio, Web sites and Fox News for hardheaded, honest realism. CNN has been thrashing around looking for new ways to repackage its threadbare liberal propaganda. But with its monopoly broken, it is now clearly second choice for more and more of its former audience. The same can be said of the major newspapers, which have shrinking circulation numbers day-in and day-out.
[...]
They have long gravitated to those sectors that can be subverted to their ends – “choice” has become their euphemism for “death.” The hidden horrors of the abortion plague have been graphically transmitted to the public over the Internet, courtesy of partial-birth abortion. This barbaric procedure stands in such awful contrast to sonograms and astonishing intrauterine photographs of babies sucking their thumbs.
[...]
If conservatives are to continue to prevail in the battle to restore respect for life and a love of country, we must root out the evil that has sprung up in our own ranks – the only appropriate response. We cannot hope to convince the public to support us if we don’t clean house of those who have abused their trust. We need not fear honesty. They will not desert us if we are humble and contrite. Doing so will stand in sharp contrast to the captivity of Kennedy, Leahy, Feinstein, Reid and company to the pro-abortion, anti-American left.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
Agape Press
January 24, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
[...]
...The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has removed an agency website containing numerous pages of what some conservatives called "pro-homosexual propaganda." The website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration boasted of "celebrating the pride and diversity among and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations." The Family Research Council had called on the government to take down the site. Conservative columnist Dr. Warren Throckmorton said the website contained inaccurate statistics and was a waste of tax dollars. (See earlier article) [Jim Brown]
[More at URL]
[Ed. Note: the pages were at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/features/lgbt - the pages are now gone, but are in Google's cache for the moment.]
----- 20 -----
Internet giant actively sponsors homosexuality
January 24, 2006
Guy Adams
RenewAmerica analyst
http://www.renewamerica.us/analyses/060124adams.htm
A strange thing has recently happened in America. America Online, a new American icon, is actively supporting the homosexual lobby. They go way beyond tolerance toward the far end of endorsement. Thirty years ago, no one would dare to do what AOL has proudly done. I am currently an AOL subscriber, although that might change soon.
[...]
Clicking on "People Connection" brought up the URL http://peopleconnection.aol.com/messageboards, which then brought me to http://GayandLesbian.AOL.com/. I was astonished at America Online's audacity. Not only is AOL endorsing homosexuality, they're proactively sponsoring it.
Cut to the chase
So let me ask you bluntly, if I might: What is so "American" about things like anal sex between two men?
In an interview I had with Liberty Counsel's President and Chief Counselor, Mat Staver, recently, he said:
"[Homosexuality] harms children and families and has a destabilizing effect on our culture" and "[I]f the American public really knew what [homosexuals] do, they'd act. They would never vote for homosexual marriage."
[...]
NBC proudly states that "Will & Grace" has won eight GLAAD Media Awards. Okay, so what does that prove? Nothing at all. You see, Hollywood, including NBC, is trying extremely hard to separate the image of homosexuality from the harsh and brutal reality of the homosexual lifestyle, by depicting homosexuals as somewhat normal, if only a bit quirky.
But there's nothing normal about male-to-male, or female-to-female, "sex." It wars against nature and it wars against you and me. It goes against the grain of traditional American values.
God got it right the first time, and anything that willfully chooses otherwise is unwise, at best. Actually, it's self-centered and incredibly foolish. I know that I will be called a "bigot" or "intolerant" by some, but why tolerate an agenda that threatens the very future of America as we know it? There is no good and justifiable reason not to oppose it.
No vote
Homosexuality has no validity, nor does it have God's blessing. It does not have the blessings of the American people either, otherwise these issues would be put to a vote instead of back-channeled through the courts and a few hidden legislative procedures. Wherever the homosexual agenda has been put to the vote, it has been overwhelmingly defeated.
I think it apropos to quote from www.Family.org the following section, since one of the seriously misleading arguments behind the Liberal push for "gay marriage," and for widespread acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, is that society has no right to restrict two homosexuals who want to commit themselves to each other. Consider the following:
The Family.org article continued:
[...]
WHAT CAN I DO?
Let AOL and these other companies know how you feel:
AMERICA ONLINE, Inc. Corporate Offices:
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA. 20166-9323
Phone: 703-265-1000 ext. 57559--Ask for Jonathan Miller, Chairman & Chief Executive
Fax: (703) 918-1400
Time Warner Inc. Corporate Offices:
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY.10019-8016
Phone: (212) 484-8000--Ask for Richard D. Parsons (Chairman) or Jeffrey L. Bewkes (President)
Fax: (212) 484-7160
NBC's corporate headquarters:
NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY. 10112
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4426 and 212-664-5705
ABC's corporate headquarters:
The Walt Disney Company (owner of ABC)
Phone: 818-560-1000
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA. 91521
United States
CBS's corporate headquarters:
CBS Corporation
Phone: 1-212-975-4321
1515 Broadway
New York, NY. 10036
United States
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
First and foremost, call and write your legislators, and let them no in no uncertain terms that you oppose all aspects of the homosexual lifestyle, that you oppose hate crimes legislation, and that you are strongly against homosexual marriage or even civil unions, which are just the first step towards legalizing homosexual marriage. Write your newspapers and call in to talk-radio. Here's how to find your legislators and newspapers:
http://www.Senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm/ ~Find your Senators.
http://www.House.gov/writerep/ ~Find your Congressmen.
http://www.MoralLaw.org/delegation.htm ~Find your Congressmen and Senators.
http://www.TownHall.com/action/write_media.html ~Find your newspapers
----- 21 -----
Is America Ready to Overturn Roe?
Concerned Women for America
1/24/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9982/CWA/life/index.htm
Thirty three years have passed since the Roe v. Wade decision and much has changed in our nation. Wendy Wright, CWA’s Executive Vice President, discusses the mood of this year’s March for Life and the scientific advances that are challenging a culture of life. She says while the momentum is building to overturn Roe, there is still much work yet to do to create a culture in our nation that respects all human life. Click here to listen.
[Wendy Wright: "The media did cover the rally this way in a way they didn't in the past... there is a sense of excitement and momentum that was felt at the march..." talks about states introducing challenges to Roe v. Wade, introducing bans that take effect if and when Roe v. Wade get overturned." "Just 15 years ago the Freedom of Choice Act was introduced in Congress that would have codified Roe v. Wade... there were a number of co-sponsours in the Congress at that time... we're not seeing that kind of legislation get introduced either at the state level or at the Federal level... the momentum clearly is in our direction for regulating and restricting abortion on a Federal and on a state level."
"Even if we were able to regulate and restrict abortion completely, we still have a very serious problem in promoting respect for human life, if that life is created for the express purpose of experimenting upon. And that would be through cloning, or through embryos that were created in fertility clinics and then used for experimentation. Now, these are embryos that have not yet been inside a woman's womb, and when we talk about abortion, it's usually in the context of a woman's right to do what she wants with her body, and that the unborn life inside her can be destroyed if she decides to have an abortion. But the pro-life movement now is facing some other arenas where we have to promote a culture of life, and that is, this life, this unborn life that is not yet in a woman's womb. Now, we need to be doing all we can to protect those embryos, that early form of human life, that are in clinics, that are in labs, just as much as we are trying to protect unborn life against abortion. And so the momentum, on the one hand, is in our direction, when it comes to abortion. But on the other hand, when we talk about cloning, or embryo research, we really have our job cut out for us, because there are some people who even consider themselves pro-life who are voting in favour of embryo research and for cloning, and are advocating and funding the funding efforts to not just make it available - embryo research, which by the way there are no bans on it - but would require that our tax dollars be used to fund it. So, we find ourselves at an interesting place in history right now. On the one hand, the momentum is in our direction to protect unborn life, but on the other hand, we have more areas we need to be covering."
Is America ready to overturn Roe v. Wade? "I think we're getting some feelers now in the states as states are introducing legislation that would restrict abortion. ... the more conversations there are about abortion, the more people realise how bad abortion is, both to women and to children. And more people then find themselves agreeing that abortion shouldn't be allowed and should be restricted. So even though we may not be ready at this very moment for Roe v. Wade to be overturned and then to have protections in every state, it is going to be a process. And we are active in that process, I mean, we is the whole pro-life movement, are very active, that we need to see this as gaining ground step-by-step."
Must "talk about the truth" about stem-cell research. Anti-abortion advocates need "enough public support in favour of the sanctity of human life to uphold the laws that get passed... it's up to us to gain public support for the bills so when they're passed into law, they'll get enforced."
----- 22 -----
URGENT: Action Needed On Judge Alito Vote In Senate!
Traditional Values Coalition
January 25, 2006
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2582
Dear TVC Supporter,
The Senate Judiciary Committee met today to vote on the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. He was confirmed on a party-line vote of 10-8. I attended the hearing.
This went exactly as expected. The Democrats continued to distort Judge Alito’s distinguished record as a federal judge and then used this hearing as an opportunity to bash President Bush’s efforts to protect Americans from Islamic terrorism. This use of a confirmation hearing for political gain is unethical and crude. The party-line vote shows just how out of mainstream these liberals are with the American people. We look forward to Judge Alito’s confirmation to the Supreme Court later this week.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
FRC Initiates Ad Buys In South Dakota, Arkansas and Louisiana
Family Research Council
January 24, 2006 - Tuesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2006 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
Ad Campaign Launched to Fire up Grassroots on Alito and Encourage Senators to Vote Based on Qualifications
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A26
Washington, D.C. - In preparation for a Senate vote on Judge Samuel Alito, the Family Research Council has launched several ad buys encouraging state leaders in South Dakota, Arkansas and Louisiana to vote based on Alito's qualifications, not on agenda.
Each of the senators targeted by the ads were open minded during Judge Roberts' confirmation vote and FRC expects the same for Judge Alito.
South Dakota - FRC placed print ads in the Argus Leader and Pierre Capital Journal addressing South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson.
The ad urges his constituents to call Senator Johnson and "ask him to stop Ted Kennedy and other liberals in Washington from forcing their extreme agenda on South Dakota by supporting the nomination of an experienced and well qualified nominee for the Supreme Court."
The ads will run January 25 and 26 and can be downloaded from www.frc.org.
Arkansas - Radio ads on 52 stations in Arkansas will begin running Wednesday, January 25 and continue through Friday, January 27. The ad focuses on Senators Lincoln and Pryor who are both considered key votes on the confirmation of Judge Alito.
Louisiana - Radio ads will air on 15 stations in Louisiana all this week addressing Senator Mary Landreau.
The ad, recorded by FRC President Tony Perkins states, "Seventy-six percent of Americans support the posting of the 10 Commandments on public property. Eighty-two percent believe prayer should be allowed at public school graduations and ninety percent say the phrase 'Under God' should remain in our Pledge of Allegiance. With such overwhelming support why is there such a fight on these issues?"
Both radio ads can be heard in their entirety at www.frc.org.
-30-
----- 24 -----
Pro-Homosexual Support Costs Southern Baptist Congregation Its Affiliation
By Allie Martin
American Family Association/Agape Press
January 24, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/242006d.asp
(AgapePress) - The executive board of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has broken off affiliation with a Baptist congregation over its apparent support of another church that welcomes and affirms homosexuals.
According to Baptist Press, the SBTC's Credentials Committee met last month with the pastor of Faith Harbour Church of Baytown, which is near Houston. The committee was attempting to clarify Faith Harbour's stance toward a church called Ekletos, whose congregation was being allowed to meet in the Baptist church's facilities.
Ekletos has a female senior pastor, while the Southern Baptist Church's position on women in ministry stipulates that women "participate equally with men in the priesthood of all believers" but "pastoral leadership is assigned to men." Also, the Ekletos website says that church welcomes and affirms homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgendered people. Southern Baptists officially affirm that "God's plan for marriage and sexual intimacy" is "one man, and one woman, for life" and that the Bible condemns homosexuality as sin and therefore "not a 'valid alternative lifestyle.'"
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
United Methodist Pastor Criticizes Ministers' Ad Supporting Homosexual Membership
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
January 25, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006g.asp
(AgapePress) - A group of United Methodist ministers in Virginia have purchased a newspaper ad proclaiming their support for granting church membership to homosexuals.
The 44 active or retired Richmond-area Methodist clergy signed the $3,000 ad, which they paid their own money to have placed in the Richmond Times Dispatch. In the announcement, the ministers vowed they "will continue the long-standing, historic United Methodist practice of accepting into membership all who will take the vows of faith of our United Methodist tradition."
Jim Lavender, senior pastor at Discovery United Methodist Church, refused to sign the statement arguing that the church should not deny practicing homosexuals full membership. Among the reasons he gave was that he felt the ad singled out homosexuality from other issues facing the church and, more importantly, it failed to call the lifestyle what the Bible says it is -- sin.
"Homosexual behavior is not compatible with a Christian lifestyle," Lavender asserts. "It is not compatible with scripture, nor is it compatible with the [Book of] Discipline of the United Methodist Church."
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Family Advocate Pleased to See 'Man of Integrity' as Canada's New PM
By Chad Groening
January 25, 2006
(AgapePress) - A Canadian pro-family activist says while he is very pleased that the Conservatives have finally returned to power after 13 years of Liberal Party rule, he is disappointed that so many of his fellow countrymen voted for the outgoing party -- which he views as "corrupt."
[...]
"One hundred and twenty-four Conservatives cannot pass a piece of legislation without joining forces either with the block or the ND," says the co-founder and executive director of the Canada Family Action Coalition. "That concerns me -- that they're going to have to form a coalition with one of those other parties that don't have much in common with us."
[...]
Rushfeldt promises that the Canada Family Action Coalition will hit the ground running, urging the new government to deliver the changes Harper has promised. On his first day on the campaign trail in November, Harper promised he would hold a free vote on changing the definition of marriage. Prime Minister Paul Martin put the Liberal government's final stamp of approval on homosexual "marriage" in July 2005 when he signed legislation known as C-38.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
Ex-Homosexual Ministry Leader: Brokeback Mountain May Be Tip of the Iceberg
By Allie Martin
January 25, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006f.asp
(AgapePress) - A former homosexual who now heads an international Christian ministry to individuals affected by homosexuality says movies such as the much touted mainstream media darling Brokeback Mountain are sending the wrong message to Americans about culture and sexuality.
Alan Chambers is president of Exodus Global Alliance, an organization that includes the largest evangelical network of former homosexuals and that promotes the message to people struggling with unwanted same-sex desire that change from homosexuality is possible through the power of Jesus Christ. But while Exodus is offering hope based on scriptural truth, the ministry leader contends that movies like the homosexual "romance" Brokeback Mountain are fostering confusion and desperation.
"They don't point to the truth that homosexuality is a very difficult lifestyle," Chambers says. "It's one full of desperation and devastation and heartache. And the great thing is there are men and women who have overcome that lifestyle. That's something I wish was more talked about in the mainstream media."
[More at URL]
----- 28 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
January 25, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006h.asp
[...]
...Hoping to beat a state judge to the punch, a coalition of lawmakers in Pennsylvania has sponsored legislation to amend that state's constitution to protect marriage and define it as between one man and one woman. A pro-family leader in the Keystone State says the time is right to join 19 other states that have enacted similar legislation. Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, notes that states that have chosen not to take that step are allowing judges to decide the matter. "We cannot wait for a Pennsylvania judge to be given the opportunity to redefine marriage," says Gramley. "One man, one woman marriage has been historically recognized as the foundation of society." The pro-family leader says the legislation will give residents of the state the opportunity to vote on the critical issue. H.B. 2381 is sponsored by a bi-partisan coalition of state representatives. [Jody Brown]
[More at URL]
----- 29 -----
Canada turns conservative
Focus on the Family Canada
January 25, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/misc/012506.html
After 12 years under Liberal rule, Canadians voted Monday for change, ushering in a Conservative minority government. With significant numbers of MPs elected from all four major parties, this government will demand cooperation and compromise.
“With this new government, we look forward to a more open and accommodating political climate that will allow Canadians of faith to have a legitimate voice in the public square,” commented Derek Rogusky, the senior vice-president of Focus on Family Canada. “In the past, families have been hit with challenge after challenge, and those who speak up for the institutions of marriage and the family have been shut down and labelled ‘un-Canadian.’”
Although major changes will be difficult with a minority government, Rogusky pointed out a number of issues that could very well achieve a consensus from the parties and desperately need to be addressed. The list includes:
* becoming a global voice for those who are oppressed, such as the persecuted in Sudan and the countless women who are being exploited though the international sex trade;
* cleaning up government corruption and a sense of entitlement;
* standing up for Canada’s children who are being victimized because of Canada’s low age-of-consent;
* closing the revolving door in our justice system;
* eliminating a one-size-fits-all approach to childcare and replacing it with direct assistance to parents regardless of the childcare option that they choose; and
* stopping the liberalization of Canada's prostitution and drug laws.
Although Harper is adamant that his government will not introduce any legislation to protect the unborn child, Rogusky is still hopeful that backbenchers, even from other parties, would be able to come forward with a bill that would at least recognize some protection for unborn children.
“An outright ban on all abortions would likely be difficult to achieve in the next couple of years, but given that the majority of Canadians desire some protection for unborn children, Canadians should urge Parliament to start taking steps in the right direction,” he said.
A moderate increase in voter turn-out is also an encouraging result of the election, with more people visiting the ballot box than in 2004, despite worry that a winter election would discourage voters.
----- 30 -----
Hunger for change fed Tory vote: poll
Last Updated Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:00:47 EST
CBC News
[Long URL elided]
[...]
On another contentious issue, the poll found that 66 per cent of respondents did not want Harper's party to bring the same-sex marriage issue back to Parliament for a free vote, as he has promised. A total of 30 per cent of people polled did want to see that vote happen, and five per cent had no opinion or did not answer the question.
[More at URL]
IRS rules that gender reassignment surgery is purely cosmetic, serves no medical function, and is therefore not deductible - this is new policy; in the past, transmen and transwomen could apply GRS as any other medical expense, now they can't; I have from other sources that I can't quote that this is a high-level political overruling of IRS policy and a previous IRS ruling in this very case; GLAD is deciding where to appeal, not whether, as they have two options (tax court or Federal appeals court);
"REAL Women of Canada" press release applauding Tory victory, looking forward to a "change of direction," claims Liberal defeat stemmed from C-38 (marriage rights bill);
Eastside (Seattle-area) pastor Hutcherson announces latest permutation of anti-Microsoft action over their support of a Washington GBLT civil-rights bill: everybody who hates queers should buy "one or two shares" of Microsoft stock and then sell it on May 1st; clearly, he does not understand scale;
US joins Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, and Egypt in blocking two LGBT NGOs from being on the United Nations Economic and Social Council;
At a time when the US is having trouble getting even minimally-qualified troops, kicking out queer doctors and medics is apparently still no problem;
Omar at IraqTheModel says that - predictably - women are losing out in this new, fundamentalist-dominated Iraqi parliament;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to barrage Senators with pro-Alito phone calls; note the HI-LARITY! of the copyright notice saying you can't use this email for political purposes;
Focus on the Family pleased with election result in Canada;
Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to push abortion BAN in South Dakota, no health exemption for the woman; expects it to go to the Supreme Court if passed;
Focus on the Family article on Alito confirmation hearings - they're sure he'll be confirmed at this point;
Faith and Freedom Network urgent ACTION ITEM to oppose GBLT rights in Washington State;
Second ACTION ITEM by Focus on the Family to call Senators, confirm Alito;
More Focus on the Family Alito coverage; opponents "are working to stop Alito at the behest of pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activist groups";
Focus on the Family talks with CWA wonk Warren Throckmorton about abortion;
FotF: 51% of Americans wouldn't consider Hillary Clinton for President; 46% say they wouldn't consider Condi Rice.
Army and Air Force Exchange Services theatres won't show Brokeback Mountain due to print shortage; I'm passing it on because FotF saw fit to headline that;
Concerned Women for America talks about "Liberal Disarray," but there's an interesting section about needing to purge "the evil that has sprung up in our own midst";
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services takes down LBGT-oriented substance abuse pages after Warren Throckmorton and other fundamentalists complained they were "pro-homosexual propaganda";
RenewAmerica condemns AOL for having GBLT-oriented message areas in its "People Connection" sections; runs through usual anti-gay rhetoric, anti-gay statistics from other anti-gay organisations (including Focus on the Family and other famous ones), concludes with ACTION ITEM to complain to America Online, Time Warner, NBC, ABC, and CBS for GBLT-inclusive shows; also to write your lawmakers to oppose everything GBLT-rights related;
CWA's "Is America Ready to Overturn Roe?" talks about the need to move beyond Roe v. Wade to abortion bans in every state, and also to work more seriously on bans against embryonic stem-cell research and protections for embryos in fertility clinics;
Traditional Values Coalition ACTION ITEM to support Alito;
Family Research Council launches ad campaigns in South Dakota, Arkansas, and Louisiana targeting Democrats to vote for Alito;
Southern Baptists of Texas Convention expels church for support of a sub-church with a female pastor and which is GBLT-welcoming; both sited as violations of Southern Baptist teaching;
American Family Association: "United Methodist Pastor Criticizes Ministers' Ad Supporting Homosexual Membership";
AFA story on Canadian anti-marriage/anti-abortion social conservatives happy about the election and Stephen Harper as PM; looking forward to revote on C-38, the law that extended marriage rights to lesbian and gay couples;
Exodus International leader: "Brokeback Mountain" is just the "tip of the iceberg";
An anti-marriage amendment being pushed forward in the Pennsylvania state house;
Focus on the Family Canada sees Tory win as a chance to introduce restrictions on abortion, set the stage for further restrictions on abortion rights;
CBC article: polling says 66% of Canadians do not want C-38 revisited; only 30% do; only 2% of voters list same-sex marriage issues as a reason for voting Conservative.
----- 1 -----
Analysis & Commentary
Election Day Analysis
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CBC.ca's Reality Check Team – Ira Basen, John Gray, Robert Sheppard and Karin Marley – post their thoughts on election day developments as they unfold, Monday, Jan. 23, 2006.
[...]
What will happen if the same-sex marriage issue comes up for a free vote? It will be a nail biter – of that we can be sure. Of the 31 Liberals running this election who voted against the same-sex marriage bill last year, 26 were re-elected. All five Bloc MPs who also voted no are going back to Ottawa. However, the same goes for the three Conservatives who voted in favour of the same-sex bill.
There are nearly 70 new faces in Parliament, meaning there is quite a bit of room for change. Of those, 38 are Conservative, 12 NDP, seven Liberals and one Independent. Assuming the newbies vote on side with their parties, this would put the count at 155 supporters of same-sex marriage and 152 voting against, with an Independent wild card. With those kinds of numbers, the vote isn't likely to get to Parliament any time soon. —KM
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
IRS Denies Medical Expense Deduction for Costs of Gender-Reassignment Surgery
TaxProf Blog
January 23, 2006
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/01/irs_no_medical_.html
The IRS has ruled in Chief Counsel Advice 200603025 that male-to-female gender reassignment surgery does not qualify as a deductible medical expense under § 213:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0603025.pdf
----- 3 -----
CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT
For Immediate Release
Ottawa, Ontario January 23, 2006
REAL Women of Canada
http://www.realwomenca.com/press.htm#01_23_06
The Liberal pigeons came home to roost tonight.
The Liberals thought that the public would forgive and forget their many crimes and misdemeanors. The Liberals genuinely believed that they were entitled to govern Canada believing no one else was as capable of doing so. They mistakenly thought Canadians would show their gratitude by giving them their fifth mandate in a row.
How out of touch the Liberals are with real life and real people.
The defeat of the Liberal government in this 2006 election was predicted by REAL Women in a media release dated June 29, 2005. We stated in that press release:
* Liberal arrogance in 1957 over the pipeline led to Liberal defeat
* Liberal arrogance and intensive pork barreling in 1983 led to Liberal defeat
* Liberal arrogance over Bill C-38 and its imposing of the Bill which is unacceptable to the majority of Canadians, and by compelling the Cabinet and pressuring the Liberal backbenchers to vote for the Bill, plus the Liberals' overt corruption, will lead to its defeat in the early 2006 federal election.
The Liberal government has outlived its usefulness. It will not recover from Bill C-38. Corruption, imposing on Canadians third world politics by way of arrogant top-down government, open bribery to obtain votes, and the manipulation of the Parliamentary process will bring down this despotic Prime Minister and his cronies.
Liberal history repeats itself.
We made this prediction based on the established pattern of behaviour by successive Liberal governments and the public's reaction to it. Once a Liberal government reaches the stage where it sincerely believes that it is the only party that deserves to govern, as an entitlement, rather than by earning that right, its loss of power is inevitable and becomes cast in stone. This occurred tonight.
During this election campaign, the Liberals and their supporters tried to manipulate the voters to convince them that the Conservative Party candidates, especially socially conservative ones, were dangerous. They endeavoured to dig up past statements by social conservatives on issues, such as abortion and the same-sex issue, to indicate that these issues would be prominently featured in the Conservative party's agenda. We wish it were so, but believe this is not likely to be the case.
The direction of Canada nonetheless has been changed by this election. We may now look forward to more respect being paid to the taxpayer, his/her money and his/her concerns, rather than the concerns and interests of the Liberal party elites and their followers both in and out of the government.
Canadians have voted for a long overdue change in government.
- 30 -
Contact persons:
C. Gwendolyn Landolt Tel: (905) 731-5425, 787-0348, 889-1993
Diane Watts Tel: (613) 236-4001
----- 4 -----
Pastor Urges Microsoft Stock Buy - And - Dump
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 24, 2006
Filed at 10:54 p.m. ET
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Gay-Rights-Boycott.html?_r=2
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- A pastor who threatened a national boycott against Microsoft and other major corporations for endorsing a gay rights bill urged supporters Tuesday to buy up the companies' stock and dump it to drive prices down.
Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, said the stock-dumping plan had been part of his strategy all along.
''You got to find out how you affect a company,'' Hutcherson said, conceding that it would be hard to get people to shun products from companies that dominate the marketplace as Microsoft and Boeing do.
He wants supporters to buy one or two shares over the next few months, then sell them May 1.
[More at URL]
----- 5 -----
U.S. Nixes Gay Inclusion At UN
by Doug Windsor, 365Gay.com New York Bureau
Posted: January 24, 2006 - 11:00 am ET
http://365gay.com/Newscon06/01/012406unGay.htm
(New York City) The United States joined with four of the world's most repressive regimes to reject an application by two international LGBT groups seeking to join a UN agency that advises the world body on economics and social issues.
The application by the International Lesbian and Gay Association and the Danish Association of Gays and Lesbians was dismissed without a hearing.
The groups had sought inclusion on the United Nations Economic and Social Council, a think tank made up of non governmental agencies from around the world.
The United States voted with Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon against granting a hearing for the application.
ECOSOC status allows NGOs to attend UN meetings and speak in their own name. The Council already has participation from labor and social rights groups.
The governments of Iran and Zimbabwe are considered to be among the most repressive anti-gay regimes in the world.
President Mugabe of Zimbabwe has long scapegoated and persecuted gay men and lesbians. The recently-elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has overseen an anti-gay campaign in recent months, in which many young people accused of homosexual acts reportedly have been executed.
Egypt also voted against considering the application. That country too has a history of persecuting gay men.
[More at URL]
----- 6 -----
Hundreds of military officers, health care professionals discharged under gay policy
WKYT-TV 27 (Lexington, Kentucky)
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4408011&nav=4CAL
WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of officers and health care professionals have been discharged in the past 10 years under the Pentagon's policy on gays, a loss that while relatively small in numbers involves troops who are expensive for the military to educate and train.
The 350 or so affected are a tiny fraction of the 1.4 million members of the uniformed services and about 3.5 percent of the more than 10,000 people discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy since its inception in 1994.
But many were military school graduates or service members who went to medical school at the taxpayers' expense _ troops not as easily replaced by a nation at war that is struggling to fill its enlistment quotas.
"You don't just go out on the street tomorrow and pluck someone from the general population who has an Air Force education, someone trained as a physician, someone who bleeds Air Force blue, who is willing to serve, and that you can put in Iraq tomorrow," said Beth Schissel, who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1989 and went on to medical school.
Schissel was forced out of the military after she acknowledged that she was gay.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Women are the biggest losers..so far.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Iraq the Model
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2006/01/women-are-biggest-losersso-far.html
The talks among the winning-and losing-political parties in Iraq have slowed down quite a bit, actually the whole process is somewhat taking a pause since the announcement of the final results which by the way seem to be objection-proof; Aadil al-Lami from the election commission appeared on TV today and said that all 20+ objections that came form different blocs since Thursday have been rejected by the interim judicial electoral committee that has replaced the election commission since the latter has completed its mission…or has it?
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
***CITIZENLINK ACTION ALERT***
Focus on the Family
January 24, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Judge Alito Needs Your Calls of Support Today
Senate liberals are continuing their purely partisan
efforts to derail the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to
the U.S. Supreme Court -- despite his stellar
qualifications for service.
The next few days are particularly critical in ensuring
Alito is seated on the high court. In fact, family
advocates have identified today as a key day for residents
of several states to urge their Democratic senators to
vote in favor of Alito.
If you live in any of the following states, it is
imperative that you take the time in the next few hours to
call your senator or senators listed below and deliver a
simple message: "You represent people like me, not radical
liberals like Ted Kennedy and Charles Schumer, and we
believe Judge Alito is well-qualified to serve on the
Supreme Court. We expect you to help ensure he gets a fair
up-or-down vote -- and to cast your vote in support of
him."
The calls should take no more than a minute or so to make.
Should you have extra time, we encourage you to call not
just your senator's number in Washington, but as many of
the district offices as you can. To make an even greater
impact, you could send one or more faxes -- that's the
most effective way to make your voice heard.
Here are the key states and senators who need to hear from
you during business hours today – the earlier the better.
(If you don’t find your state below, but would still like
to do your part for Judge Alito, you can find contact
information for your senators in the CitizenLink Action
Center at the link below.)
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/
Arkansas
Sen. Mark Pryor
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2353
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-0908
District office phone: (501) 324-6336
District office Fax: (501) 324-5320
Sen. Blanche Lincoln
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-4843
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-1371
District office phones: (501) 375-2993, (479) 251-1224,
(870) 774-3106, (870) 910-6896, (870) 382-1023
District office faxes: (479) 251-1410, (870) 774-7627
(870) 910-6898, (870) 382-1026
South Dakota
Sen. Tim Johnson
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5842
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-5765
District office phones: (605) 332-8896, (605) 226-3440,
(605) 341-3990
District office faxes: (605) 332-2824, (605) 226-2439,
(605) 341-2207
North Dakota
Sen. Byron Dorgan
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2551
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-1193
District office phones: (701) 250-4618, (701) 746-8972,
(701) 239-5389, (701) 852-0703
District office faxes: (701) 250-4484, (701) 746-9122,
(701) 239-5112, (701) 838-8196
Sen. Kent Conrad
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-2043
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-7776
District office phones: (701) 258-4648, (701) 232-8030,
(701) 775-9601, (701) 852-0703
District office faxes: (701) 258-1254, (701) 232-6449,
(701) 746-1990, (701) 838-8196
New Mexico
Sen. Jeff Bingaman
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5521
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-2852
District office phones: (505) 988-6647, (505) 622-7113,
(505) 523-6561, (505) 346-6601, (505) 454-8824
District office faxes: (505) 992-8435, (505) 622-3538,
(505) 523-6584, (505) 346-6780, (505) 454-8959
Louisiana
Sen. Mary Landrieu
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5824
D.C. office fax: (202) 224-9735
District office phones: (504) 589-2427, (225) 389-0395,
(318) 676-3085, (337) 436-6650
District office faxes: (504) 589-4023, (225) 389-0660,
(318) 676-3100, (337) 439-3762
Florida
Sen. Bill Nelson
D.C. office phone: (202) 224-5274
D.C. office fax: (202) 228-2183
District office numbers: (407) 872-7161, (850) 942-8415,
(813) 225-7040, (305) 536-5999, (561) 514-0189, (904)
346-4500, (954) 693-4851, (239) 334-7760
District office faxes: (407) 872-7165, (850) 942-8450,
(813) 225-7050, (305) 536-5991, (561) 514-4078, (904)
346-4506, (954) 693-4862, (239) 334-7710
===================
Gary Schneeberger
Editor
Stuart Shepard
Managing Editor
Pete Winn
Associate Editor
Wendy Cloyd
Assistant Editor
Peter Brandt
Senior Director, Government & Public Policy
Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy
Jim Daly
President and CEO, Focus on the Family
Dr. James C. Dobson
Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family
---------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2006, Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. CitizenLink is a policy and culture information service of Focus on the Family, a ministry sustained by the contributions and prayers of supporters. This e-mail may not be used for commercial or political purposes.
Subscribers are encouraged to send this e-mail to others and/or print it in its entirety, without any changes, for noncommercial and nonpolitical use only. Because of the time-sensitive nature of the material published in this e-mail newsletter, subscribers are permitted to reprint individual articles in their entirety, without any changes, for noncommercial and nonpolitical use only. Individual articles must be accompanied by the author's byline, as well as the following copyright information:
"Copyright (c) 2006, Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. This article appeared in CitizenLink Daily Update published (date), a policy and culture information service of Focus on the Family. For more information, see http://www.citizenlink.org."
For all other reprint requests, please visit the Focus on the Family permissions Web form. (Please note that you must scroll half way down the page to reach the form.)
[Long URL elided] or by fax at 719-531-3391.
CitizenLink does not regularly print letters to the editor, but if you would like to submit a comment or question, send it to citizenlink@family.org. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the volume of e-mails we receive, it is possible that we may not be able to respond to your e-mail.
If you would like further information on Family News in Focus stories, call (800)A-FAMILY or (800) 232-6459.
----- 9 -----
PRO-FAMILY CANADIANS CALL ELECTION 'A GREAT DAY'
It wasn't a sea change, but the government of Canada will
change hands to the Conservative Party.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
by Pete Winn, associate editor
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039291.cfm
Canadians went to the polls Monday and voted the Liberal
Party out of power and the Conservative Party in.
Gwen Landolt, national vice president of REAL Women of
Canada, a pro-life, pro-family group, said the
Conservative Party -- known popularly as "the Tories" --
won the day.
"We're enormously relieved that the Liberals were
defeated, because it means that Liberals will not be
forming policy," she said.
Liberals held the reins of power for more than a dozen
years.
"The Liberals had formed the government after four
successive elections and they were the ones who brought in
same-sex marriage," Landolt said. "They were the
government that was planning to decriminalize
prostitution, decriminalize marijuana -- and were
suggesting they were going to bring in a euthanasia bill."
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
South Dakota Considers Outlawing Abortion
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
by Wendy Cloyd, assistant editor
SUMMARY: State also looking at requiring doctors to
explain the risks of the procedure.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039288.cfm
Lawmakers in South Dakota will soon consider two bills
that target abortion -- one that would require an abortion
provider to explain the danger of the procedure and one
that would ban it altogether in the state.
Republican Rep. Roger Hunt, the author of both bills, said
the majority of South Dakotans are pro-life and support
the laws he has proposed.
The first, HB 1215 -- The Women's Health and Human Life
Protection Act -- would outlaw abortion, allowing an
exception only if a woman's life is at stake.
"Abortion should be banned," Hunt said. "DNA testing now
can establish the unborn child has a separate and distinct
personality from the mother. We know a lot more about
post-abortion harm to the mother."
[...]
TAKE ACTION: If you live in South Dakota, please contact
your state representative and urge him or her to support
HB 1215 (The Women's Health and Human Life Protection Act)
and HB 1216 (The Negligent Screening Bill). For contact
information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit
the CitizenLink Action Center.
http://www3.capwiz.com/fof/directory/statedir.tt?state=SD&lvl=state
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
PANEL APPROVES ALITO ON STRICT PARTY-LINE VOTE
The Supreme Court nominee is one step closer to a full Senate vote.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 24, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039292.cfm
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 today to send
Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito to the full Senate for
an up-or-down vote.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family
Action, said there were no surprises.
"The vote was expected to be along party lines, and that's
exactly what happened," he said. "Democrats used the
occasion to criticize the Bush administration and looked
more like they were posturing for the 2006 elections than
voting on a Supreme Court justice. And they looked as
extreme and far left as possible."
Committee members had the opportunity to speak before the
final vote.
Democrats used their time to revisit the same accusations
they leveled during Alito's hearings earlier this month.
They continued to charge that Alito's past rulings were
unfair to minorities and that he has an improper view of
the role of the president.
Another common theme: Alito's view of court precedents.
It's a not-so-secret way of questioning whether he would
uphold Roe v. Wade -- the 1973 Supreme Court decision that
legalized abortion on demand.
[...]
Hausknecht said the timing appears to be focused on
holding the vote until Monday or Tuesday, on the eve of
the president's State of the Union address.
"The Democrats are not about 'advising and consenting' in
a fair and timely manner," he said. "Their goal is to
delay the inevitable confirmation of Judge Alito for
whatever partisan goals they can achieve, even if it's for
something as petty as the timing of press coverage on the
confirmation.
"At the end of the day, however, one of the finest jurists
in the nation, Samuel Alito, will be sworn in as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court."
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Faith and Freedom Network
January 25, 2006
Update on House Bill 2661
[Received in email; no URL]
Yesterday the Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Consumer Protection Committee held the hearing on HB 2661. The chair permitted only five people to testify on each side of the issue. The five who testified for our side were Ken Hutcherson, Pastor of Antioch Bible Church, Alec Rowlands, Pastor of Westgate Chapel and director of “Sound the Alarm”, Randy Leskovar, Pastor of Calvary Chapel of West Seattle, Pastor Dwain Wolfe and Bob Higley, the Senior Lobbyist for Faith and Freedom Network. There were 51 people who signed in, opposing the bill, and 43 who signed in support of the bill. The Chair permitted each of our people to speak for only two minutes. There were many more people there who wanted to speak against the bill but who did not get to speak.
The vote was seven YES votes to pass the bill, all Democrats plus Senator Finkbeiner and three NO votes with Senator Brandland leaving before the vote was taken.
THE GOVERNOR WANTS THIS BILL OUT THIS WEEK, SO THE FINAL VOTE WILL LIKELY BE FRIDAY BY THE WHOLE SENATE!
ONCE AGAIN. Call all Senators, especially yours! Call the Hot line 1-800-562-6000. AND PRAY FOR A MIRACLE!
Please give this message wide dissemination and forward to your family and friends.
Thank you for your commitment to "Advancing Judeo Christian Values across America!" And please forward this Alert to your friends and family concerned about these issues!
God Bless You,
Bob Higley, Senior Lobbyist
Faith and Freedom Network
email: faithandfreedom@aol.com
phone: 425-486-6594
web: http://www.faithandfreedom.us
----- 13 -----
CITIZENLINK DAILY UPDATE
Focus on the Family
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Keep Those Calls to Key Senators Going
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
Senate liberals took their attacks on Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito to the floor of the Senate today.
This is a critical time for your voice to be heard to
ensure Alito is seated on the high court.
If you live in any of the following states -- South
Dakota, North Dakota, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana or
Florida -- and you haven't already made the call, contact
your senator or senators on the list you'll find through
the link below and deliver a simple message: "You
represent people like me, not radical liberals like Ted
Kennedy and Charles Schumer, and we believe Judge Alito is
well-qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. We expect
you to help ensure he gets a fair up-or-down vote -- and
to cast your vote in support of him."
The calls should take no more than a minute or so to make.
Should you have extra time, we encourage you to call not
just your senator's number in Washington, but as many of
the district offices as you can. To make an even greater
impact, you could send one or more faxes -- that's the
most effective way to make your voice heard.
You'll find all the numbers you need by clicking on the
link below.
http://www.family.org/cforum/extras/a0039290.cfm#jump
----- 14 -----
DEBATE BEGINS; DEMS MAY AGAIN DELAY ALITO VOTE
Upsetting coverage of the State of the Union may be the goal.
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 25, 2006
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039305.cfm
Debate on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito got under way
today in the U.S. Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., kicked off
what is expected to be a marathon discussion lasting at
least the rest of this week -- one which alternates
between Republicans and Democrats. He accused Senate
Democrats of misusing last week's confirmation hearings to
try to brand the appeals court judge with false
accusations -- saying that Democrats have been, in his
words, "smearing a decent and honorable man."
"There is no question that Judge Alito is
well-qualified,'' Frist told his colleagues.
[...]
With both the Democrats and Republicans rehashing the
issues they raised last week, the real question has
become: When will the final full-Senate vote take place?
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, told reporters this morning he thinks
the vote is likely to come next Tuesday -- not this week
as Democrats initially agreed.
"I feel quite confident that it's going to take place by
next week, and a possibility still exists that it would
occur this week although I think that's probably fading
because we haven't had a time agreement, and everybody's
going to want to have their say."
[...]
Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary,
suggested politics may be motivating the delay. She said
it's no coincidence that Tuesday is also the president's
State of the Union address.
"You have to think like a liberal here," she said. "If you
were faced with the prospect of the State of the Union
address, in which the president could use this national
spotlight as a bully pulpit, you as a liberal could then
also use that national spotlight in the response for all
of your issues, now couldn't you?"
Senate Democrats, Daly said, won't try a filibuster -- but
will just slow down the debate.
[...]
Daly said the liberals, who are working to stop Alito at
the behest of pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activist
groups, are looking ahead to the November congressional
elections.
"They've turned this into a campaign issue," Daly said.
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Psychiatric Association's Pro-Abortion Agenda Made Clear
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
January 25, 2006
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039304.cfm
SUMMARY: Web site featured a now-missing claim that
abortion is less dangerous than pregnancy.
Recently, a study on the American Psychiatric
Association's (APA) Web site claimed that abortion is
"less dangerous than pregnancy." But the study cannot be
found anymore.
Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College in
Pennsylvania, told Family News in Focus the study cited
old research to prop up a pro-abortion agenda, while new
research showing the opposite to be true was ignored. He
complained to the APA and the dated information shortly
disappeared.
"I don't think it's taken down because they disagree with
it," he said. "I think it's taken down because they want
to make it more defensible."
[...]
Dr. Robert Rogan of the Christian Medical Association said
the APA has sold its soul to the culture's popular causes.
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
More Than Half of America Dead Set Against President Hillary
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
A new CNN/Gallup Poll finds that 51 percent of Americans
say they definitely won't vote for Sen. Hillary Clinton if
she runs for president in 2008, The Drudge Report
reported.
Just 16 percent of those surveyed held the opposite view
-- that they definitely would cast a ballot for Clinton,
while 32 percent would only go so far as to say they might
consider it.
Not surprisingly, self-described Republicans and
conservatives are most set in their opposition to a
Clinton candidacy: 90 percent of Republicans and 75
percent of conservatives say there's no way they'd vote
for her.
The poll also asked about voters' opinions of a White
House run by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Forty-six percent of those surveyed said they would not
vote for her if she entered the 2008 race.
----- 17 -----
It's 'Don't Ask, Won't See' for 'Brokeback Mountain'
Focus on the Family
Newsbriefs
January 25, 2006
[Received in email; no URL]
U.S. military personnel serving in Europe won't be seeing
"Brokeback Mountain" at a military theater near them,
according to Stars and Stripes.
The controversial movie documenting the decades-long
affair of homosexual cowboys will not be shown in theaters
operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service
(AAFES).
That decision, though, has nothing to do with the movie's
content. Instead, it's because "Brokeback" is a small,
independent film whose producers don't have enough copies
to spare for overseas duty.
----- 18 -----
Liberal Disarray
Concerned Women for America
1/25/2006
By Janice Shaw Crouse
Does this portend their defeat in the 2006 elections?
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9990/BLI/dotcommentary/index.htm
Despite all the problems facing President Bush and the leaders of the Republican Party, liberals continue to have difficulty getting traction with their agenda. Perhaps this is because it consists largely of saying little more than “Bush is to blame.” Nothing was more pathetic and farcical during the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito than the sight of aging liberal lions of the Senate misrepresenting the judge’s writings. They only embarrassed themselves and showed how beholden they were to radical special-interest groups.
Does this portend yet another ineffective effort by liberals in the 2006 congressional elections? Perhaps. It depends in part upon how well conservatives respond to the challenges ahead. One thing is certain, however: Liberals will never concede defeat. Politics is their religion, and they are not going to abandon anti-Americanism or their embrace of the culture of death.
[...]
Ordinary people do not trust liberals with national security. One reason may be their inability to see the threat of evil for what it is and, worse still, their willingness to ignore it for political advantage. Witness the elite’s chorus of protest when The New York Times made its treasonous revelation of the administration’s “spying” on Americans. This is how they couched attempts to protect Americans by eavesdropping on the conversations of terrorists abroad with their supporters in this country--even though House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and others had been briefed about this program from the outset and had heretofore not objected.
Many Americans are flocking to conservative talk radio, Web sites and Fox News for hardheaded, honest realism. CNN has been thrashing around looking for new ways to repackage its threadbare liberal propaganda. But with its monopoly broken, it is now clearly second choice for more and more of its former audience. The same can be said of the major newspapers, which have shrinking circulation numbers day-in and day-out.
[...]
They have long gravitated to those sectors that can be subverted to their ends – “choice” has become their euphemism for “death.” The hidden horrors of the abortion plague have been graphically transmitted to the public over the Internet, courtesy of partial-birth abortion. This barbaric procedure stands in such awful contrast to sonograms and astonishing intrauterine photographs of babies sucking their thumbs.
[...]
If conservatives are to continue to prevail in the battle to restore respect for life and a love of country, we must root out the evil that has sprung up in our own ranks – the only appropriate response. We cannot hope to convince the public to support us if we don’t clean house of those who have abused their trust. We need not fear honesty. They will not desert us if we are humble and contrite. Doing so will stand in sharp contrast to the captivity of Kennedy, Leahy, Feinstein, Reid and company to the pro-abortion, anti-American left.
[More at URL]
----- 19 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
Agape Press
January 24, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
[...]
...The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has removed an agency website containing numerous pages of what some conservatives called "pro-homosexual propaganda." The website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration boasted of "celebrating the pride and diversity among and within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations." The Family Research Council had called on the government to take down the site. Conservative columnist Dr. Warren Throckmorton said the website contained inaccurate statistics and was a waste of tax dollars. (See earlier article) [Jim Brown]
[More at URL]
[Ed. Note: the pages were at http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/features/lgbt - the pages are now gone, but are in Google's cache for the moment.]
----- 20 -----
Internet giant actively sponsors homosexuality
January 24, 2006
Guy Adams
RenewAmerica analyst
http://www.renewamerica.us/analyses/060124adams.htm
A strange thing has recently happened in America. America Online, a new American icon, is actively supporting the homosexual lobby. They go way beyond tolerance toward the far end of endorsement. Thirty years ago, no one would dare to do what AOL has proudly done. I am currently an AOL subscriber, although that might change soon.
[...]
Clicking on "People Connection" brought up the URL http://peopleconnection.aol.com/messageboards, which then brought me to http://GayandLesbian.AOL.com/. I was astonished at America Online's audacity. Not only is AOL endorsing homosexuality, they're proactively sponsoring it.
Cut to the chase
So let me ask you bluntly, if I might: What is so "American" about things like anal sex between two men?
In an interview I had with Liberty Counsel's President and Chief Counselor, Mat Staver, recently, he said:
"[Homosexuality] harms children and families and has a destabilizing effect on our culture" and "[I]f the American public really knew what [homosexuals] do, they'd act. They would never vote for homosexual marriage."
[...]
NBC proudly states that "Will & Grace" has won eight GLAAD Media Awards. Okay, so what does that prove? Nothing at all. You see, Hollywood, including NBC, is trying extremely hard to separate the image of homosexuality from the harsh and brutal reality of the homosexual lifestyle, by depicting homosexuals as somewhat normal, if only a bit quirky.
But there's nothing normal about male-to-male, or female-to-female, "sex." It wars against nature and it wars against you and me. It goes against the grain of traditional American values.
God got it right the first time, and anything that willfully chooses otherwise is unwise, at best. Actually, it's self-centered and incredibly foolish. I know that I will be called a "bigot" or "intolerant" by some, but why tolerate an agenda that threatens the very future of America as we know it? There is no good and justifiable reason not to oppose it.
No vote
Homosexuality has no validity, nor does it have God's blessing. It does not have the blessings of the American people either, otherwise these issues would be put to a vote instead of back-channeled through the courts and a few hidden legislative procedures. Wherever the homosexual agenda has been put to the vote, it has been overwhelmingly defeated.
I think it apropos to quote from www.Family.org the following section, since one of the seriously misleading arguments behind the Liberal push for "gay marriage," and for widespread acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, is that society has no right to restrict two homosexuals who want to commit themselves to each other. Consider the following:
"Studies indicate that the average male homosexual has hundreds of sex partners in his lifetime. The median number of partners for homosexuals is four times higher than for heterosexuals. A study on the sexual profiles of 2,583 older homosexuals, published in the Journal of Sex Research, found that only 2.7 percent claimed to have had sex with one partner only. Research has also found that few homosexual relationships last longer than two years, with many men reporting hundreds of lifetime partners."One study showed that "43 percent of gay men had over 500 partners, and 28 percent of gay men had over 1000 partners" (emphasis added).
The Family.org article continued:
"Solid, irrefutable evidence proves that there are lethal consequences to engaging in the defining features of male homosexuality--that is, promiscuity. Active homosexuals are vulnerable to dozens of sexually transmitted diseases. According to one report, the risk of anal cancer rises by an astounding 4,000 percent for those engaging in homosexual intercourse and doubles again for those who are HIV positive."If you are a regular reader of my column, you already know my views on all this. There is an old phrase that has never really gone out of style, which correctly states that "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." Who are we to question His wisdom, or to legislate what God has outlawed? If you're religious, I think it's important to realize that there are a number of crystal-clear verses in the Bible prohibiting homosexuality, and for good reason.
[...]
WHAT CAN I DO?
Let AOL and these other companies know how you feel:
AMERICA ONLINE, Inc. Corporate Offices:
22000 AOL Way
Dulles, VA. 20166-9323
Phone: 703-265-1000 ext. 57559--Ask for Jonathan Miller, Chairman & Chief Executive
Fax: (703) 918-1400
Time Warner Inc. Corporate Offices:
One Time Warner Center
New York, NY.10019-8016
Phone: (212) 484-8000--Ask for Richard D. Parsons (Chairman) or Jeffrey L. Bewkes (President)
Fax: (212) 484-7160
NBC's corporate headquarters:
NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY. 10112
Phone: 212-664-4444
Fax: 212-664-4426 and 212-664-5705
ABC's corporate headquarters:
The Walt Disney Company (owner of ABC)
Phone: 818-560-1000
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA. 91521
United States
CBS's corporate headquarters:
CBS Corporation
Phone: 1-212-975-4321
1515 Broadway
New York, NY. 10036
United States
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
First and foremost, call and write your legislators, and let them no in no uncertain terms that you oppose all aspects of the homosexual lifestyle, that you oppose hate crimes legislation, and that you are strongly against homosexual marriage or even civil unions, which are just the first step towards legalizing homosexual marriage. Write your newspapers and call in to talk-radio. Here's how to find your legislators and newspapers:
http://www.Senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm/ ~Find your Senators.
http://www.House.gov/writerep/ ~Find your Congressmen.
http://www.MoralLaw.org/delegation.htm ~Find your Congressmen and Senators.
http://www.TownHall.com/action/write_media.html ~Find your newspapers
----- 21 -----
Is America Ready to Overturn Roe?
Concerned Women for America
1/24/2006
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9982/CWA/life/index.htm
Thirty three years have passed since the Roe v. Wade decision and much has changed in our nation. Wendy Wright, CWA’s Executive Vice President, discusses the mood of this year’s March for Life and the scientific advances that are challenging a culture of life. She says while the momentum is building to overturn Roe, there is still much work yet to do to create a culture in our nation that respects all human life. Click here to listen.
[Wendy Wright: "The media did cover the rally this way in a way they didn't in the past... there is a sense of excitement and momentum that was felt at the march..." talks about states introducing challenges to Roe v. Wade, introducing bans that take effect if and when Roe v. Wade get overturned." "Just 15 years ago the Freedom of Choice Act was introduced in Congress that would have codified Roe v. Wade... there were a number of co-sponsours in the Congress at that time... we're not seeing that kind of legislation get introduced either at the state level or at the Federal level... the momentum clearly is in our direction for regulating and restricting abortion on a Federal and on a state level."
"Even if we were able to regulate and restrict abortion completely, we still have a very serious problem in promoting respect for human life, if that life is created for the express purpose of experimenting upon. And that would be through cloning, or through embryos that were created in fertility clinics and then used for experimentation. Now, these are embryos that have not yet been inside a woman's womb, and when we talk about abortion, it's usually in the context of a woman's right to do what she wants with her body, and that the unborn life inside her can be destroyed if she decides to have an abortion. But the pro-life movement now is facing some other arenas where we have to promote a culture of life, and that is, this life, this unborn life that is not yet in a woman's womb. Now, we need to be doing all we can to protect those embryos, that early form of human life, that are in clinics, that are in labs, just as much as we are trying to protect unborn life against abortion. And so the momentum, on the one hand, is in our direction, when it comes to abortion. But on the other hand, when we talk about cloning, or embryo research, we really have our job cut out for us, because there are some people who even consider themselves pro-life who are voting in favour of embryo research and for cloning, and are advocating and funding the funding efforts to not just make it available - embryo research, which by the way there are no bans on it - but would require that our tax dollars be used to fund it. So, we find ourselves at an interesting place in history right now. On the one hand, the momentum is in our direction to protect unborn life, but on the other hand, we have more areas we need to be covering."
Is America ready to overturn Roe v. Wade? "I think we're getting some feelers now in the states as states are introducing legislation that would restrict abortion. ... the more conversations there are about abortion, the more people realise how bad abortion is, both to women and to children. And more people then find themselves agreeing that abortion shouldn't be allowed and should be restricted. So even though we may not be ready at this very moment for Roe v. Wade to be overturned and then to have protections in every state, it is going to be a process. And we are active in that process, I mean, we is the whole pro-life movement, are very active, that we need to see this as gaining ground step-by-step."
Must "talk about the truth" about stem-cell research. Anti-abortion advocates need "enough public support in favour of the sanctity of human life to uphold the laws that get passed... it's up to us to gain public support for the bills so when they're passed into law, they'll get enforced."
----- 22 -----
URGENT: Action Needed On Judge Alito Vote In Senate!
Traditional Values Coalition
January 25, 2006
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2582
Dear TVC Supporter,
The Senate Judiciary Committee met today to vote on the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court. He was confirmed on a party-line vote of 10-8. I attended the hearing.
This went exactly as expected. The Democrats continued to distort Judge Alito’s distinguished record as a federal judge and then used this hearing as an opportunity to bash President Bush’s efforts to protect Americans from Islamic terrorism. This use of a confirmation hearing for political gain is unethical and crude. The party-line vote shows just how out of mainstream these liberals are with the American people. We look forward to Judge Alito’s confirmation to the Supreme Court later this week.
[More at URL]
----- 23 -----
FRC Initiates Ad Buys In South Dakota, Arkansas and Louisiana
Family Research Council
January 24, 2006 - Tuesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 24, 2006 CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, (202) 393-2100
Ad Campaign Launched to Fire up Grassroots on Alito and Encourage Senators to Vote Based on Qualifications
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR06A26
Washington, D.C. - In preparation for a Senate vote on Judge Samuel Alito, the Family Research Council has launched several ad buys encouraging state leaders in South Dakota, Arkansas and Louisiana to vote based on Alito's qualifications, not on agenda.
Each of the senators targeted by the ads were open minded during Judge Roberts' confirmation vote and FRC expects the same for Judge Alito.
South Dakota - FRC placed print ads in the Argus Leader and Pierre Capital Journal addressing South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson.
The ad urges his constituents to call Senator Johnson and "ask him to stop Ted Kennedy and other liberals in Washington from forcing their extreme agenda on South Dakota by supporting the nomination of an experienced and well qualified nominee for the Supreme Court."
The ads will run January 25 and 26 and can be downloaded from www.frc.org.
Arkansas - Radio ads on 52 stations in Arkansas will begin running Wednesday, January 25 and continue through Friday, January 27. The ad focuses on Senators Lincoln and Pryor who are both considered key votes on the confirmation of Judge Alito.
Louisiana - Radio ads will air on 15 stations in Louisiana all this week addressing Senator Mary Landreau.
The ad, recorded by FRC President Tony Perkins states, "Seventy-six percent of Americans support the posting of the 10 Commandments on public property. Eighty-two percent believe prayer should be allowed at public school graduations and ninety percent say the phrase 'Under God' should remain in our Pledge of Allegiance. With such overwhelming support why is there such a fight on these issues?"
Both radio ads can be heard in their entirety at www.frc.org.
-30-
----- 24 -----
Pro-Homosexual Support Costs Southern Baptist Congregation Its Affiliation
By Allie Martin
American Family Association/Agape Press
January 24, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/242006d.asp
(AgapePress) - The executive board of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has broken off affiliation with a Baptist congregation over its apparent support of another church that welcomes and affirms homosexuals.
According to Baptist Press, the SBTC's Credentials Committee met last month with the pastor of Faith Harbour Church of Baytown, which is near Houston. The committee was attempting to clarify Faith Harbour's stance toward a church called Ekletos, whose congregation was being allowed to meet in the Baptist church's facilities.
Ekletos has a female senior pastor, while the Southern Baptist Church's position on women in ministry stipulates that women "participate equally with men in the priesthood of all believers" but "pastoral leadership is assigned to men." Also, the Ekletos website says that church welcomes and affirms homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgendered people. Southern Baptists officially affirm that "God's plan for marriage and sexual intimacy" is "one man, and one woman, for life" and that the Bible condemns homosexuality as sin and therefore "not a 'valid alternative lifestyle.'"
[More at URL]
----- 25 -----
United Methodist Pastor Criticizes Ministers' Ad Supporting Homosexual Membership
By Jim Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
January 25, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006g.asp
(AgapePress) - A group of United Methodist ministers in Virginia have purchased a newspaper ad proclaiming their support for granting church membership to homosexuals.
The 44 active or retired Richmond-area Methodist clergy signed the $3,000 ad, which they paid their own money to have placed in the Richmond Times Dispatch. In the announcement, the ministers vowed they "will continue the long-standing, historic United Methodist practice of accepting into membership all who will take the vows of faith of our United Methodist tradition."
Jim Lavender, senior pastor at Discovery United Methodist Church, refused to sign the statement arguing that the church should not deny practicing homosexuals full membership. Among the reasons he gave was that he felt the ad singled out homosexuality from other issues facing the church and, more importantly, it failed to call the lifestyle what the Bible says it is -- sin.
"Homosexual behavior is not compatible with a Christian lifestyle," Lavender asserts. "It is not compatible with scripture, nor is it compatible with the [Book of] Discipline of the United Methodist Church."
[More at URL]
----- 26 -----
Family Advocate Pleased to See 'Man of Integrity' as Canada's New PM
By Chad Groening
January 25, 2006
(AgapePress) - A Canadian pro-family activist says while he is very pleased that the Conservatives have finally returned to power after 13 years of Liberal Party rule, he is disappointed that so many of his fellow countrymen voted for the outgoing party -- which he views as "corrupt."
[...]
"One hundred and twenty-four Conservatives cannot pass a piece of legislation without joining forces either with the block or the ND," says the co-founder and executive director of the Canada Family Action Coalition. "That concerns me -- that they're going to have to form a coalition with one of those other parties that don't have much in common with us."
[...]
Rushfeldt promises that the Canada Family Action Coalition will hit the ground running, urging the new government to deliver the changes Harper has promised. On his first day on the campaign trail in November, Harper promised he would hold a free vote on changing the definition of marriage. Prime Minister Paul Martin put the Liberal government's final stamp of approval on homosexual "marriage" in July 2005 when he signed legislation known as C-38.
[More at URL]
----- 27 -----
Ex-Homosexual Ministry Leader: Brokeback Mountain May Be Tip of the Iceberg
By Allie Martin
January 25, 2006
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006f.asp
(AgapePress) - A former homosexual who now heads an international Christian ministry to individuals affected by homosexuality says movies such as the much touted mainstream media darling Brokeback Mountain are sending the wrong message to Americans about culture and sexuality.
Alan Chambers is president of Exodus Global Alliance, an organization that includes the largest evangelical network of former homosexuals and that promotes the message to people struggling with unwanted same-sex desire that change from homosexuality is possible through the power of Jesus Christ. But while Exodus is offering hope based on scriptural truth, the ministry leader contends that movies like the homosexual "romance" Brokeback Mountain are fostering confusion and desperation.
"They don't point to the truth that homosexuality is a very difficult lifestyle," Chambers says. "It's one full of desperation and devastation and heartache. And the great thing is there are men and women who have overcome that lifestyle. That's something I wish was more talked about in the mainstream media."
[More at URL]
----- 28 -----
Commentary & News Briefs
January 25, 2006
Compiled by Jody Brown
American Family Association/Agape Press
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/afa/252006h.asp
[...]
...Hoping to beat a state judge to the punch, a coalition of lawmakers in Pennsylvania has sponsored legislation to amend that state's constitution to protect marriage and define it as between one man and one woman. A pro-family leader in the Keystone State says the time is right to join 19 other states that have enacted similar legislation. Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, notes that states that have chosen not to take that step are allowing judges to decide the matter. "We cannot wait for a Pennsylvania judge to be given the opportunity to redefine marriage," says Gramley. "One man, one woman marriage has been historically recognized as the foundation of society." The pro-family leader says the legislation will give residents of the state the opportunity to vote on the critical issue. H.B. 2381 is sponsored by a bi-partisan coalition of state representatives. [Jody Brown]
[More at URL]
----- 29 -----
Canada turns conservative
Focus on the Family Canada
January 25, 2006
http://www.fotf.ca/tfn/misc/012506.html
After 12 years under Liberal rule, Canadians voted Monday for change, ushering in a Conservative minority government. With significant numbers of MPs elected from all four major parties, this government will demand cooperation and compromise.
“With this new government, we look forward to a more open and accommodating political climate that will allow Canadians of faith to have a legitimate voice in the public square,” commented Derek Rogusky, the senior vice-president of Focus on Family Canada. “In the past, families have been hit with challenge after challenge, and those who speak up for the institutions of marriage and the family have been shut down and labelled ‘un-Canadian.’”
Although major changes will be difficult with a minority government, Rogusky pointed out a number of issues that could very well achieve a consensus from the parties and desperately need to be addressed. The list includes:
* becoming a global voice for those who are oppressed, such as the persecuted in Sudan and the countless women who are being exploited though the international sex trade;
* cleaning up government corruption and a sense of entitlement;
* standing up for Canada’s children who are being victimized because of Canada’s low age-of-consent;
* closing the revolving door in our justice system;
* eliminating a one-size-fits-all approach to childcare and replacing it with direct assistance to parents regardless of the childcare option that they choose; and
* stopping the liberalization of Canada's prostitution and drug laws.
Although Harper is adamant that his government will not introduce any legislation to protect the unborn child, Rogusky is still hopeful that backbenchers, even from other parties, would be able to come forward with a bill that would at least recognize some protection for unborn children.
“An outright ban on all abortions would likely be difficult to achieve in the next couple of years, but given that the majority of Canadians desire some protection for unborn children, Canadians should urge Parliament to start taking steps in the right direction,” he said.
A moderate increase in voter turn-out is also an encouraging result of the election, with more people visiting the ballot box than in 2004, despite worry that a winter election would discourage voters.
----- 30 -----
Hunger for change fed Tory vote: poll
Last Updated Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:00:47 EST
CBC News
[Long URL elided]
[...]
On another contentious issue, the poll found that 66 per cent of respondents did not want Harper's party to bring the same-sex marriage issue back to Parliament for a free vote, as he has promised. A total of 30 per cent of people polled did want to see that vote happen, and five per cent had no opinion or did not answer the question.
[More at URL]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-01-26 07:56 pm (UTC)The numbers don't add up. Harper may allow a free vote on repealing marriage equality, but he doesn't have the votes in parliament. At least as many Conservative MPs support marriage equality as Liberal members oppose it, and the NDP and BQ almost uniformly support it. It will die there, and Harper will have satisfied his deranged core of right-wing voters without actually changing anything, and the country will move on. Even if he had the votes, he'd have to use the notwithstanding clause to overrule the Constitution, and there's no political support for that. His government would crumble overnight, with the other parties calling a confidence vote he could not win.
In fact, his government will probably crumble in any event. Any move to the right will sink him. His only hope to stay in power is to govern like a less corrupt version of the Liberals, which is a victory for moderation in Canada, and a victory for civil rights.