The Weekly Ying and Yang: March 5, 2012

By Deb Equality Della Piana on March 6, 2012 • ( 0 )

Rush Limbaugh, although pretty much at the top of the asshat list, isn’t the only news this week. There are some other things we can talk about. Some are positive. Some are negative. Without further adieu, let’s see where this goes!

Freedom to Marry plank picking up support

LGBT activists are seizing the day on marriage equality. Freedom to Marry is not only soliciting mayors from across the nation to sign on in support of same-sex marriage, but they are circulating a petition to have support for a same-sex marriage plank as part of the Democratic National Platform for 2012. The proposed plank states: “We support the full inclusion of all families in the life of our nation, with equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law, including the freedom to marry. Government has no business putting barriers in the path of people seeking to care for their family members, particularly in challenging economic times. We support the Respect for Marriage Act and the overturning of the federal so-called Defense of Marriage Act, and oppose discriminatory constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny the freedom to marry to loving and committed same-sex couples.” Nancy Pelosi issued a press releaseon February 15 signing on to the idea. Since then, support is growing:

Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), California Attorney General Karmela Harris, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), all co-chairs of Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, have endorsed the plank.
The Washington Blade reports that 22 senators have joined the growing list of supporters for freedom to marry plank in the DNC platform. Supporters include Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), John Kerry (D-MA), and Al Franken (D-MN).
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has voiced his support.
Co-chairs Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) have co-authored a letter on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus signing on to the plank.
The Young Democrats of America has endorsed the plank, with Executive Director Emily Tisch Sussman stating, “As the Executive Director of Young Democrats of America, I represent young people, and the way we connect young people back to Democratic politics is by speaking out for what is right and taking action. Polling shows that 70 percent of voters 18-34 support the freedom to marry, and for many of our members, it’s a cause that goes to the core of why they consider themselves Democrats. It is time to realize that marriage is no longer an effective wedge issue; it is a cause that we as Democrats should be leading on.”

Check out the Freedom to Marry Blog. If your senator or congressman hasn’t signed on yet, contact them either via email, letter or phone and ask them to sign on to the freedom to marry plank!

Let’s help unjustly expelled Harvard students get their day in the yard

Let’s keep with the gay theme here. The above was the Ying. This is the Yang. On May 30, 1920, Cyril Wilcox, a Harvard University undergraduate, came out to his brother, George, who was a Harvard graduate. Apparently, the outing did not go very well because the upshot was that Cyril committed suicide. After his suicide, George went on a mission to find the names of other gay students at Harvard, and turned the names over to Abbott Lowell, the Harvard Dean, and insisted that he root out the homosexual network he had uncovered. The result? A secret court forced these students to not only leave the university, but also leave Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two were allowed back, but the rest were not. In addition, they were persecuted for more than 30 years. Harvard also pushed the boundaries by contacting some local restaurants and pressuring them to fire some other gay men who were identified during its investigation. During this investigation, there was yet another suicide. The student’s name was Eugene Cummings. He was 23 years old and three weeks away from graduation.

In 2002, The Crimson (Harvard’s in-house newspaper) discovered this information in a box marked “Secret Court.” They ran the story in their weekly magazine entitled Fifteen Minutes in November of 2002. Two weeks later, The Crimson published an editorial suggesting that degrees be awarded posthumously to the victims. The following week, the editor of the Harvard Salient, the campus conservative publication, stood by the expulsions and, in a letter to The Crimson, called on Harvard to reestablish the 1920 standards of morality. Pat Buchanan, recently fired from MSNBC for his racist comments, added his extremely bigoted insight:

“Harvard appears to have quietly expelled a few deviates while avoiding a public scandal that would have ruined their reputations and damaged Harvard’s good name. What did Harvard do wrong?”

The current Harvard president, Lawrence Summers, has expressed regret for the incident and the secret court, but would just as soon leave it behind. Let’s not allow that to happen. A Harvard student has started a movement called Their Day in the Yard to right the wrong. It now has its own web site and a growing number of supporters.

I urge you to visit and sign the petitions. Like the Facebook page. Spread the word.

White supremacist and holocaust denier running for office in Illinois

Have you ever wondered why the GOP attracts so many damned misfits? We have the Three Stooges running for the highest office in the land. If that isn’t enough, now we have a white supremacist and a holocaust denier running for Congress on the GOP ticket in Illinois. Mind you, that’s the Land of Lincoln we’re talking about. This clown says he’s running as a Republican because the Democrats are even worse, and Barack Obama is an “illegal alien.” According to his aide, identified only as ‘Bill’ (we don’t blame him for not wanting to give his name):

“He can’t see himself in the same party with an illegal alien like Obama or a homosexual like Barney Frank or all these abortionists and all these people that want amnesty for illegal aliens,” he continued. “To run as a third-party candidate or an independent candidate in Illinois, you need 5,000 signatures, which means you need double that just to get on the ballot.”

Jones, a 64-year-old insurance salesman, has previously run for Congress twice and once for mayor of Milwaukee (1976), is a former member of the National Socialist White People’s Party. He organizes family-friendly, neo-Nazi events around Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Jones says the holocaust never happened, telling the Oak Lawn Patch:

“As far as I’m concerned, the Holocaust is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews,” Jones said. “It’s the blackest lie in history. Millions of dollars are being made by Jews telling this tale of woe and misfortune in books, movies, plays and TV.

“The more survivors, the more lies that are told.”

You haven’t heard the craziest bullshit from this crack head yet, however. Direct from his web site, Jones charges that Latino radicals, such as La Raza, are working to create a new Marxist country out of our southwestern states. It’s called “Atzlan.” (Where the hell did he get that name?) Says Jones, “To allow this conquest by illegal immigration to continue is, in my opinion, a treasonous act that must not be allowed to continue and that as your Congressman I will fight to end.” He’s certifiable and belongs in the looney bin. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Say “No” to war with Iran

Finally, eight former high-ranking military, State Department and intelligence officials signed an “open letter” full-page ad asking Barack Obama to stand firmly against a war of choice with Iran. The ad ran in the Washington Post. The letter was organized by the National Iranian American Council, and was signed by:

Major General Paul Eaton (USA, Ret.)
Tom Fingar, Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis
Lt. Robert G. Gard, Jr. (USA, Ret.)
General Joseph Hoar (USMC, Ret.)
Brigadier General John H. Johns, Ph.D. (USA, Ret.)
Major General Rudolph Ostovich III (USA, Ret.)
Paul Pillar, Former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia
Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (USA, Ret.)

Let’s hope someone’s paying attention.