PREHISTORIC CHELSEA

A land that time and proper lighting forgot.

WHAT RELIGION CAME IN THIS BOX?

Whatever it was, someone used it all up!

ROMNEY AND LIBYA: DOES THE LEAKED TAPE EXPLAIN IT?

The Mother Jones transcripts look like they explain just what the hell Mitt Romney was thinking when he made those very ugly comments after the Libya embassy massacre:

Audience member: If you get the call as president, and you had hostages…Ronald Reagan was able to make a statement, even before he became, was actually sworn in—

Romney: Yeah—
Audience member: the hostages were released—
Romney: on the day of his inauguration, yeah.
Audience member: So my question is, really, how can you sort of duplicate that scenario?
Romney: Ohhhh. [A few chuckles in audience.] I'm gonna ask you, how do I duplicate that scenario.
Audience member: I think that had to do with the fact that the Iranians perceived Reagan would do something to really get them out. In other words [unintelligible]…and that's why I'm suggesting that something that you say over the next few months gets the Iranians to understand that their pursuit of the bomb is something that you would predict and I think that's something that could possibly resonate very well with American Republican voters.
Romney: I appreciate the idea. I can't—one of the other things that's frustrating to me is that at a typical day like this, when I do three or four events like this, the number of foreign policy questions that I get are between zero and one. And the American people are not concentrated at all on China, on Russia, Iran, Iraq. This president's failure to put in place a status forces agreement allowing 10-20,000 troops to stay in Iraq? Unthinkable! And yet, in that election, in the Jimmy Carter election, the fact that we have hostages in Iran, I mean, that was all we talked about. And we had the two helicopters crash in the desert, I mean that's—that was—that was the focus, and so him solving that made all the difference in the world. I'm afraid today if you said, "We got Iran to agree to stand down a nuclear weapon," they'd go hold on. It's really a, but…by the way, if something of that nature presents itself, I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity.

So, he DID have a situation like that happen and he jumped on it with both feet. He didn't use his supposedly large brain to filter out the idea, because he already had that idea in mind! The handlers only crafted the message, at best. This was no misstep or misstatement. It was on him.

See Also: ROMNEY AND CAIRO UPDATE
ROMNEY LEAK TAPES: DEEP INTERPRETATION

ROMNEY CAUGHT ON TAPE: DEEP INTERPRETATION

The reality show that is the Romney campaign hit the rocks this week.

What no one has mentioned about the video is that none of the audience even coughed. No one stirred, fidgeted, or looked around. Does that mean they agreed with him? Not necessarily, but neither did they find his remarks outlandish.

And so, in private, these thoughts can be voiced. Hell, Paul Ryan says about the same things into any public microphone he finds live.

This is the ideology, often cloaked, rarely stated, tied with a bow. I admire Romney's boldness in stating it directly. How is he not a conservative now? Those calling on him to double down are the voices he should listen to. Why not have this argument out in the open, finally? Without the code words, without the dressing and drapery.

When the many conservatives pile on Romney now, it's a damn good spectacle. But what else have they been saying all along? About the same.

I'll take that debate. Then let the vote happen. Romney did not back off. Good first step.

ROMNEY and CAIRO, UPDATE

How did I predict it? Romney backed off and basically said the same thing that the Cairo U.S. embassy said, and that Secretary Clinton said. And he basically issued a no comment on the whole story.

Of course, certain of his advisers and point people are still flapping their gums, but it's a 180, and it's obvious.

At least he did the right thing after all! Not huge praise. I still have no idea what he was thinking when he followed this dreadful advice! He should have used his brain to filter out this concept.

He's just looking way too weak, following whatever some far right person tells him to say to keep that part of the party in the bag. He's been so desperate to court and hold them, that he's backed himself to the edge of a cliff. I think he fell off this time, but that may not be true.

We'll see soon enough. Hell, I could have told him not to do it.

BOY SCOUTS COVERED UP FOR CHILD RAPISTS

Don't believe it? Read the LA Times article about the Boy Scouts's dirty doings.

In 1976, five Boy Scouts wrote detailed complaints accusing a Pennsylvania scoutmaster of two rapes and other sex crimes, according to his file. He abruptly resigned in writing, saying he had to travel more for work.

"Good luck to you in your new position," a top troop representative wrote back. He said he was accepting the resignation "with extreme regret."

Of course the lawyers fought tooth and nail to cover up the cover-up. These files apparently only cover the '70s to the early '90s.

A few months after Humphries' arrest in 1984, local Scouting official Jack Terwilliger told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper that no one at the local Scout council had had suspicions about Humphries.

But that was not true. Records in Humphries' file show that six years earlier, Terwilliger had ordered officials to interview a Scout who gave a detailed account of Humphries' repeated acts of oral sex on him.

"He then told me to do the same and I did," the 12-year-old boy said in a sworn statement in 1978.
...

Humphries continued to work with Scouts and molested at least five more boys before police, acting on a tip, stopped him in 1984. He was convicted of abusing 20 Boy Scouts, some as young as 8, and was sentenced to 151 years in prison.

Another sanctimonious "religious" organization aiding and abetting horrific crimes. Lovely. Disband the thing by court order.

ROMNEY AND CAIRO, WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?

Romney's people need to exert message control. I know he's getting slammed for what he said, but it could derive from a combination of bad information and bad advice. Let's look at what happened, even though details are, ahem, sketchy.

UPDATED HERE

Okay, here's the Cairo Embassy statement:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others

This is about the notably bad video, Innocence of Muslims. It may or not be made by its poster, Sam Bacile.

The press release above is dated Tues., Sept. 11, 2012. I see no time stamp on it, so I have no idea when it was written. This becomes crucial, and I'll update when I find out, if I can, because now the Republicans are lining up behind Romney's attack on this statement. Sarah Palin, first to flap gums as always, claims it was sent while the Egyptian embassy was being stormed.

They obviously should be doing damage control, because they're all but saying this statement caused the attacks. That's a real stretch.

Here they might be seen as aligning with Koran-burning nut job Terry Jones. He seems to have been pumping this video. No one seems to know a damn thing about this video's true origins, but it got mentioned on Egyptian television after an Arab-language dubbing happened. Somehow Pastor Jones's promotion gets on government radar, as the linked article here reads:

On Wednesday, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Mr. Jones and asked him to consider withdrawing his support for the video, a senior administration official told reporters in a conference call. Mr. Jones’ response was “non-committal,” the administration official said.

Perhaps the statement came out before the rest of it all. I don't know. If so, that's a problem for a blame-the-statement messaging, and backtracking may ensue. Whether chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be calling up private citizens and telling them to put a lid on it, that I have the answer to. Er, no. Love him or hate him, this nut job has every right to pull his nuttery. He can light Goodnight Moon, holy books, or a set of encyclopedias on fire in the public square, for all I care.

In Libya, while there was a protest happening in front of the embassy, rumors fly that there may have been a planned attack that used an ordinary protest as cover for the operation. I don't know. If that turns out to be true, then Romney's shot off his mouth too soon.

The White House is saying they did not clear the statement. Fine, if true, and Secretary of State Clinton has basically restated the premise: not a great idea to deliberately insult a people's religion, because we've been supposedly a tolerant nation for oh so long. Unless you happened to be a Native American, or, well, let's not bring all that up now.

So, the timing is crucial. When did the statement go out? Whether the Libyan attack was planned is also crucial, because no cause and effect can be found.

See Also: ROMNEY AND CAIRO UPDATE
ROMNEY LEAK TAPES: DEEP INTERPRETATION

A Moment of Reflection

BURGER KING DEAD!

Burger King at his coronation as the Messiah.

And I didn't even know he was married.

No more paper crowns for you plebs!

A GLOWING MOMENT

A bright idea.

Chris Christie's War on Love

This great moment of Chris Christie's speech choked me up. (Not really.) But it signified an important Rubicon moment in Republican party strategy. Many missed his declaration of the War on Love. Follow closely:

The greatest lesson Mom ever taught me, though, was this one: she told me there would be times in your life when you have to choose between being loved and being respected. She said to always pick being respected, that love without respect was always fleeting — but that respect could grow into real, lasting love.

Now, of course, she was talking about women.

But I have learned over time that it applies just as much to leadership. In fact, I think that advice applies to America today more than ever.

I believe we have become paralyzed by our desire to be loved.

Our Founding Fathers had the wisdom to know that social acceptance and popularity is fleeting and that this country's principles needed to be rooted in strengths greater than the passions and emotions of the times.

Our leaders today have decided it is more important to be popular, to do what is easy and say "yes," rather than to say no when "no" is what's required.

In recent years, we as a country have too often chosen the same path.

It's been easy for our leaders to say not us, and not now, in taking on the tough issues. And we've stood silently by and let them get away with it.

But tonight, I say enough.

....

Tonight, we choose respect over love.

We are not afraid. We are taking our country back.

video at Politico

So, continuing last week's Republican theme of screwed up, twisted views of women, we have Christie saying "All right, Mom, I'll take your advice. Who cares if a woman loves me? What basis is love for a relationship anyway?" And he repeats this as some sort of wisdom of the ages. Jerk.

Then he transfers that sick idea to the politician's relationship with the entire country. Thus, "The people are my bitch, and I must pimp-slap them if they don't give me my money."

And so, the circle is complete! The Conservative mindset is revealed as the smokescreen blows away in the wind. This is a War on Love itself. Hell, according to Christie, even the vaunted founding fathers had no place in their hearts for such a trifling emotion, such piffle. They were as hard and cold as their chiseled stone statues. Forget that part in the Declaration of Independence about friendship with your enemy in peace, and while you're at it, burn their love letters home. No, the people must be hated, loathed, and abused. Severely.

This country needs a strong hand, according to this ideal of governing mouthed by the governor, and if leaders like he are hated and feared, that's the goal. Being loved, or doing something for people that causes you to be loved by them, why that's weakness and failure. Love itself is a sign of something gone terribly wrong, a country utterly lost. It must be stamped out. Specifically, he is saying, "We thrive on your hatred of us!"

And so, from the people who declared the Culture War, we now have the War on Love. Welcome to it.

PAUL RYAN AND THE ANTIGOVERNMENT CROWD

Dear Paul Ryan,

If you're so damn antigovernment, could you please stop running for higher and higher office? It makes you, dare I say, government.

The rest of the antigovernment crowd is always headed up by senators, congressmen, governors, and the like. These people are the government.

This should be obvious to anyone, but I feel it needs to be stated. The media seem never to point out this simple truth.

AT THE THRESHOLD OF LIFE

THY NEIGHBOR'S ASS

I've NEVER, EVER seen the Ten Commandments posted in front of ANY church in my life.

I found a story of an attempt made quite some distance from the church, in New Jersey no less. Not the Bible Belt exactly, and they got them wrong! (There's an extra-points bonus error that the author of this amusing tale missed.) A search around brings up a smattering of these monuments actually in front of churches!

The above is an example of the standard boilerplate black granite, again being unveiled in front of some unsuspecting court house. I think there's a factory, since the blocks of rock all look the same. Note that the Tenth Commandment is shrunk down into, "Thou shalt not covet." This is clearly a big error, and a bearing of false witness in and of itself.

I thought that coveting is what makes people buy shiny new cars. Coveting is the very basis for the advertising industry. Good conservatives believe in coveting as a supreme value, above almost all others. Greed is God in Ayn Rand's world. Knock over those old ladies and grab that brass ring.

So, why do fundamentalist Christians INSIST these slabs be placed in front of court houses? Why not just slap them up on their own grounds, facing outward? Perhaps because that could be bad for business, especially that tiny one about adultery. Without breaking that Commandment, no soap opera would exist. What? The members might get a little squirmy if they had to walk past that holy suggestion every Sunday? Not possible!

The good Christians here have gone out of their way to avoid all that "thy neighbor's ass" wording, which might make 13-year-olds shriek in hysterics. The link above lists a number of translations, only one of which substitutes "donkey" for ass. Donkey? Guffaw.

But no, these people haven't even taken that coy approach, coveting is coveting and they don't like it. Covet a seashell you see all gleaming and pink down the beach, which is free and owned by no one? Stop it this instant. Drop that seashell and run from the wrath of Yahweh.

CHICAGO ARSON AT 'VELVET ROPE' GAY CLUB

The wave of domestic terrorism continues, this time at THE VELVET ROPE, in Oak Park.

The blaze Sunday morning gutted the Velvet Rope, at 728 Lake St. The club's owner, Frank Elliott, said derogatory messages were scrawled on the wall inside the burned-out club. Authorities were seen removing a piece of a wall and loading it onto a truck.

Authorities have not said whether they believe the business was targeted because it was a gay club.

I have no idea whether any of these arson events are connected, or if there's a copycat factor. Even one individual acting alone is committing terrorism when the intent is to cause terror in any community. Period.

SEE ALSO: ATLANTA ANTICHOICE ARSON
ANTIGAY HATE MURDERS UP YEAR-OVER-YEAR

MORE DOLAN DETAILS SURFACE. TWO CONFIRMED PAID OFF SO FAR.

AP has the report of two Milwaukee priest payoffs:

The archdiocese acknowledged it paid suspected pedophile clergy to leave the priesthood after an abuse victims' group produced a court document that references a 2003 proposal to pay $20,000 to "unassignable priests" who agree to leave the ministry. The document from the archdiocese's bankruptcy proceedings includes minutes from a 2003 meeting of its Finance Council, which included then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan, now a cardinal and head of the New York archdiocese.
...
The archdiocese acknowledged in 2006 that it gave $10,000 to former priest Franklyn Becker to help pay his health insurance until he became eligible for Medicare.
...
Dolan asked then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2003 to defrock Becker after allegations of repeated sexual abuse of children that dated back to at least 1970. Dolan wrote the letter about two weeks after Becker was arrested in California in connection to a sexual assault there in the 1970s. Becker was removed from the priesthood in 2004.

Odd timing, that last one. Perhaps he had never been accused until 2003? I don't have those details. So, Cardinal Dolan was getting the guy booted, by the now-Pope, no less. Then he either claims not to know about the payoff, or considers it "charity." Which is it? I think the press needs to press him on this issue.

I guess by labeling it as "charity" that changes what it is? Awfully slippery, and I don't buy it.

Cardinal Dolan still has the ability to change course here and do a world of good to repair many wrongs. A semantic squabble seems a bit petty at this stage. I think his dignity of office would be better served by trying to fix things.

DOLAN'S DENIAL: SNAP IS LYING

WNYC reports on Dolan's press gaggle. He denies something about the $20K payoffs to accused priests.

"SNAP has no credibility whatsoever," Dolan said. “To respond to charges like that that are groundless and scurrilous in my book is useless and counterproductive.”

[...]

Dolan’s comments Sunday seemed to contradict a statement made to WNYC by a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York last week, which said that the cardinal "has read and supports the statement from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee."

Working his best to keep the story alive, Dolan denies a proposal that seems to have gone forward during his leadership. Wait, we have it from a court filing. Is the document the Catholic Church provided a fake? Is that what he's claiming? Doubtful.

Is he saying the program never went forward? He doesn't say as much.

Does he deny he knew about any of this, or fall back on the old faulty memory syndrome? Not here he doesn't.

Is he withdrawing what his spokesman said? WNYC said they didn't get a response here.

The best answer he has is "Snap has no credibility whatsoever."? Good work. Attack the victims! Unleash the hounds. Works every time.

Groundless and scurrilous charges? When they are based on an internal church document? That's a ground, sure as there's earth beneath all mortals' feet.

Update to: DOLAN'S 20K PAYOFFS TO ACCUSED PRIESTS

ARCHBISHOP DOLAN PAYED ABUSING PRIESTS TO LEAVE CHURCH

According to CNN and a bit of discovery in the Catholic Church's bankruptcy case in Milwaukee, our own Archbishop Dolan approved a program of $20K payoffs to priests leaving the church for abusing children.

On Thursday, the archdiocese confirmed that it had offered payoffs to abusive priests as "the most expedient and cost-effective way to have offenders laicized or removed from the priesthood."

Having an abuser volunteer to go through the process known as laicization - formally leaving the priesthood - "was faster and less expensive. It made sense to try and move these men out of the priesthood as quickly as possible," the archdiocese said in a statement.

Lovely. How expedient. The abuser cash-out. I guess there were enough of them to push the Milwaukee church into BANKRUPTCY. Yeah, right, the Catholic Church is bankrupt. Sell a few bejewelled gewgaws and diadems and the like. Have a damn tag sale. Hell, donate all future bingo proceeds to a fun.

One Catholic church source defended the payment plan on Thursday, saying, “You either pay them to leave and give them money for food and clothes and shelter as they look for a job or you have a drawn out trial that could take years.”

“Wouldn’t that be preferable than to keep them as priests and paying their salaries,” the source, who would agree to speak only anonymously. “And wouldn’t it be better than a trial and to have victims testifying and cross examined?”

Er, better for WHOM? Exactly whom would that be better for? Can someone clue me in? Laicized indeed.

Update: DOLAY DENIES, DENIES, DENIES

SEE ALSO: PRIEST STANDS UP TO WA CATHOLIC CHURCH ANTIGAY PETITION DRIVE

ANTIGAY HATE MURDERS UP 11% LAST YEAR

Sad news, with a mixed "upside" from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs:

NCAVP documented a 16% decrease in hate violence incidents from 2010 to 2011 but an 11% increase in murder. This year many NCAVP members saw a decline in reports of violence linked to a corresponding increase in murders. “In Detroit, an increase in the severity of violence and particularly murders made it challenging for us to find the capacity to do outreach which can lead to a decrease in reports,” said Nusrat Ventimiglia at Equality Michigan. This increase in murders consumed a great deal of organizational capacity. “NCAVP members across the country have spent a tremendous amount of time and resources responding to murders and the tragic, ongoing suicides of our LGBTQ youth,” said Rebecca Waggoner from OutFront Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The 2011 report also highlights a number of disturbing trends concerning the severity of violence experienced by LGBTQH people. This year’s report shows that LGBTQH youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years old were 2.41 times as likely to experience physical violence compared to LGBTQH people age 30 and older. As in the case of the murder statistics, transgender people and people of color were more likely to experience physical injury in a hate violence incident. The report found that transgender people were 28% as likely to experience physical violence compared to non-transgender people, and that LGBTQ people of color were two times as likely to experience physical violence compared to those who were not LGBTQ people of color.

The actual number of murders is 30. Of course, the groups realize that many incidents go unreported. They say they are so strained by responding to individual incidents that perhaps some people are discouraged in reaching out for help.

Not good news at the beginning of Gay Pride Month.

See also: TODDLER SINGS ANTIGAY JINGLE IN CHURCH

GAY, SORTA, DISCRIMINATION AT A STRAIGHT CLUB?

Next Mag posts a screed about an incident at the Standard. Someone came on a nongay and non-gay friendly night.

If a club wants to cater to a gay clientele it needs to be open and accepting all the time, every night of the week.

Okay, I agree, but, wait. This one-gay-night-a-week thing at club venues has been going on for a lo-o-o-o-ng time around here. You're just noticing? C'mon Next.

I always saw the phenom as something of a half-step backward. The outcome is practically guaranteed.

Gay club life has been of the floating party variety in New York for some time. Sensitivity training for staff is a start, but how long does that stick?

This could be sorted out rather easily, with a solution I have in mind. It would take a little work, though, and perhaps the party givers don't have the time to spare.

See also: BACHELORETTE PARTY BAN INTERVIEW