If Jesus Actually Returned, Karl Rove Would Kill Him

Great piece from the leftie Free Press. Happy Easter!

California Gay Marriage Ruling By A Roman Catholic GOP Appointee

Who'da thunk it? San Francisco Judge Richard Kramer - a Roman Catholic Republican appointed to the bench by a former GOP governor - has just decided that "equal protection under the law" trumps the Religious Right's vaunted (and faux) "trah-di-shun" of when it comes to civil recognition of same-sex relationships.

Also of interest, however, is Kramer's political donation history: long time AIDS activist Michael Petrelis points out in his March 15 blog entry, that Kramer donated thousands to the collective campaigns of openly lesbian California Superior Court Justice Nancy L. Davis, openly gay Castro District Supervisor Bevan Dufty, same-sex marriage proponent San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his opponent Matt Gonzalez - the first openly candidate of the gay-friendly Green Party to run for mayoral office in US history. To give Kramer his GOP props, however, he donated $500 to Ah-nald Schwarzenegger's successful campaign for Governator of Kali-For-Nee-Ah.

The fundies are blaming it on the influence of living in San Francisco.

I can hear my mother now: "How many ways will that man roast in Hell?"

The Latest Fine Whine From Rantin' Ralph

Thanks to fellow blogger Mike Tidmus for pointing me to the obscure story in the Christian web press about the "persecution" of two "Christians" witnessing for the Lord by passing out gay hate literature from the Wisconsin Christians United.

Here's my response to Tidmus' request for background on Ralph Ovadal, Wisconsin's "class clown" of Christian bigotry:

"Hello Mike:

The only word I can gather on the matter is that a phone call was made to the police department allegedly by the WCU. No mainstream papers have reported anything on the alleged altercation, which reportedly happened early last week.

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This "martyrdom of the majority" ploy, however, is a common tactic of "Pastor" Ralph Ovadal, a former beer truck driver and sheep herder (really!) with no formal religious training who now heads Pilgrims Covenant Church, a miniscule ministry in Monroe, WI (the mailing address and meeting hall at one time was a shed on Ovadal's farm). Anything in the form of negative response, is claimed to be "violent persecution" of Christians. At one of Ovadal's Truth Forums in the early 90's one smartass lesbian shouted "Bring back the lions!" He used that line for almost a decade to "prove" the "violent homosexual intent" toward his ministry.

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Ovadal's foray into guerilla Christian street theatre as the head of the larger - but still miniscule in membership - Wisconsin Christians United has given him more press space, not to mention a police record for civil disturbances as long as your arm (you can check out the bigger offenses at the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Project - there are also local ordinance violations around the state too numerous to mention). He is the best known of a number of evangelical extremists who regularly picket LGBT-related events in Wisconsin. He's also currently fighting an incident where he physically intimidated and verbally abused a woman at Mazomanie Park, site of the state's best-known nude beach. (Reference: Dane County Case Number 2001CM003050. From court record of August 6, 2001: "Defendant (Ovadal) shall not have any contact, direct or indirect, with N.J.E. This no contact order is different than any 72 hour no contact order that may have been issued at time of incident. This no contact order must be followed as long as case is pending unless changed by a judge." Judges have to issue these kinds of restraining orders to the boundary-free criminal element in society: thugs, bullies, wife beaters and - apparently - certain "religious" leaders.)

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Ovadal also is likely to lose a frivolous lawsuit he promoted against the state's LGBT civil rights group, Action Wisconsin, for publicly reporting content of a speech made by Pastor Grant Storm, Louisana's version of Ovadal. Storm made his comments at the "First International Conference on Homo Fascism" attended by a little over a dozen people at an evangelical church in Milwaukee in September, 2003. Ovadal actually sold a copy of the speeches to the gay group, who then transcribed the contents of the compact disc and released them to the public. The lawsuit claimed Storm has received "death threats" since Action Wisconsin's published the speech. Storm has been a long time fixture protesting New Orleans' Southern Decadance and also regularly rants against the Roman Catholic Church in one of the most Catholic states in the United States. He would have a hard time proving any death threat was based on comments made in an Action Wisconsin press release.

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Ovadal got his start in the late 80's by blowing up pictures of aborted fetuses to 8' in size and then picketing with the placards on street corners and then everything from women's health conferences to the state's AIDS walks and rides (I've never gotten how safe sex condom messages lead to abortions but the placards showed up for years).

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His sideline rants on homosexuality grew as legislative efforts by more politically-savvy right-wing "family" organizations like the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin intensified in the 1990's. A shameless self-promoter, he was ready to jump in front of very TV camera and mic whenever the opportunity arose. Ovadal's constant availability has allowed him to become the lapdog media's "go to guy" whenever they want "balance" on gay issue reporting. More recently, other voices have emerged and only the totally lazy Madison broadcast media pay much attention to him.

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Ovadal's other foray into press coverage is his long-standing Mazo Beach pickets. In the name of "public decency" he decries the existence of and alleged "state promotion of public nudity" at state's best-known, and thus most popular, clothing-optional beach.

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Ovadal's over the top rhetoric regularly refers to "sodomites" and "homo fascists," which have led many to refer to him as Wisconsin's Fred Phelps, a moniker at which he bristles. "Fred Phelps Lite" would be more appropriate I guess.

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Gay activists, including myself, indirectly have confronted Ovadal many times over the years, typically in successive sessions of locally-produced TV programs, which he later refers to as "debates." He has never taken up any direct offer to debate from such notables as Tammy Baldwin, openly-gay Assembly Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison), and even the state Log Cabin's former Executive Director and former Bush AIDS czar Scott Evertz. My all-time favorite zinger at Rantin' Ralph was my April Fool's cover story I did in 1998 for the now-defunct Wisconsin Light. (However, the idiot editor butchered the piece completely, rewriting the entire story into future tense. His logic? Because the paper came out on March 28 and he wanted the story to appear as if Ovadal come out on April Fool's Day. Not a clue as to the fictional nature of satire. And they wonder why that paper folded?).

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Come to think of it, April 1 is coming - I 'll have to crank up my ancient Mac Performa, but that's a story worth sharing again on my blog this coming April 1."

That gives me another idea as well. Look for more profiles of other Wisconsin "Christian" bigots soon. In the meantime check out Mike's "Stoopid Intelligence" blog - its a hoot!

Weenie Wacker - The Sequel

Just about everyone I have talked to seems to have missed this story, even though it made it into Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" monologue this past week.

Woman Cuts Off Boyfriend's Penis, Flushes Down Toilet
Attack Sparked By Impending Breakup
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA -- An Alaska woman is in jail, accused of cutting off her boyfriend's penis and flushing it down a toilet.

Police say Kim Tran did it after her boyfriend tried to break up with her.

At some point during their argument the couple decided to have sex. The man apparently agreed to have his arms tied to their bed. Police say Tran used the opportunity to cut off the body part.

After the attack, police say Tran untied her boyfriend and drove him to the hospital. Then she went back home, where police found her cleaning up the bathroom.
Tran was arrested and police went to work trying to find the severed penis. They succeeded after pulling out the toilet. The penis was put on ice and taken to the hospital, where doctors reattached it.

Tran is charged with first-degree assault, domestic violence and tampering with evidence.

Three thoughts: 1) A man stupid enough to allow himself to be tied up during break-up sex probably doesn't deserve to reproduce. His genetics probably contains the last vestige of our ancestors who investigated noises in the forest. His only good luck is that it was February in Alaska and the investigating officer had rubber gloves on him. 2) Seriously, for the sake of the gender, I hope everything heals properly. Please spare us the videos a la post-Lorena John Bobbitt. 3) Tampering with evidence for flushing the detached member down the toilet? Note to future Lorenas and Kims - don't play with your food - that's a separate crime.

It's Official! You Cannot Be A Gay Conservative!

In the latest twist in the Right's proof of the non-existence of Gannongate, Managing Editor David Thibault of CNSNews, a unit of the conservative Media Research Center, recently maintained that Guckert/Gannon's homosexuality disqualifies him from representing himself as a conservative.

"Make no mistake, Jeff Gannon, or James Guckert, or whatever his name is, is no conservative," Thibault said. "Anybody who publishes sexually explicit photos of himself on a website in hopes of making money as a hooker is no conservative. Not in this lifetime. Not on this planet. The person in those photos is a pig and a pervert."

"Homosexuality, at its core, is about narcissism and self-loathing," Thibault concluded.

Paging screaming liberal Andrew Sullivan...

Reality Check Website Updated

The news copy from the Volume XII, No. 3 issue of Quest is now available on my Reality Check website.