Ground Zero Mosque... that isn't a mosque or on Ground Zero

Earlier today, I was in a discussion with someone who supports the Park51 project, but thought the folks in charge didn't do a good job of getting in front of the story and explaining that it wasn't actually a Mosque, but a place to play racquetball. That might be the case if Fox News wasn't covering the story. It wouldn't have mattered if they had five years of hype, calling it the "Totally Non-Religious Happy Place Where There's Free Ice Cream & Hand Jobs," the minute Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media started calling it the "Ground Zero Mosque," it would've still been the Ground Zero Mosque. You have to realize these cretins shape the narrative because they have ignorant viewers and listeners that believe everything they're told. Then said ignorant listeners and viewers get outraged, start calling newspapers, radio and TV stations and demand to know why the liberal media isn't covering the Terror Mosque of Doom. And then of course the media covers it because they're pussies and are afraid of looking too liberal, so they have to report on the outrage, then the outrage blends with the story, and that becomes the perceived reality.

The right-wing is frighteningly organized, it's how Glenn Beck can get 80,000 morons to show up in DC for no reason other than to listen to him compare himself to MLK and Jesus, so he can sell books and Goldline to these same ignorant, outraged fucktards. If Sir Glenn of Moronistan and Boss Limbaugh say it is so, then it is so, it doesn't matter how much truth you throw in their face. And then the average joe, who's just trying to provide for his family and survive his soul-crushing work day, comes home and turns on the nightly news and gets a five minute version of the story that focuses on the message created by the wingnuts, as demonstrated in the above paragraph. He doesn't have time to fact check this bullshit, he just absorbs it, goes to bed, and tries to make it through another day, not thinking about how much the right wing is pissing on his face and telling him it's rain.

The media game is rigged, and the right-wing will win it every time. Even when they're down and nothing is going their way, like post-Bush administration, they always find a way to bounce back. And when the Democrats are utterly decimated and humiliated in November, you'll see exactly what I mean.

Sinking to new lows

Gay marriage has been legalized in five states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Maine; New York and New Hamsphire could be added to the list very soon. So here we are, 10% of the states in the union recognize same-sex marriage and society has not collapsed onto itself. Straight marriages aren't threatened, the "family unit" has not come unraveled and the only difference seems to be that gay people are enjoying (or will soon be enjoying) the same rights as everyone else. That is of course, if you don't pay attention to the right-wing, who have lost their collective shit. Take a look:



Watching that video makes me literally nauseous, I'm not kidding. To paraphrase the video, when I have to listen to scumbags like Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Pat Robertson, I want to puke. These are despicable human beings and they should be ashamed of themselves (if they had shame) for spreading this kind of bigotry. "The Gay Gestapo?" Seriously? Yeah, God forbid someone call you out on your hate and intolerance, you phony moral crusaders. A few months back, I said that people who make these kind of arguments are subhuman and it's sad that I even need to discuss it now, but apparently the wingnuts aren't going to let it go. These smears, lies and distortions are all patently false and I'm going to put these disgusting arguments to rest right now.

Gay marriage is not going to lead to polygamy. As it stands right now, there is nothing illegal about a married man or woman bringing a third, fourth or fifteenth partner into their home. Many people live in open marriages and if they choose to do that, that is their own decision as consenting adults. But the state legally recognizing a plural marriage will lead to several complications that would not be present in a monogamous gay or straight marriage. We provide tax incentives to married couples, if the state recognized a plural marriage, those incentives would double with each additional spouse, which would create all kinds of tax issues. Welfare and immigration abuse would skyrocket; we already have enough problems with people getting married simply to secure immigration status, now imagine if someone could turn it into a business. A man could theoretically charge immigrants to marry him so they could become citizens of this country. Also, think of how messy divorce is in America when it's just two people, imagine a court wasting time, resources and taxpayer money trying to figure out paternity rights, division of property, alimony and inheritance for three, four, or ten partners... the cons far outweigh the pros for legalizing polygamy.

Gay marriage will not lead to man-child marriage for one simple reason, pedophilia is illegal. Children are not in any position to give legal consent, and even if they think they would want to marry an adult, that's why we have statutory rape laws in place. Gay marriage, just like straight marriage, will be between consenting adults.

Despite what Bill O'Reilly fantasizes, gay marriage will not lead to a man marrying a turtle, bestiality is illegal. Animals have none of the legal rights that humans do, they cannot enter into any legal contract, including marriage. Having sex with an animal is animal abuse, and much like with pedophilia, animals cannot give legal consent, so there's no legal argument to be made here.

These concerns being raised are completely insane and it further proves the bigotry of those who oppose gay marriage. Yes, if you use these arguments, you are a bigot, plain and simple. They're trying to equate homosexuality with various perversions and fetishes, to give the impression that there's something wrong with a gay person. There's nothing wrong with gay people, but I think the above video shows the only perverts in this debate are the twisted deviants who make these kind of arguments.

Spoiler alert: when you support bigotry, you'll be on the wrong side of history. Just like our treatment of the American Indian, our usage of slavery, suppression of women's rights, Jim Crow laws, and the internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, the fact that we even needed to have this debate about gay rights will be looked back on with shame and disgust. Gay marriage will be legal in this country, hopefully sooner than later, but it will happen... You can't stop social progress, those who try will always lose.

Miss Bigot

I really didn't want to write about this, I didn't want to give her any more attention, she's already got way more than she deserves, but then "Miss California" Carrie Prejean just had to go and say this:

I felt as though Satan was trying to tempt me in asking me this question. And then God was in my head and in my heart saying, "Do not compromise this. You need to stand up for me and you need to share with all these people . . . you need to witness to them and you need to show that you're not willing to compromise that for this title of Miss USA." And I knew right here that it wasn't about winning. It was about being true to my convictions.

Yep... Satan's fault. Couldn't possibly be the fact that you're a closed-minded bigot, that pesky Satan was tempting you at a beauty pageant! So apparently if you support gay marriage, you're doing the devil's work. Wow. You stay classy Christian conservatives!

This false sense of importance from evangelicals never ceases to amaze me. Yes, you're so important than Satan personally chose to tempt you with a question about gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant. I'm sorry, but when you say things like that, you should probably be committed to a mental institution. This isn't morality, you're just crazy. And while I'm on the subject doesn't the far-right already have enough intellectually-challenged, beauty pageant losers running around spreading their wacky religious beliefs?

Let me be clear, I couldn't possibly care any less about this whole "feud" (I'm rolling my eyes as I type that) with Perez Hilton. I think the world would be a better place without Perez Hilton's celebrity gossip and the Miss USA pageant, both things are complete wastes of time and I can't fathom how anyone could give a shit about either one of them. Seriously, what purpose do beauty pageants serve? Much like how there isn't a single reason to oppose gay marriage, I don't think there's a single reason to support beauty pageants.

Anyway, my problem isn't with her response to the question, it's with Prejean seizing an opportunity for fifteen minutes of fame, hopping on the homophobic bandwagon to promote the National Organization for Marriage. Much like Joe Wurzelbacher, Carrie Prejean is a know-nothing nobody. Her opinion is no more valid than mine (although I do have the ability to speak in complete sentences) yet no one can attack her because she just stated her opinion? Please. She's whining about her freedom of speech, but I got news for you, freedom of speech doesn't mean anything you say gets to go unchallenged. The Grand Wizard of the KKK has an opinion, that doesn't mean people don't get to call him a racist.

This vapid bimbo is nothing more than Anita Bryant 2.0, but unfortunately, no one has hit her in the face with a pie yet. Hiding behind her disgusting interpretation of Christianity, Prejean will continue to spread her bigotry because it gives her the attention she desperately seeks. Making yourself a star at the expense of someone else's rights, I guess a pretty face can't cover up an ugly soul.