There were several specific problems with Romney’s tack. One, he “thinks” Fischer has crossed the line of civil discourse – as if that’s a perception and not a fact. Two, he only took issue with Fischer’s “poisonous language,” implying – intentionally or not – that there is a reasonable way to call for deporting Muslims, barring gays from public office and depriving non-Christians of their First Amendment rights. Poisonous ideas are the problem. Three, Romney objected to the way Fischer splinters the conservative movement… But isn’t the really objectionable thing about Fischer that he divides all Americans between citizens
Romney deserves less than zero credit for his admonishment. Imagine a politician in early 1930s Germany “tepidly” rebuking Hitler – and Fischer is not far from Hitler in his rhetoric, Godwin’s Law notwithstanding. Would we congratulate that politician, or see him as a symptom of a body politic weakening under the assault of totalitarianism?
– Towleroad‘s Penn Bullock criticizing Mitt Romney’s gentle no-no towards hate group leader Bryan Fischer at this weekend’s Value Voters Summit. Fischer’s career-long invective includes calling gays “terrorists” committing “virtual genocide” against the military. Contrary to Joe.My.God. and Think Progress‘ reports, Romney neither “denounced” nor “condemned” Mr. Fischer outright. He merely poo-poohed “poisonous language” in general—gotta please that base Mitt-Rom.
Michael
All these idiots are weak willed and cowardly in more ways then one.Especially when someone confronts them with facts then they have a permanent brain freeze and can’t think of something intelligent to say…. never mind thats been happening from the very beginning with these yokels.
christopher di spirito
To be honest, I really don’t know anything about Mormonism other than you get a planet if you practice the faith or something.
In any case, Mormonism can’t be as kooky as Scientology. Plus, the Mormon missionary boys I see in their black pants and white shirts are almost always adorable.
Michael
@christopher di spirito:
Mormons pop out babies like they are horny rabbits thats called overpopulating the earth.
I don’t think Jeebus meant by to be fruitful and multiply to create a partridge family or brady bunch cult.
christopher di spirito
@Michael: The concept of a “carbon footprint” is foreign to them.
the crustybastard
@christopher di spirito: “Mormonism can’t be as kooky as Scientology”
Mormons believe the Book of Mormon, which claims, among other absurdities, Mesoamericans were descended from the Israelites (DNA proves they weren’t) and they possessed domesticated goats and steel, for which there is precisely ZERO archaeological evidence.
Joseph Smith used to con farmers by claiming he could find buried gold on their land by putting two magic “seeing stones” in the bottom of his hat, then plunging his face into his hat. He was prosecuted for this fraud. Subsequently Joseph Smith claimed he found buried gold tablets (that nobody else was allowed to view) inscribed with mysterious writing that only he could translate…by means of putting two magic “seeing stones” in the bottom of his hat. Since this deliberate deception was religious in nature, he’s now a “prophet,” rather than a convicted fraud.
Later, some papyrus scrolls were purchased from a traveling mummy exhibit and provided to Joseph Smith for translation. Naturally, Smith was once again able to “translate” (through the intervention of God) the document’s enigmatic hieroglyphs. Smith claimed they were a transcription of Abraham’s autobiographical account of his time in Egypt! Since then, Egyptian hieroglyphics are pretty fully understood, and now readily translated by scholars without divine intervention. Smith’s “Book of Abraham” turned out to be an ordinary ancient Egyptian funerary text called The Book of the Dead (meaning it had fuck-all to do with Abraham).
Mormonism is absolutely NO LESS KOOKY or any less of a fraud than Scientology. It just has a slightly longer history.
tjr101
Mitt Romney is such a pathetic panderer it’s sickening. He has been walking on egg shells since the beginning of his presidential campaign just to appeal to the extreme righties who hate his mormonism and from whom he desperately needs votes from in order to have a chance.
Romney is similar to many gay republicans, he will ignore bigotry directed at other groups but would only meekly speak out against it when it hits close to home.
christopher di spirito
@the crustybastard: Wow! That is nutty as shit. Are you a Mormon?
What about the planet thing? I’ve always heard you get a planet to call your own?
The Scientologists are just plain insane. They believe humans came to earth billions of years ago in a DC-8 jet and hide in a volcano and when the volcano exploded, all the earthlings were released onto terra nova.
Little Kiwi
The Book of Mormon is also explicit about the need to execute those that commit the heinous sin of race-mixing.
i’m not kidding.
wanna see a fun statistic? check out the suicide rate for males between 15-25 in Utah. Yup.
A “small” Mormon family has 7 kids. This is why they crank out The Gays more than any other religious group in America. You have 7-10 children, you’re gonna have a few homos. Sorry, fuckers.
But don’t worry, they won’t pressure your beloved religious institution into marrying them. Y’all do a fine job of driving your children to suicide, driving them into the closet wherein they marry a nice Mormon lass and have more gay Mormon babies, or you excommunicate them and disown them, or they “come out” but never ever ever stand up to you. So don’t worry. Gay Marriage won’t affect the LDS.
The reality of Prop 8, that people keep ignoring, is that it actually was an attack by the LDS onto Non-Mormons. Seriously. Think about it. Gay Marriage will not affect the LDS at ALL. It won’t happen. This was an attack on non-Mormons.
christopher di spirito
@Little Kiwi: Little Kiwi – You know what else? There’s a sect of them that practice polygamy.
Now check this. The Mormon church is opposed to same-sex marriage but they secretly endorse breaking Federal law and engage in polygamy!
And you wonder why I’m an atheist?
Little Kiwi
I met some amazing (STRAIGHT!) ex-Mormons at the national equality march in 2009. they left the church after they were told, during church services, to donate money to the Prop 8 campaign. That struck them as being, of course, against everything the church is supposed to be about, a complete breaking of not only the church’s own rules, but scriptural ones.
so they left. the only good Mormon is an ex-Mormon.
Jim Hlavac
Weirdly, Utah is the only state whose constitution specifically bans polygamy; all other states do it by mere law; maybe we’ll get a polygamy amendment movement going. And that’s because it was a requirement of the statehood pact between the US and Utah when the state was admitted to the union, for the Mormons had been practicing polygamy since they were chased out of upstate NY and made their way to the Great Salt Lake.
On the other hand, Christians believe in two tablets too, and also the cute story where Adam is alone, Eve plucked from his rib cage, they had two sons, and one, Cain, slew the other, Abel — and from these three the entire human race descends. Which means that we are to believe that either Cain had sex with his mother, or with the sisters who don’t seem to be mentioned. Or Adam with the unmentioned daughters. You know, incest. Though they did have Seth, and Seth never did get married, and helped his parents in their old age. Cain, meanwhile, set off and finds a city, Enoch … screech! He what? Who was in that city? Where did they come from? And why was there a gay bar just inside the town gates 🙂
And all I know is that to many Dems and Repubs, apparently on the ark of the nation, there is not room for two of our kind. Oh well.
Politically Incorrect Thug
Yowza, the claws are coming out early against the GOP. I know I’ll catch holy hell for asking this, but I’d like someone to point out what public condemnation our president—the leader of modern liberalism—has made against this guy Fischer? At least Romney said SOMEthing . . . what’s O’Bomber got to say? Anything? Anyone? Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?
Little Kiwi
@Politically Incorrect Thug:
you voted for John McCain/Sarah Palin.
again, your opinion is pretty much worthless. we get it. you only care about LGBT Issues when you’re able to find a way to criticize “liberals.”
It’s kinda pathetic.
tjr101
@Politically Incorrect Thug: you just had to bring the president into this didn’t you? Since when does the president have an obligation to include himself into the hate fest that is this GOP “family values” event? Isn’t that the responsibility of the GOP candidates themselves? Oh right, they generally agree with everything Fischer says. Except for Romney in this instance whose feelings got hurt.
Little Kiwi
politically incorrect thug voted for McCain/Palin.
therefore his criticisms of Obama are hilariously inept.
Politically Incorrect Thug
@tjr101: My point wasn’t to criticize the prez—it was simply to point out the rather boring status quo of liberal hypocrisy that dominates this site. If it’s news that a presidential candidate has a “meh” attitude about this man Fischer, then surely the opinion of the president himself is of importance when it comes to the issue. And since there is no opinion from Obama, how does this make Romney the bad guy? Oh wait, that’s right—he’s got that eeeeeevil (R) after his name, which might as well be a swastika.
Little Kiwi
what liberal hypocrisy? you’re the one who VOTED for McCain/Palin, Poltically Incorrect Thug.
it’s not the dems nor the liberals that are aligning themselves with these anti-gay bigots. it’s your precious republicans and conservatives.
Obama and his camp aren’t making bedfellows with Fischer and his band of bigots. your republicans are.
once again, your willful ignorance is on display for all.
you complain about liberals. it’s funny.
listening to gay men like you complain about liberals is like listening to Ann Frank complain about attics.
tjr101
@Politically Incorrect Thug: The mere fact that you’re defending Mitt Romney is laughable given he signed NOM’s discriminatory pledge against gay rights, supports DOMA and would try to reinstate DADT. So in fact this meek attempt to speak out against Firscher does deserve a “meh” response.
Given the bigotry coming from the GOP towards all groups that are straight rich males, the “R” is indeed evil!
christopher di spirito
@Politically Incorrect Thug: Please explain how it is President Obama’s job to address Fischer’s comments?
Even Bush had enough sense to steer clear of public pissing matches like this.
geoff
You guys were doing so well until politically incorrect whatever chimed in. Here’s an idea: JUST IGNORE HIM – don’t respond at all – if no one feeds his cancer I’ll bet he goes away – It’s worth a try?
Politically Incorrect Thug
@tjr101: You forgot to include “white” in your description of all things evil (straight, rich, male, etc). C’mon, you know you wanted to.
@geoff: Your implication that I’m a “him” is sexist and homophobic, which makes you, sir or madam, a sexist homophobe.
@christopher di spirito: I wasn’t implying it’s Obama’s obligation to address this issue, I simply stated that if Romney is to be declared Evil Incarnate for not trashing this dude Fischer harshly enough, then how come everyone else gets a free pass? (ps – not expecting a cohesive answer)
And on that note, it’s time to retire to under the bridge where I live and wait for those pesky billygoats.
Michael
@geoff:
So you are saying he is cancer just because he has different views on Obama and politics then you do?Im not gonna sit here and bash the guy just because he voted for people I can not stand thats him not me that was his decision not mine. Not everyones the same in that regard BUT I still manage to find a way to treat people like PIT with respect and compassion.
As the old saying goes you catch more flies with honey then you do with vinegar.
Not to mention this is about politics and there will ALWAYS be divisiveness when it comes to politics.Despite whether I agree or disagree with someones opinion or even like them for that matter everyone is entitled to their own opinion regardless of whether we agree or not.
It is not CANCER to have a view belief or opinion that differs from yours it is quite simply human nature nothing more nothing less.To automatically nullify someones opinions based on who they voted for or didnt vote for is also childish and immature whether you agree or not.Solely my opinion feel free to disagree that doesn’t bother me.
Little Kiwi
“It is not CANCER to have a view belief or opinion that differs from yours it is quite simply human nature nothing more nothing less”
you’re unable to understand nuance. it’s not “different opinions”, it’s the specificities of the differences and excuses given for them.
everyone is entitled to their own opinions, everyone is not entitled to their own facts. something the GOP-apologists don’t seem to comprehend.
PIT voted for McCain/Palin and yet comes on here every day to complain about what “liberals” aren’t doing. therefore, he’s a complete idiot.
Little Kiwi
not all opinions are equal. some things that are passed off as opinions are in fact mistruths, lies, and factually-incorrect nonsense.
like the Americans who still, for no intelligent reason, insist that President Obama is a Kenyan-born Muslim. Their “opinion” is not to be respected, nor tolerated, as it’s a blatant falsehood.
There are also intellectual dishonesties passed off as “opinions.”
You can’t have voted for McCain/Palin and then claim that you feel Obama hasn’t “done enough” for LGBT people and expect to be taken seriously.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
You’re unable to understand a lot of things but I do not intend on going there AGAIN .
So let me get this straight because PIT voted for Mccain and Palin back in 2008 I am supposed to what exactly? Despise him? Cast him out? Make him seem less then I am or not worthy of being a part of the LGBT community just because of those things?
Sorry unlike some people that was not how I was raised I look down on no one no matter what the reasonings are period.
Not to mention back in 2008 there was a LOT of confusion involving who would become president.I can even admit at that time I did not know for the life of me who would be better for this country.Turns out despite my many doubts Obama did make the difference we have been desperate for in this country for a long long time. Not saying I still think he has done ENOUGH but he has indeed done far more then any other president ever even attempted to do.
We’ve still got a long way to go and many here including Thecrustybastard have made very valid points about Obama.There is indeed a lot of work still left to be done in this country.
I never will understand why you have such a bigger then they are attitude towards people like Pit.I keep seeing this guy put down here all the time and people treat him as if he is a pariah of this community.Sorry thats just not me if you are capable of being a humble respectful human being… silence speaks volumes in that area… then I do not care I will still embrace you despite whether I agree or disagree with your beliefs views etc…. I just do not understand these kinds of attitudes and behavior guess that was just how I was raised.
Michael
@Little Kiwi:
But for what it is worth I know that if anyone else would have got into office besides Obama the LGBT community would have suffered for it no question about that.
christopher di spirito
@Politically Incorrect Thug: If you’re “not expecting a cohesive answer,” then I won’t bother.
Politically Incorrect Thug
@Michael: It takes a big man to stand up to some of these one-size-fits-all types, and you Michael are a big man. Good of you to step up for me, even though we’re not always on the same page.
tjr101
@Politically Incorrect Thug: “You forgot to include “white” in your description of all things evil (straight, rich, male, etc). C’mon, you know you wanted to.”
You said!
BigWoody
ALL religion = mythology
iDavid
Romney is a jelly spined brown-noser and will soon, along w Bachmann and her bouncing baby fruitfest, be a wincing memory best left unearthed. It’s going to come down to Perry and O’Bama (my take) and god knows we aren’t about to shove another destroy America Texan into the White House. Why waste your energy on losers? Yay to repubes i.e. shooting oneself in the foot.
rayy
While Bryan Fischer is an ass, discussing whether or not Mormonism is a cult is not “out of bounds”. Would you say the same about Scientology? If it looks like a cult, walks like a cult, talks like a cult . . .
And “politically incorrect thug”, it’s obvious that Romney is trying to protect his own hide in saying this. He’s trying to deflect criticism by saying it’s impolite. But I guess it’s OK to say the president is a socialist or pals around with terrorists.
delurker
aww the never-ending victimhood and conservative butthurt of PIC. conservatives are always picked on, wah! wah! wah! shit’s getting really old, son. even riker and the other conservoqueers don’t pull this card all the freakin’ time.
the crustybastard
@christopher di spirito: Are you a Mormon?”
Why? Do I strike you as dim and gullible?
the crustybastard
@christopher di spirito: “Scientologists are just plain insane. They believe humans came to earth billions of years ago in a DC-8 jet and hide in a volcano and when the volcano exploded, all the earthlings were released onto terra nova.”
Yes, Scientologists are just plain insane. However, you’ve misstated the story.
Seventy-five million years ago, the evil alien overlord Xenu brought billions of alien prisoners to Earth in spaceships that look similar to DC-8s, dumped the prisoners in volcanos, then nuked the volcanos. All the dead aliens’ souls are the “thetans” that aggregate on humans, causing badness and confusion. Getting “cleared” of those thetans is a very, VERY expensive process.
Also reincarnation works thus: when you die your own soul goes to a landing station on Venus, where it is brainwashed by Venusians and shot back to Earth landing in the Pacific, off California. The soul then goes to shore and wanders around until it finds a baby to jump into.
People believe this, religiously. But it is illegal to discriminate on the basis their religious beliefs prove they’re crazy.
Michael
@the crustybastard:
Umm all I can respond to that is: I am now scared of scientology 😐
christopher di spirito
@the crustybastard: “Why? Do I strike you as dim and gullible?”
The appropriate reply is either “yes” or “no.” Not “why.” “Why” suggests a defensiveness.
If you’re a Mormon, say so.