At least one major Yes on 8 contributor is regretting spending the piggy bank on defeating marriage equality in California. After dumping $539,000 in the coffers of the Yes on 8 campaign as well as an additional $83,000 in non-monetary support, James Dobson's Colorado Springs-based Focus on Family organization announced today that it was cutting 202 jobs, raising the total number of layoffs this year to 950.

Mark Lewis, a Colorado Springs resident who organized a No on 8 protest this past Saturday said:

“If I were their membership I would be appalled that [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”

While the 7th largest contributor to the Yes on 8 Campaign, Focus has seen better days. Their Christian book, CD & DVD sales have slashed by competition with big box store like Wal-Mart and has laid off employees for the last three years in a row.

This is so so sad. Oh, wait, it's awesome! Perhaps the laid-off workers will find new jobs in California– and as they're asking if you would like fries with that, at least they'll be secure in the knowledge that their shitty minimum-wage lifestyle is protected from the dark, dank horrors of gay marriage.

So Hopey's off to D.C. today to measure the drapes at the White House and you spent the weekend getting drunk and chanting "Yes We Did". But before you spend your day choosing a talking woodland creature to be your sidekick, here's a sobering reminder that over in joyless Mudville (aka The Family Research Council), they're already planning for 2012. Turns out there is one area that the Christian right did really well last Tuesday, and they think it could be the key to future success, according to MSNBC.

"Conservative politicians lost. Traditional values succeeded," said Tom Minnery, a vice president of Dobson's Focus on the Family. "It ought to tell them to get a clue about the importance of marriage. We were frustrated that Sen. McCain would not speak out about marriage strongly and repeatedly."

While discussion of the future of the G.O.P. is an ongoing one, social conservatives are of the opinion that the key to winning back the White House is by holding fast to social issues like "abortion, gay marriage and judges". Because it's my first day and I don't want to totally depress you off the bat, exit polls seem to indicate that this election is in fact, "a realignment" and unless evangelicals are able to appeal to a broader group than, well pissed off white folks, they'll find themselves increasingly irrelevant in our shiny rainbow-hued tomorrow.

Focus On The Family sure has been busy!

In addition to "predicting" a rampantly gay America under Barack Obama, the right-wing group has launched an initiative to infiltrate public schools.

From the ever-homophobic OneNewsNow:

Focus on the Family is conducting a project in Virginia, using students to try to get the Christian perspective on homosexuality into school libraries.

Candi Cushman, the program's educational analyst, heads the project and explains that the Christian view of homosexuality is not being represented in any of the school's libraries that have been contacted thus far by the students.

"What we're seeing is [that] homosexuality is being promoted more and more in public schools, and we're noticing a direct, correlating trend that, as that happens, the Christian or faith-based viewpoint is increasingly being belittled and even openly ridiculed," she explains.

Wait, wait - this group balks at the mere mention of gay in public schools, yet thinks it can go in there and start talking about same-sex damnation. You can't have it both ways, kids!

Like right-wing nut job Janet Porter before them, James Dobson's Focus On The Family are predicting what the States will look like after four years of of an Obama administration.

It is a lavender-tinged dystopia, of course:

The Bible can no longer be freely preached over radio or television stations when the subject matter includes such ‘offensive’ doctrines as criticizing homosexual behavior.”

In addition, “churches have no freedom to refuse to allow their buildings to be used for wedding ceremonies for homosexual couples.” and “homosexuals are now given special bonuses for enlisting in military service.”
…
The U.S. Supreme Court has “nullified all Federal Communications Commission restrictions on obscene speech or visual content in radio and television broadcasts. As a result, television programs at all hours of the day contain explicit portrayals of sexual acts.”

Well, if that's the case, we're definitely voting for Obama!

Here's something you'll find totally unsurprising.

Connecticut's social conservatives announced plans to reverse the state Supreme Court's ruling that the state must allow gay marriages. And, to that end, they will urge voters to support a constitutional convention, an event that come around every 20 years. The court's "robed masters" must be stopped, says the Family Institute of Connecticut's Peter Wolfgang, seen here in an ill-fitting suit.:

"The Court's willingness to undemocratically impose same-sex marriage on Connecticut has made it necessary for us to demand the right to Let the People Decide," said [Wolfgang].

"And that is why thousands of us will vote 'yes' for a constitutional convention on November 4th," he said.
…
"We will work for a majority 'yes' vote this November 4th to hold a state constitutional convention and will fight to get a direct initiative law out of the convention," Wolfgang said.

"And then we will put a question on the ballot to allow the public - not our robed masters - to decide once and for all if marriage will be protected in our state constitution as the union of a man and a woman," he continued.

Wolfgang's not the only one speaking out against the same-sex decision. Supreme conservative leader James Dobson this weekend described the ruling as "another tragic example of runaway judges trampling on citizens' right to decide public policy for themselves." And the award for drama queen goes to…

Gay marriage foes sure are clever!

For so long this fine nation's homophobes and other narrow-minded baddies have been associated with stodgy, wholly unfashionable leaders like James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly and the ne'er done-up Shirley Phelps. None of these people speak to the youth of America.

So, in an effort to make themselves more youth-friendly, California's anti-gay marriage activists have established a new site, iProtect Marriage, a spin-off of the more staid Protect Marriage.

Like its sister site, iProtect urges voters to vote "yes" on Proposition 8, a ballot measure aimed at overturning this year's gay marriage win. Unlike its sister site, however, iProtect has a decidedly youth-oriented outlook, complete with fresh, concerned faces. See that guy above? He's so young! His pensiveness really speaks to us.

And no spry site would be complete without to popular sites like Facebook and MySpace. How hip! How media-savvy! Even the intentionally lower-case "i" seems eager to suck the teat of Apple's ubiquitous iPod and iPhone.

Despite these juvenile measures, iProtect's inherited the tried and largely untrue tactics employed by their right-wing forefathers. We do some dissecting, after the jump. It's scary stuff…

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John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate has convinced many social conservatives that the Senator's right for the White House.

Focus on the Family leader James Dobson this week lauded McCain's decision, saying that he hasn't been this excited about an election since the days of Ronald Reagan, a former president Republicans idolize to the point of fetish.

Family Research Council Tony Perkins, meanwhile, told the press he has more "confidence" in McCain's presidency than Bush's. That's not the most ringing endorsement, but the recent rush of conservative love proves that McCain's efforts to woo the right have paid off.

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James Dobson totally has a crush on potential vice-president Sarah Palin.

Dobson, the right-wing leader who once swore he wouldn't vote for "centrist" John McCain, has been absolutely gushing over Palin's place on the Republican ticket.

In fact, Dobson says he hasn't been this excited since the days of Ronald Reagan.

Speaking with [radio host Dennis] Prager, Dr. Dobson said he now feels the same excitement he felt when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

"That was one of the most exciting days of my life, because everything that we had hoped for and been working for had come to pass," he told Prager. "I feel very much that way today. Maybe that�s an overstatement. Maybe time won't validate it, but this is a very exciting and encouraging day for conservatives and pro-family activists. I am just very, very pleased."

We have a general rule: whenever Dobson's happy, we're unhappy. Such emotion from such a backward man can never be good.

James Dobson and John McCain sure have a rocky relationship!

First Dobson, who heads the right-wing Focus On The Family, said he would never endorse McCain, a Senator many conservatives find too liberal. Dobson said he was '"disappointed" the party would back McCain, a candidate for whom Dobson "could not" and "would not" vote.

Then, after McCain had clinched the nomination, Dobson had a flip-flop change of heart, telling reporters: "I never thought I would hear myself saying this… While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might…"

That endorsement got a little harder today, because journo Mark Nickolas dug up a 2000 press release featuring some choice anti-McCain comments made by Dobson.

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The fallout over James Dobson's Radio Hall of Fame honor continues.

Truth Wins Out, which initiated the protest over Dobson's nomination, released a statement yesterday "vowing" to protest the The Museum of Broadcast Communications' Hall of Fame dinner:

TWO vowed to protest the annual awards dinner, the second Saturday in November, to inform the world of Dobson’s shameful and bigoted record.

“It is an affront for the Radio Hall of Fame to honor James Dobson, a right wing demagogue, who built his radio empire on the backs of gay and lesbian people,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. “We vow to stand up and protest this outrageous insult and let the world know that Dobson is a dishonest, hatemongering ideologue.”

The release, which can be found here, also includes some of Dobson's less-savory musings on the homos, like when he said we were going to lead to the planet's destruction.

The National Radio Hall of Fame didn't hear gay activists' calls.

You'll recall that Truth Wins Out and others balked this month when news broke that anti-gay Evangelical leader James Dobson had been nominated for Hall of Fame entry for his long-running Focus On The Family show. Well, the deed was done last night and, surprise, the gays still aren't happy. GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano released the following statement:

For 20 years James Dobson has used his expansive, well funded media platform to perpetuate false and misleading information which contribute to putting gay and lesbian families in harms way. GLAAD urges the media to scrutinize and shed light on Dobson’s record of inaccurate claims about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and include an in-depth analysis of his distorted and defamatory statements.

We won't hold our breath.

Evangelical leader James Dobson again finds himself at the center of a scandal.

No, he hasn't blasted Barack Obama's "fruitcake" interpretation of the Bible or constitution. In fact, this controversy doesn't directly involve Dobson. Rather, it's the Museum of Broadcast Communications who's to blame.

As they do every year, the Museum has released its the nominees for the not-so-coveted Radio Hall of Fame, and included Dobson, whose Focus On The Family radio show touts conservative policies. And the gays aren't feeling it…

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James Dobson's comments on "fruit cake" Barack Obama have been getting a lot of play this week. Journo Jeffrey Feldman can't help but wonder why the press hasn't been taking a closer look at Dobson, who definitely qualifies as a bit nutty:

This week, right-wing pundit and leader of the 'beat your children' movement, Dr. James Dobson, accused Sen. Barack Obama of committing violence against Biblical teachings.

Despite Dobson being a best-selling self-help guru famous for advising parents to whip their children with sticks, every mainstream media outlet somehow managed to overlook this fact. Instead, media coverage of Dobson's remarks stripped him any and all potential controversy with respect to his views on parenting and child beating, describing him instead with the vague and anodyne term 'Evangelical.'

That one's almost too easy…