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Ron Hill is a Republican who blogs extensively about the religious right hijacking of his party at republicans4freedom.net.
Every year the leading pseudo-Christian hate groups in this country host the “Values Voters Summit”. This convention is sponsored by many organizations characterized as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization made famous for its work fighting the Ku Klux Klan on behalf of civil rights.
This year Mitt Romney is invited to address the annual hate fest September 14-16, 2012. The event is sponsored by the American Family Association. The AFA spokesman is Bryan Fischer, who is famous for claiming that gays are responsible for the Holocaust, that gays created Adolf Hitler, and for falsely claiming a link between gays and pedophilia. Mr. Fischer has also attacked and demonized African-Americans, Hispanics, immigrants, and Americans of other faiths. Another sponsor is the Family Research Council, whose spokesman is Tony Perkins. He’s famous for his association with Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, once purchasing the mailing list of the former KKK Grand Wizard and Nazi sympathizer. Mr. Perkins is also known for cherry-picking (or using outright junk science) to spread lies and misinformation that demonizes his fellow Americans who happen to be gay. Both the AFA and the FRC, despite their reputation for repeatedly bearing false witness against their fellow citizens, claim to be Christian organizations.
Another leading sponsor of the summit is Liberty Council, whose “Director of Cultural Affairs,” Matt Barber, is a board member on yet another Hate Group, called Americans For Truth Against Homosexuality; which is known for repeatedly spreading deliberately false information about gay citizens in an attempt to demonize all gay Americans.
And these are the “good” Christians? Makes one wonder why a Christian school like Liberty University would also sponsor such a hate-fest and what kind of people run Liberty U.
Yet Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee for President of the United States, see’s fit to address this gathering. The only thing missing is the Ku Klux Klan and a burning cross.
Gonna be hard for Romney to pretend he’s a mainstream candidate when he’s addressing the Friends of Adolf at their “Values Voters Summit”. I can see the Obama commercials tying Romney to Bryan Fischer’s comments that black women “rut like rabbits to have welfare babies” or to his statement that hispanic women are “immoral”. Want to paint Republicans as mean-spirited and divisive? Just tie Romney to leaders of America’s hate groups – they’ll all be at the “Value Voters Summit” being photographed with Mitt Romney.
How convenient for the Obama campaign.
Oh yes, Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner is also invited to speak. Hard to argue one is a rational mainstream American while speaking to leaders of hate groups with ties to Klansmen and Nazi’s.
Here’s hoping Romney and Boehner reconsider. This story deserves to be all over the news until Mittens is shamed into canceling his appearance. Being a Republican should be about uniting our nation instead of dividing it. Being a Republican should be about freedom and respect for every law-abiding American.
Want to tell Mitt Romney to stay away from the “Value Voters” hate-fest? Contact his campaign and let them know what you think at Romney for President, PO Box 149756, Boston, MA 02114-9756, or call 857-288-3500.
The whole purpose of this site is to help bring the Republican party back to the mainstream by highlighting the extremism of the far right. The hope is that we can increasingly marginalize the radicals in our party if we expose their extremism to the public. Responsible Republicans need to work toward making it shameful to be seen associating or collaborating with leaders of hate groups.
For the rational wing of the Republican party
Ron Hill
56 Comments
Although this article is appreciated, the notion that alleged rational persons in the Rethugliturd party will be able to “re-capture” the party from Rethugliturds is laughable. The extremism *is* the Rethugliturd party. Bigot Ginrich led the effort to impeach President Clinton over lying about a blowjob, while nobody of Rethugliturd authority thought to hold Bush and Cheney accountable for war crimes. Bush — absolutely mainstream for the Rethugliturd party — consulted weekly with Evangelicals who told him that the Bible authorizes pre-emptive war, and that the Constitution had to be amended to prohibit marriage equality. One of those evangelicals was Ted Haggard, who is still engaging in political gay-bashing, and has a considerable Rethugliturd following, even though he was caught red-handed using a dangerous illegal drug with a male prostitute. If you are a Rethugliturd, there is no hypocrisy that Jesus can not cover for you, even if you are Eric Cantor.
Why convince him to cancel? Let him show his ass to the world.
Who is in the “Rational Wing of the Republican Party”? And more important, Why?
Mahalo, Ron, for that great post, and, for braving to venture into the waters of the Lake…!
How many more stories about Mitt ‘Bleeding’ Romney?
You’d have to kill me to vote for him………. and corpses are disqualified anyway.
Please make this election stop. Or at least, please focus on something else.
Disagree. Wasn’t it corpses who carried the prez election for JFK in Chicago?
More generally, at least in my lifetime (3 score & 7), the more powerful the U.S. has become, the more hateful a nation it has become. Would be interesting to hypothesize on why that were so if it weren’t so distressing.
They call themselves “DLC Democrats” now.
The media will spin away to try to make this a horse race, when it the last gasp of the Reagan coalition. This “far right” is going to be the largest splinter group emerging from the rubble. They will be able to elect some Congressmen, maybe a few Senators, and even a Governor or two in the Confederacy and Deseret, but most Federal offices will elude them. The remaining splinters will try to get something going, but eventually join up with the Democrats, who will span the spectrum from fairly conservative not-overly-crazy previously-Republicans to only as far left as they absolutely need to go. 30% to their right, 20% to their left, and a solid Imperial pro-Corporate, security state 50% calling themselves Democrats.
Cuomo, NYS gov, nominally D, is to the right of Christie (R) gov of NJ.
No rationality remaining in U.S. politics.
I was a cradle Republican. I still like Ike. But when the DixieCrats made inroads, things changed. It’s not the same Republican Party anymore and I’m always astonished when someone says that they are a Republican. I always ask, “Why?” I rarely (if ever!) get a coherent, informed or rational answer.
Ditto if you ask why anyone is a D anymore.
*heh* You’re so cynical, M’dear…!
Good point.
Well, should someone raise me up in years hence for another pointless election, I demand one last good meal. A good supper, Chicago style.
Haven’t heard a good reason not to be, but open to suggestions.
Cigarette & scotch would seem appropriate.
What would today’s Republicans be without his or her hate?
Ask anyone that belongs to a cult and the response will likely be the same.
Never found there were enough hours in the day to hate anyone.
Romney looks a lot less wimpy with a ten ton weight around his neck. It’s a good look.
With power comes fear. Fear is the basis of hate.
Obama can rally the minority vote pointing out Mitt has ties to racist but will Mr Center do it? O is famous for ignoring chances to rally people and he has had lots of chances.
Romney is sooo out of central casting.
I do not agree with you.
Generally speaking, this nation has grown more tolerant over time.
For example, consider the strength of the Ku Klux Klan in the first part of the 20th century. The klan had 4 to 5 million members in the 1920s.
I do not expect the Media to point out Mitts’ ties to hate has the News even picked up on PW’s post about Nixon’s Jew Counter being invited to Ann’s b-day?
He’ll be shaking that etch-a-sketch like an empty ketchup bottle Sept 17.
I’m afraid of a lot of stuff, rational & irrational. Don’t hate any of it.
I have quite a coterie who hate me (will contest). Still don’t hate them. Pity them.
Good for you! But it’s not just the “religious right” that has driven the party into a state of hatred and intolerance. Although there is certainly some overlap, there are also the racists, the homophobes, the xenophobes, the birthers and the many other assorted reality disconnected persons who make up the Republican base. Democrats are corrupt and weak but Republicans have a corner on the crazy. Excising the “religious right” from the Republican party would be analogous to amputating a finger when the patient has gangrene to the shoulder. Griping about it, especially to a group of liberals, isn’t going to help. What needs to happen is for somebody with enough influence in the party to somehow muster the courage to point out how far off into right wing crazyland the whole party has been dragged.
So you’re disappointed that Willard is going to speak to a hate group? You can’t seriously be surprised though. You made him. Your tolerance for the hate speech, the over the top rhetoric, the threats, the naked hatred, the smearing of people for daring to have another point of view, the absurd claims….all of this have led to today, when Ron Hill has come to FDL to lament the fact that the presumptive Republican nominee is going to talk to a hate group. If you’re still a Republican after what the party has deteriorated into, then you share responsibility. And even if you weren’t personally involved in any of that sort of behavior, it’s far too late for any Republican to throw up their hands and pretend they didn’t know this kind of thing has been going on in the party mainstream for at least twenty years. I know this very precisely because 1992 was the last time I voted for any Republican and the reason I stopped was because they were becoming insane.
Some Americans have become more tolerant. Many have become more hateful. The ones that fear change and diversity. Hate today is just as legitimate as it was during the heyday of Jim Crowe.
We’ll agree to disagree.
Diff betw KKK & today is that KKK in its day was a fringe group but today hate groups are highly rep in congress, i.e. mainstream.
Of course…and I find that almost everyone I know is now a declared Independent in search of a party.
“With power,”
As I am these daze…! I was delighted today when my local rag(Stephens Media)had this front page headline… Geothermal Concerns Vented A major push that Occupy Hilo and numerous other community orgs, are fighting at both the County and State levels…!
A great side article was also on the frontpage… A Utility Monopoly
Edit: in response to eCAHN @14
Exactly, hate today is legitimate. He said she said.
A good question to ask is why is Mitt still shoring up his base? A base who’s ideas scare away how many Moderate voters.
Because he’s a rich, entitled, arrogant asshat without one fucking ounce of political acumen. The only way the Republicans will wind up nominating him was by running him against the likes of Gingrich, Santorum, Cain, Bachmann and Perry, ALL of whom had their fifteen minutes of being Not Willard and failed spectacularly. Almost any other candidate with a half a brain and a body temperature near 98 degrees could have beaten him. The only halfway reasonable Republican, Huntsman, flunked the purity test early on.
The right wing uses hate to precipitate violence from which they then capitalize. When JFK was assassinated it was reported that some school children in Texas stood up and cheered. When MLK, RFK, among others, where assassinated the right wing capitalized on the loss of these progressive leaders. Hate and violence are merely tools utilized by the right in their insatiable thirst for power. It’s their bloodlust.
*heh* Ya left out Ron Paul, Peg…!
Heck, when JFK was assassinated, LBJ supporters cheered.
Party, did you say party?
I’ll bring the booze, you provide the popcorn.
Sounds good. There isn’t any other party I’m going to.
I never count Paul. He’s off in his own batshit world and is Republican only by default and he was never the Not Willard candidate du jour.
…is now a declared Independent in search of a party.
*heh* This Poly Sci Major is an Occupier in search of an Encampment…!
On second thought, we’ll split booze & popcorn provision.
I college I met this woman who came from some big-money eastern family. Her father was idle rich, and he had a hobby: he rescued lighthouses.
Think about it, if you are idle rich you need a hobby.
Romney made a big pile of money and set himself up with a modest $20 million per year in unearned (in all senses of the word) income. So he needed a hobby. His hobby is running for office. He actually managed to win one term as Governor, other than that he just runs.
Most people, for better or worse, have an agenda they want to pursue once they get elected. Beyond giving himself a tax cut, I’m not sure Romney does. He just wants to win because it would be neat-o.
Is there a record that shows that? or /s?
Agreed. He could out-Bush the wanking chimp himself.
Ron Hill should meet Susan Eisenhower, Ike’s granddaughter, who left the Republican Party in 2008 and became an independent. She was invited to speak at the Dem. Convention in Denver and endorsed Obama on the last night of the convention. The afternoon before her nighttime speech she gave a marvelous interview in which she decried the extremists who had taken over the GOP and were saying in action and deed that there was no room for moderates or centrists in the party – she wanted to disassociate herself from that.
So today we have Willard Romney ready to don the mantle as titular head of the GOP. A man who resembles Ward Cleaver, sounds like Eddie Haskell when he speaks, and has the soul of Dick Cheney. He doesn’t care who endorses him – Ted Nugent, the KKK, assholes or clowns – he wants to be President even if he is hated and is referred to as The Last Clown Standing.
I disagree. The Mormon church would love to have the second coming of Joseph Smith be in charge of the US of A. Also, thereafter all federal jobs would flow thru Salt Lake City.
Regarding the Not Willard. Since there are none left and you know Mittens hates his name Willard, henceforth he should be referred to as Not Willard just to piss him off.
(For those unfamiliar, Willard Mitt Romney was named after one of the richest Mormans, Willard Marriot, of Marriot Hotels fame).
With all due respect to Mr. Hill, I think Carole King sang it best: “It’s too late, baby, it’s too late…”
As a prior commenter said: today’s non-crazy, not-bigoted, not nutbar extremist “Republican” is now a DLC Democrat or perhaps an “Independent” who probably tends to vote “Democratic.” Another commenter reminded us about how Ike Eisenhower’s granddaughter endorsed Obama bc she could no longer abide with the racist crazies in the so-called “Republican” party. Why sure. Why not endorse Obama, who’s nothing more than a slither-tongued Neo-Con Republican?? Obama talks pretty and presents well, and in the 21st C, isn’t swell to have an minority in the White House? Shows how we’re all so evolved and post-racial ‘n shit…
Of course having an AA in the White House ALSO made it open season for the Southern Strategy to get revved up on steroids and go broke. Gin up the racists out there nowadays calling themselves “Republicans” and all you’ve got missing are the white sheets burning crosses on the White House lawn. Not that these creeps wouldn’t do that if they thought they could get away with it.
The so-called “Country Club” Republicans I know mostly all call themselves “Libertarians” these days… whatever the fuck that means bc I don’t see most of them voting for Ron Paul or some such. Nope, they’ll all bitch about Rmoney being a Mormon in private, but they sure as hell won’t vote for that n________ “Democrat.”
Crazy town.
So Willard’s gonna go to some racist KKK rally? Why stop him? I can tell you that his attendance at this disgusting KKK Rally will NOT bother most citizens identifying themselves as “Republicans.” Nup. Rmoney’s attendance at this “festival” will be much the same as Bush the Lesser’s attendance at a NASCAR rally… and yet we see just how much LOWER the mighty have fallen.
Rmoney’s fancy-schmancy wife can bitch and vetch all she likes about horrid it is for so-called “Democratic” working women to point out that she’s nothing but a highly paid call-girl, but it’s her darling Mormon Bishop husband who’s the real Whore for the corporation call the Mormon Church.
As one of the last commenters pointed out, the LDS Church – which only recently started “admitting” the dirty blackity black blacks into their KKKlub – would love nothng more than to get their, uh, Mitts stuck right into the midst of the US Fed Govt.
Mitt’s their boy. He don’t give a shit what he does. As another commenter pointed out, running for pol office is a hobby for Mitt now that he’s done the REAL dirty work of running businesses into the ground, ripping off hard working middle and lower class citizens for his own personal profit and gain. Run for office? What the fuck? Heck yeah! The Angel Moroni’ll give that phoney-baloney a 1000 wives deep in those vaults of Utah.
I say: Let Rmoney go attend any and all nutty crazy racist homophobic sexist bigoted bull shit events that he wants to. Ain’t going to change the minds of anyone. And it’ll just show everyone how much the Rmoney’s are just big old WHORES who’ll “do” anyone and anything.
That’s what it’s come to, I figure.
Going to be very uncomfortable for Mr Willard Romney at this event, as Fischer hates Mormons too….. http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/5917/bryan_fischer's_homophobic_attacks_on_romney's_spox/
The R-Party racist right is surely its ugliest part, but what’s really destroying the US is the stratospheric reckless, merit-less entitlement of a relatively small minority that currently controls both political parties.
This, Mitt Romney has in spades and it can’t be talked out of existence.
There is no “moderate center” here.
“running for pol office is a hobby for Mitt now that he’s done the REAL dirty work of running businesses into the ground”
He could possibly redeem himself if he destroys Goldman Sachs. One never knows what grudges the .00000001% have with each other.
He is arguably much smarter in this regard than Obama, who should have destroyed Goldman Sachs when he had the chance.
“running for pol office is a hobby for Mitt now that he’s done the REAL dirty work of running businesses into the ground”
He could possibly redeem himself if he destroys Goldman Sachs. One never knows what grudges the .00000001% have with each other.
In this he is arguably smarter than Obama, who should have destroyed Goldman Sachs when he had the chance. He wouldn’t do it for the reasons progressives want him to do it, he would do it to clear cut a big space for market competition.
Lloyd Blankfein was on TV talking about how it may be time to break up the banks. Maybe Blankey is wondering if he is going to be back out on the market.
Better to be back out on the market than in prison.
oops. Sorry for that editing job.
Don’t forget that other inveterate racist who spoke there, Herman Cain.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2011/10/08/herman_cain_rocks_value_voters_summit_in_washington_dc
But I love the faux outrage. Did you express it when Romney spoke there last year or just now that he’s the presumptive nominee?
“This year Mitt Romney is invited to address the annual hate fest September 14-16, 2012.”
Hopefully he will fire all and replace with temps… ☺