Barney Frank

Tea Party Nation keeps pushing anti-gay attacks, from supporting anti-LGBT bullying to defending Michele and Marcus Bachmann’s clinic’s use of ‘ex-gay’ reparative therapy. Now, Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips is using the current debate on the debt and the Defense budget to launch another anti-gay smear against Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Democratic congressman. Phillips called on Tea Party members to oppose Frank’s proposal to cut defense spending, arguing that the Tea Party should support more spending since he believes “Obama wants to destroy the American military,” and taunted Frank by saying that the Defense Department “needs to send Frank a new ‘friend’” who can change his mind:

One of the leaders of the Party of Treason demanding cuts is Barney Frank. Right we should listen to Barney Frank. The last time we listened to Barney Frank we ended up with the sub prime crisis and a wrecked economy. And now he wants to do that to national defense? At least, unlike when he was regulating Fannie Mae, he isn’t sleeping with anyone in the Defense Department as he proposes future policy. Wait, maybe that is the problem. With the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, maybe DOD needs to send Frank a new “friend” and the DOD budget will do better.

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Defense is the one area, even in the time of a depression, such as the Obama depression, when we should be increasing spending. Instead of retiring a couple of aircraft carriers, what do you think would happen if the Obama regime decided to build a couple of new ones! (No, I’m not on drugs. I know Obama wants to destroy the American military. This is just a hypothetical)

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If we decided to build a couple of new carriers, thousands of workers would be hired for the shipyards. Thousands of employees would be hired for the steel mills that would provide the steel for the hull and various sub contractors would hire thousands. Do you know what that means?

It means they would receive paychecks and go out and spend that money. That would help a recovery. That is a shovel ready project! Increasing spending for the military does a couple of things. It not only not only [sic] stimulates the economy, it protects our nation. That is a better investment than say spending money on teaching Chinese prostitutes how to drink responsibly.

One of the strategies we didn't include in our Right Wing Watch In Focus, "(P)reviewing the Right-Wing Playbook on Immigration Reform," was "attempting to out a sitting Republican Senator" because, frankly, we could never have imagined it would come to this.

But here you have the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC attempting to do just, sending out this email demanding that Senator Lindsey Graham admit to being gay as part of its effort to stop him from supporting comprehensive immigration reform:

The national border security organization known as Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) is officially calling for US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to make his homosexual lifestyle public knowledge in the interest of political integrity and national security.

ALIPAC's President, William Gheen, addressed Graham's homosexuality in a speech before thousands of Tea Party supporters on Saturday, April 17, 2010, in Greenville South Carolina where Lindsey Graham has offices. A brief clip of Gheen's speech, which is out of proper context, has already gone viral on YouTube and been reported by Keith Olberman on MSNBC, Metro Weekly, The Guardian, and Metro Weekly without proper permissions or attributions.

"US Senator Lindsey Graham is gay and while many people in South Carolina and Washington DC know that, the general public and Graham's constituents do not," said William Gheen President of ALIPAC. "I personally do not care about Graham's private life, but in this situation his desire to keep this a secret may explain why he is doing a lot of political dirty work for others who have the power to reveal his secrets. Senator Graham needs to come out of the closet inside that log cabin so the public can rest assured he is not being manipulated with his secret."

Senator Lindsey Graham is the lone Republican in the US Senate trying to lobby other Republicans to sponsor a Comprehensive Immigration Reform Amnesty bill, which would legalize millions of illegal immigrants and turn them into competitive workers and voters, when the United States has over 25 million under or unemployed workers. ALIPAC considers Graham's support for Comprehensive Amnesty legislation to be against the wishes of 80% of his constituents and against the best interests of the American people.

Senator Graham served in the US Military, which adopted a policy of 'Don't Ask Don't Tell" regarding homosexuality during the Clinton administration. Prior to the policy change, homosexuality was considered a vulnerability to our national security because those with access to classified information and strategic resources were often blackmailed by foreign powers.

"Barney Frank has more integrity and bravery than Senator Lindsey Graham right now," said William Gheen of ALIPAC. "When you are a US Senator, the public deserves to know what might influence your decisions. Obama and Napolitano know about Senator Graham, now it is time for the rest of the country to know."

ALIPAC, one of America's largest groups fighting against illegal immigration and amnesty, is releasing this full version of William Gheen's speech containing the request for Senator Graham to confess his homosexuality to the public at this link....

And to think, just a few weeks ago Gheen and ALIPAC were almost forced to shut down because they couldn't raise the $30,000 they needed to stay in business and survived only because of some last minute donations.

If, in the coming days and weeks, you start getting an odd feeling that a bunch of strangers are praying for you, it might be because they are, now that Liberty Counsel has officially rolled out its Adopt A Liberal effort:

Liberty Counsel has launched a new program called Adopt a Liberal™. The program encourages people to pray for those in leadership to restore poor leaders to right thinking. The Adopt a Liberal™ prayer-in-action program is based on the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy to pray for "all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." I Timothy 2:1-3. The list can be obtained at www.LC.org.

The current list of liberals includes Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and those who are not political leaders but whose leadership and actions affect our lives. The Adopt a Liberal™ program urges people "to pray daily for the liberal(s) of your choice, so each can become a good influence on our Nation's culture. Prayer is powerful! It allows God to change the minds of those for whom we are praying." The list includes President Barack Obama, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Barney Frank, Science Czar John Holdren, Senator Olympia Snowe, Barry Lynn, and others. There is even the "Unknown Liberal," which allows people to nominate a liberal of their choice.

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Liberty Counsel will be producing a deck of cards similar to baseball trading cards. On one side will be the picture of a liberal and, on the other side, some of their liberal positions or policies that negatively impact life, liberty and family. In this way people can pray for a specific person and then trade cards with their friends. There will be 51 cards, which is one card short of a full deck! Liberty Counsel will also be producing a bumper sticker that reads: "Have you prayed for a liberal today?" While the Adopt a Liberal™ program has a humorous side, it also has a serious side. It is truly designed to be a program that encourages people to pray for our leaders.

Liberty is correct when they note that, while moderately humorous, their effort is entierly serious:

Pick one or more of the liberals from the list we have posted online at www.LC.org, or choose your own liberal(s) to adopt. If you are led to choose one or more of the liberals we have selected for consideration, please read their brief biographical statement, including the reasons they stand in need of prayer.

Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy.

Please pray daily for the liberal(s) of your choice, so each can become a good influence on our Nation's culture. Prayer is powerful! It allows God to change the minds of those for whom we are praying. In fact, we fully expect that many of our adoptees will "graduate" from this prayer program with vivid testimonies of God having changed their lives and worldviews!

As anybody who has been paying any attention knows, right-wing groups have been busy urging activists to descend on Congressional "town hall" meetings during the August recess and voice their opposition to health care legislation, in some cases going so far as to encourage them to cause a commotion in an effort to disrupt them.

To date, most of these efforts have been carried out by anti-tax and fiscal conservative groups:

Conservative and business groups, some funded in part by insurers, are mobilizing members and supporters to participate in health-care forums that lawmakers are holding in their states and districts this month.

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America’s Health Insurance Plans, the national association representing 1,300 health insurers, is out with “August Recess Talking Points” that assert a “government-run plan would dismantle employer-based coverage … [and] add significant liabilities to the federal budget.”

The group is also offering a sample “August Recess Activation Letter” http://tr.im/vIsV for CEOs to send to employees.

“All over the country, conversations on health care reform are taking place, from Town Halls to coffee shops,” the letter says. “Members of Congress and the Administration are planning and participating in several events during the month of August as Congress breaks for recess. You can help share the perspective of the health plan community during these conversations by signing up.”

AHIP’s director of strategic communications, Robert Zirkelbach, says the group discourages confrontations “We encourage people to be positive and constructive.”

FreedomWorks, chaired by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, is e-mailing 380,000 supporters this week with a link to an “August Recess Action Kit.”

“Turn Up the Heat in August: Help Defeat ObamaCare,” the group says on its website. “While Senators and Representatives are home for their August recess they need to hear from you, regardless of party. … Find a town hall meeting near you. If your representative or senator isn’t holding one - ask them why.”

Americans for Prosperity is going a step further and recommending in-person visits to lawmakers’ district and state offices. The groups says on its website that it “has always encouraged members to visit the district offices and attend town hall meetings of their senators and representatives, especially during this August break when issues like health care and cap-and-trade are at the peak of debate.”

But it looks like Religious Right groups are getting into the act as well, encouraging their own activists to attend these events and get in on the action:

Focus on the Family Action has been sending e-mail alerts to subscribers that encourage them to attend town-hall meetings and demand that abortion funding be explicitly excluded from any reform bill, according to Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for the Colorado Springs-based group.

A recent Washington Update from the Family Research Council likewise urged activists to attend their local meetings and provided a list of various town hall events across the country:

Americans are talking. The leadership just refuses to listen. Until it does, House and Senate Democrats can expect a long, uncomfortable August where the temperatures outside are nothing compared to the heat they're feeling inside their District offices. FRC has posted a schedule of townhall meetings across the country and sample questions you can ask. Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share--in a respectable manner--your thoughts with your congressman. While you're at it, why not bring your video camera?

For it's part, the Traditional Values Coalition is urging its activsts to participate as well:

The U.S. House of Representatives is on their summer break and the Senate starts on August 7th. They will be in their home districts through Labor Day.

Sign up today to learn where your elected officials are holding their Town Hall meetings! They need to hear from you and hundreds of other concerned Americans.

President Obama has been trying to rush through his government-run health care reform bill. It took him six months to pick a dog for the White House, but he wanted Congress to pass a health care bill in only a few weeks!

His plan to nationalize health care has been slowed down by citizen activism, but he still plans on pushing for passage of his government-run health care plan this fall. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has admitted that Obama's health care plan is designed to socialize our medical system!

Attend Your Congressional Member's Town Hall MeetingGo to Town Hall meetings and challenge your legislators on these issues:

1. Government-Run Health Care and the 53 New Federal Bureaucracies it creates.

2. Employment Non-Discrimination Act (will force religious employers like Bible publishers, day cares, camps, etc., to hire gay, bisexual, and transgendered persons)

3. Pledging to read Legislation before voting on it!

Important Civics Lesson!

Bring a van load of friends, children and grandchildren to these Town Hall meetings. Most students have not returned to school, yet. Let them learn a valuable civics lesson about how our system of government works!

Once you sign up for our Town Hall alert, you’ll be sent the dates of your elected officials’ Town Hall meetings. We want your feedback on how they responded! Sign up today!

As is the American Family Association:

Gary Bauer sent out a special alert yesterday concerning how the liberal politicians and liberal media outlets are seeking to silence those who are speaking out against out of control spending and the take over of vital industries. The liberals are upset that common citizens like you are exercising their right to free speech, and are using it to let the liberals know they have had enough and are going to let their voice be heard.

I urge you to get involved, stand up and speak out. Make the phone calls, send the e-mails, make the phone calls. Don't let the liberal left silence you! The future of our country and our children and grandchildren is at stake. The ugly name calling shows that your voices are being heard. Please keep it up!

• We can now add Concerned Women for America to the list of right-wing groups opposing David Hamilton, President Obama's first judicial nominee, while Rod Parsley's Center for Moral Clarity says "the Senate’s response to this nomination will tell us more about them than it will about the nominee."
• Congressman Steve King and others have called on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Dawn Johnsen. You can see the letter here [PDF].
• Remember when it was the Republicans who were labeling the Democrats as "the party of no" for opposing President Bush's agenda?
• It looks like Sarah Palin's grandstanding on the stimulus legislation is going to get sidestepped by the state legislature.
• Richard Viguerie sees the decision by the University of Notre Dame to invite President Obama as a sign of "the general collapse in American institutions and the failure of America's leadership class."
• Focus on the Family is asking people to "pick up the phone or send an e-mail to Barney Frank and tell him they’re disgusted by the fact (he) would use such disgraceful language toward a sitting member of the United States Supreme Court."
• Coral Ridge Ministries responds to Truth Wins Out's recent piece noting that Robert Knight has joined Coral Ridge Ministries.
• Finally, in an interview with the Action Institute, SC Gov. Mark Sanford was asked if it is a good thing that "faith traditions played a big role in the 2008 presidential race":

It is. But I don’t know if it was more window dressing than not. Obama had Rick Warren speak at the inauguration, and then got some guy of another persuasion to give the benediction. I don’t think you want it as an accoutrement. I think that you want it to show up in policy. In other words, conversation is certainly an important starting point. It can’t be the ending point.