Florida

Leading Republicans have signed up to address the conference led by disgraced Religious Right activist Ralph Reed this summer in Washington. Following commitments by potential presidential candidates Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), numerous Republican congressmen are now confirmed to speak to Reed’s 2011 Conference and Strategy Briefing.

Reed, who also plans to speak alongside presidential candidate Herman Cain and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Florida next week, has just announced a new list of speakers: Rep. Allen West (R-FL); Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO); Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX); Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL); Rep. Tom Price (R-GA); Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX); Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA); Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC).

The freshmen Congressmen slated to speak are strongly tied to the Religious Right: West’s anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric has made him a darling of leaders like Pat Robertson; Hartzler has consistently fought against gay rights in both Congress and Missouri, and even wrote a book about tips for Religious Right activists running for office; Webster is a Christian Reconstructionist and close to David Barton and Phyllis Schlafly, and Mulvaney was a legislative leader of the far-right Palmetto Family Council.

The Florida Baptist Witness reports that Richard Land spoke at the Jacksonville Baptist Association’s Leadership Institute last week and said that America was on the verge of revival that would reverse all of the horrors that President Obama has inflicted upon this nation ... provided that none of the conservatives on the Supreme Court die before Obama can be voted out of office. 

Oh yeah, and Americans will also come to realize just how good they had it under George W. Bush:

Addressing abortion, Land said the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which effectively legalized abortion on demand, likely will be overturned during his lifetime. One pro-choice justice being replaced by a pro-life justice would result in a majority willing to overturn Roe, he said.

“We just need one more vote,” Land said, “which means that we need to pray that none of the justices that are conservatives die until after we get a conservative president. And then one of the liberals has to change.”

Since abortion was legalized in 1973, more Americans have been aborted each year than have died cumulatively in all the wars the nation has fought, according to Land. Yet abortion is not merely a moral issue, but also an economic one, he said.

“How many people that are not working would be working if we hadn’t killed those babies?” he asked. Unemployed Americans could be “making goods and services for those people, building homes for those people, building schools for those people, teaching in the schools for those people.”

Recent healthcare legislation also threatens the sanctity of human life, Land said. If so- called “Obamacare” is not repealed, elderly Americans will be denied life-saving medical procedures because of the cost involved, he said.

“I personally think that the greatest threat to the sanctity of human life right now is Obamacare,” he said, adding, “I have no compunction about telling you that everybody in this room will live a shorter life, and it will be more filled with pain and suffering—if Obamacare is not rescinded—than you would otherwise. They are going to ration care.”

...

Land predicted that President George W. Bush will experience a similar fate as Harry Truman, who left office with a low approval rating but was appreciated decades later as one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Evangelicals likely will not see a president in the near future who identifies with them as much as Bush, he said, calling Bush’s two inaugural addresses “extraordinary” and “insightful.”

“I suspect too many Americans didn’t realize what they had when they had George W. Bush,” Land said.

As personhood legislation sprouts up in states like Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Iowa, the radical anti-choice group Personhood USA also hopes to introduce their extreme (and unconstitutional) legislation in North Dakota. Personhood bills criminalize abortion and certain forms of birth control by granting legal rights to zygotes, declaring it a separate ‘person’ from the mother. Many doctors believe that such legislation would ban in vitro fertilization and prohibit doctors from giving medical assistance to women with serious pregnancy complications like ectopic pregnancies. The AP reports on North Dakota doctors speaking out against the radical legislation in their state:

Doctors told the North Dakota Senate's Judiciary Committee that it could affect couples using in vitro fertilization to try to have a baby as well as women who have complications in early pregnancy that will prevent an embryo from developing into a viable baby. Such complications include an ectopic pregnancy, which happens when a fertilized egg begins growing outside the uterus. The doctors who testified said they did not perform abortions.

…

Although the measure exempts in vitro fertilization from criminal penalties, it includes language saying that "causing injury to a human being" is not justified.

Dr. Stephanie Dahl, a Fargo infertility specialist who works at North Dakota's only in vitro fertilization center, said the bill would make it illegal to do the procedure.

"The process of IVF may result in injury to an embryo," Dahl said. "It is unavoidable."

Dr. Shari Orser, a Bismarck obstetrician and gynecologist, told the committee that most eggs that are fertilized for in vitro fertilization never become viable embryos "and only a small percentage of embryos thought to be viable produce a child."

"To suggest that every embryo is a person is absurd," Orser said.

Orser said the law also would complicate the treatment of ectopic pregnancies. Without treatment, a tubal pregnancy can result in serious internal bleeding and death, she said.

Other conditions can result in a fetus developing without kidneys, lungs or a brain, Orser said.

"These diagnoses are often made in the first half of these pregnancies," Orser said. "Should a woman be forced to continue the pregnancy when she knows that her baby will die, or can she be spared the emotional distress and the risks of carrying a pregnancy to term?"

• Stephen C. Webster @ Raw Story: Fox News reporter appears to have lied about being ‘punched’ by protester.
• Kevin Drum: Huckabee and the Birthers.
• Igor Volsky @ Wonk Room: Steve King: Eric Holder Should Probably Resign For Advising Obama Not To Defend DOMA.
• Virginia Chamlee @ Florida Independent: Personhood Florida leader’s comments ‘jaw-dropping,’ a ‘bad assumption’ and ‘beyond the pale.’
• Good As You: Coming to a falsely victimized bookstore near you.
• Scott Keyes @ Think Progress: Rep. Trent Franks Calls For Impeaching Obama If He Doesn’t Reverse Course On The Defense Of Marriage Act.

• Julie Ingersoll @ Religion Dispatches: Georgia Legislator Behind Bill Criminalizing Miscarriage is Christian Reconstructionist.
• Andy Kopsa @ Florida Independent: Project SOS founder says she won’t work with ‘Kill the Gays’ pastor ‘in the foreseeable future.’
• Joe.My.God: Anti-Gay NH Group To Demand Marriage Pledge From 2012 Presidential Candidates.
• Eric Lach @ TPM: Pam Geller On 'Hate Group' Label: 'A Badge of Honor.'
• Eric Hananoki @ County Fair: Huckabee: Obama Grew Up "In Kenya."
• Good As You: Even AFA's General Counsel finds DOMA indefensible!

• Michael B. Keegn @ Huffington Post: Union Busting: The Real Call from the Koch Brothers.
• Towleroad: Mike Huckabee Says He Doesn't Want Gays to Parent, Marry, or Serve in the Military.
• Larry Keller @ SPLC Intelligence Report: Cliff Kincaid Takes on ‘Liberal Media,’ Gays.
• Bruce Wilson @ Truth Wins Out: Federally Funded ‘Missionaries’ Now Teach in Florida Public Schools.
• Steve Benen: Broun (Eventually) Does The Right Thing.
• Ryan Grim @ Huffington Post: Behind The Assault On Planned Parenthood.
• Equality Matters: Alan Keyes: "Granting Homosexuals The Right To Marry Is Like Granting Plantation Owners The Right To Own Slaves."

• PFAW: PFAW Commends President Obama’s Stand Against Unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act.
   
• Eric Lach @ TPM: Indiana Dep. AG Loses Job After Advocating 'Live Ammunition' For WI Protesters.
   
• Rob Boston @ AU: Kern Spurned: Oklahoma Legislator’s Backdoor Creationism Bill Bounced.
   
• Joe.My.God: Mike Huckabee Slams Obama: Gays Are Breaking Up "Traditional" Families.
   
• Igor Volsky @ Wonk Room: Thrice-Married Gingrich Confronted On Opposition To Marriage Equality.
   
• Charles Johnson @ LGF: Glenn Beck Rants About 'Commie' Logo That His Own Group Used.
   
• Andy Kopsa @ Florida Independent: Federally funded Jacksonville abstinence program has ties to ‘Kill the Gays’ Ugandan pastor.

The fundamentalist ministry Repent Amarillo has gained notoriety for badly failing in their attempt to burn the Quran, harassing swingers, and executing Santa Claus in a firing squad. Now, the leader of the self-proclaimed “Army of God” has announced his bid for mayor of Amarillo.

David Grisham of Repent Amarillo explained his political philosophy in his announcement, stating that “if we get elected office then we take Christ with us into office. He rules over us and then we rule over people – that’s just how the government works, so as far as I’m concerned there is no separation of church and state.”

Grisham also believes that God has called him to run for mayor in order to make life easier for businesses and more difficult for “promiscuity, homosexuality and non-Christian worship”:

“The Scriptures are quite clear that the governing authorities are ministers of God, and if that is true — and we know from God’s word that it is — then it just makes sense that ministers of God should be running for office,” Repent Amarillo Director David Grisham Jr. said before filing paperwork Monday to run in the May 14 mayoral election.

…

Grisham said he wants to lead the city in a different direction, repealing ordinances that place design standards on downtown properties and a sign ordinance he thinks limits the freedoms of business owners.

…

Repent Amarillo and Grisham aim to deter promiscuity, homosexuality and non-Christian worship practices through confrontation and prayer, and their actions have sparked controversy, both locally and nationwide.

He has already won the coveted endorsement of Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who threatened to burn copies of the Quran in a bonfire to mark the anniversary of the September 11th attacks. “I’m glad to have his endorsement because he’s a brother in Christ,” Grisham said, “and that’s what’s more important to me than political implications.”

Jones believes that Grisham is simply “trying to do the right thing,” adding, “I believe he has the best interests of the city in mind.”

• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Focus on the Family’s Conversation Starter a Non-Starter.
• Alvin McEwen: Peter Sprigg won't address hate group charges but will lie about same-sex households.
• Steve Benen: Barbour Fails an Easy Test.
• Kristin @ Bold Faith Type: Having cake, eating cake? 
• Ryan @ TNF: No Religious Test… Except for Muslims.
• Amanda Terkel @ Huffington Post: Russ Feingold Launches 'Progressives United' To Combat Corporate Influences In Politics.
• Kevin Donohoe @ Think Progress: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Assumes ‘You Guys’ (All Black Lawmakers) Grew Up Poor.