Religious Left

By Wy Spano, The Star Tribune Menneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota The Republican Party needs some serious changing. You might not agree with me that Republicans are going to lose huge in the upcoming election — though trust me, they are — but you do have to agree, if you read the polls, that young people are trending overwhelmingly toward Democrats. Many of the young people see the Republican Party as holding positions that make no sense to them, like being antigay and opposing stem-cell research and supporting creationism. They conclude that the party supports these things because a small but powerful group in the party insists on them, not because most people would, or could, agree with them. An antigay party is particularly troublesome to the young. Most of them have a friend, family member, coworker or colleague who’s gay, none of whom has ever threatened their own marriages or sexuality. full article

Mark Deli Siljander (R) was indicted Wedensday as part of a terrorist funding ring. The former UN Delegate appointed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and former Senator for the state of Michigan is accused of aiding in the aiding and distributing of over $130,000 to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a global terrorist . Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is said to be affiliated with both Al Qaeda and the Taliban and has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. The Islamic American Relief Agency sent the money to Hekmatyar in 2003 and 2004. The money was masked as donations to an orphanage and placed in a bank account in Peshwar, Pakistan. The IARA paid $50,00 to former Senator Siljander for lobbying purposes, the payoff was stolen from U.S. Agency for International Development. Siljander did not issue a statement, but his lawyer said he would plead not guilty. He certainly doesn't have the résumé of an accused Al Qaeda aider. An archconservative Re...

Thompson Defends Anti-Gay Marriage Stance NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said he's met frequently with influential social conservatives who are willing to accept his position on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage even though it doesn't go quite as far as they would like. Thompson favors a constitutional amendment that bars judges from legalizing gay marriage. "What I have done is fashion something that says judges can't do that any more," said Thompson. He said the practical effect of his proposal would be a ban on gay marriages.

Sometimes I think most of the gay-bashing, right-wing politicians in the US are self-loathing, closeted homosexuals. Craig's vilification by his fellow Republicans contrasts sharply with their treatment of his fellow Repulican Senator David Vitter of Lousiana, who admitted to paying (female) prostitutes for sex. Vitter can continue his political career after he asked for forgiveness and pledged to "give his life to Jesus." "Why do you think Americans care so much about an “issue” that ignites so little controversy in Europe? Why are we alone in the developed world in our intense distress about the fact that a minority of people are erotically attracted to members of their own their own sex rather than to the opposite sex? " "Is the power of fundamentalist religion, again unique in the developed world, the only explanation for the American fixation on gays as a threat to traditional values? Perhaps this also has something to do with traditional images of A...