Christian rightie who hired a male prostitute was McCollum’s go-to guy
Or you could say he was McCollum’s “rentboy” … if you’re so inclined. Either way, it turns out the right wing Christian psychologist who helped found the Family Research Council, and who the Miami New Times just busted pushing a cart through Miami International Airport with a hot young “rentboy” by his side was also the guy Florida Attorney General, suer of healthcare, serial candidate and party finance transparency czar (or not) Bill McCollum paid $87,000 to, to uphold the state’s gay adoptions ban. Keeping down-and-out kids parentless? All in a day’s work for Dr. George Rekers! From Equality Florida, word that gays needn’t feel too put-upon, since Rekers didn’t much care for Native Americans, either…
Rekers was one of only two witnesses Attorney General Bill McCollum called in an effort to reverse a Miami judge who ruled Florida’s adoption ban- the only one in the country- is unconstitutional.
McCollum paid Rekers and a colleague t$87,000 for testimony that called gay people mentally unstable and advised that the ban should be expanded to include Native Americans because, Rekers claimed, they are also at much higher risk of mental illness and substance abuse.
“They would tend to hang around each other,” Rekers testified. “So the children would be around a lot of other Native Americans who are … doing the same sorts of things.”
Yes, well you want want them to get any “Miccosukee” on them … it might not wash off… Read more
Hate the stimulus? You lie!
Congressman Joe Wilson hates the stimulus package. So does Kit Bond. They think it’s wasteful, wasteful, wasteful good, gooooood…
Sen. Christopher S. Bond regularly railed against President Obama’s economic stimulus plan as irresponsible spending that would drive up the national debt. But behind the scenes, the Missouri Republican quietly sought more than $50 million from a federal agency for two projects in his state.
Mr. Bond was not alone. More than a dozen Republican lawmakers, while denouncing the stimulus to the media and their constituents, privately sent letters to just one of the federal government’s many agencies seeking stimulus money for home-state pork projects.
The letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, expose the gulf between lawmakers’ public criticism of the overall stimulus package and their private lobbying for projects close to home.
As to Mr. Wilson: Read more
Who’s more powerful, Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh?
That’s easy. Rush Limbaugh. After Palin went nuclear on Rahm Emanuel over a single, private use of the phrase “f-ing retarded” to describe liberal plans to run ads against conservative Democrats who were blocking healthcare reform, Limbaugh decided it was a great opportunity for him to repeatedly, gratuitously, and really shamefully, use the even more demeaning term “retard” as many times in a sentence as possible. That led inquiring minds to wonder when mama bear would sharpen her claws on Rush. … waiting … waiting … ah! Greg Sargent of The Plum Line managed to get a statement, not from Sarah’s Facebook page (from which she rules over the right wing and the mainstream media, at the same time…) and not from Palin herself. No, the statement came from Palin’s spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton, who told Sargent:
“Governor Palin believes crude and demeaning name calling at the expense of others is disrespectful.”
First of all, didn’t Palin quit that “governor” job? Second, I’m not sure that counts as “ripping Limbaugh,” per Sargent’s headline (and others). But at least it did seem to provide some intellectual honesty on Palin’s part, fulfilling Margaret Carlson’s hopes that “as a mother,” Palin couldn’t possibly fail to stand up for her special needs child a second time, even when the name caller was El Rushbo.
Well, apparently, intellectual honesty is for un-American blue state socialists, because today, Palin ripped, not Limbaugh, but Sargent, claiming he twisted her (spokewoman’s) words to try and protect the White House. Seriously. Read more
John Ensign: Is it still bribery if my mama pays?
The water just keeps getting hotter for the (soon to be former?) Senator from Nevada:
Nevada Sen. John Ensign’s wealthy parents gave his mistress and her family $96,000, the conservative lawmaker revealed Thursday, an admission that further darkened his once-bright career and caused even allies to question his continued effectiveness as a U.S. senator.
The gifts to Cynthia Hampton; her husband, Doug; and two of their children were made “out of concern for the well-being of long-time family friends during a difficult time,” said a statement from Ensign’s attorney. The money was paid in $12,000 increments in April 2008, the month that both Hamptons left Ensign’s employ.
The payments were “consistent with a pattern of generosity” by Ensign’s parents, the statement said. Ensign’s father, Michael, is a former casino mogul who helped bankroll his son’s political rise from congressman to onetime GOP White House aspirant.
The admission came after Doug Hampton alleged in an television interview this week that Ensign paid his wife “a lot more than” $25,000 in severance when she left his campaign and political action committee. Doug Hampton also worked for Ensign, as his top aide. A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, asked the Justice Department to investigate the allegation because neither the campaign nor the PAC had reported the expenditure.
Ensign lawyer Paul Coggins, a former U.S. attorney who specializes in white-collar criminal defense, said Thursday that it was the parents who paid the Hamptons, and that Ensign had followed “all applicable laws and Senate ethics rules.”
Meanwhile, does what happens in Vegas stay with Rick Santorum? Signs point to no!
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