Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyNovember 13th, 2011
To tell you the truth, the only thing I have marked on my calendar for today is the fact that this is Fred Phelps’s birthday. Born in 1929, he has spent his entire life tormenting more souls than the Prince of Darkness himself. The mark of a life well spent is the degree to which one has made the world a better place for those around him. Phelps’s mark is such that his name will forever be synonymous with the worst brand of hatred known to man or beast. Virtually every anti-gay bigot in the world claims at least one measure of self-defense: “I’m nothing like Fred Phelps.” Except, in truth, many of them are just as bad as he, and some are worse. Evil may be banal, but each instance of evil is unique in its own way. Phelps is just one of far too many.
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volpi
November 13th, 2011
Edward c. Dumont, the first lgbt person nominated to a federal court of appeals(Federal Circuit) , had his nomination withdrawn two d.ays ago ; president Obama has nominated another jurist for the seat. Dumont had the highest ABA grading(unanimously well qualified) and his nomination was supported also by conservatives like Eugene Volokh and Judge Posner. Additionally Federal circuit does not hear gay rights cases because of its limitated jurisdiction .The republican minority in the judiciary commission of the senate blocked his nomination without any defined reason and the democratic majority did not force a vote. The confirmations of judges Oetken and Nathan is important but the damage caused by the failed Dumon nomination coud be deep. If i were a federal appeal court hopeful i could infere that being openly gay is hurtful to my career and choose to stay closeted. Now that there is another nominee we can decry the shameful situation without damaging the possibility of a Dumont confirmation. I am not a mother language speaker of english, and i could have made errors. I am sorry in this case.
Pierfrancesco Volpi
Muscat
November 13th, 2011
One interesting thing about Fred Phelps is that pre-1990s he seems to have been doing some good work in the legal world fighting discrimination against African Americans and women. But unfortunately working to make the world a better place doesn’t make you immune from engaging in the worst forms of hatred.
tavdy79
November 13th, 2011
I want to say something about Fred Phelps here, but I can’t without breaking Godwain’s law – and having said that, I’m pretty sure you can figure out what I was going to say anyway!
Lindoro Almaviva
November 13th, 2011
why are Pro Herman Cain ads popping up on this page? I know we do not have control over them, but that man’s face is enough to send me in gagging fits.
Ben M
November 13th, 2011
@Lindoro Almaviva – just think of it this way… Mr. Cain’s campaign is paying for you to go into gagging fits ;)
Jim Burroway
November 13th, 2011
And think further of it this way. Whenever anyone gags and clicks on the ad, Herman Cain contributes money to a web site that is dedicated to furthering the homosexual agenda.
G.I. Joe
November 13th, 2011
Who’s the “prince of darkness”? Voldemort?
Timothy Kincaid
November 15th, 2011
volpi,
The republican minority in the judiciary commission of the senate blocked his nomination without any defined reason and the democratic majority did not force a vote.
If I understand the situation correctly, Sen Leahy never scheduled a hearing on Dumont. I don’t know if Republicans would have blocked his nomination, but they don’t seem to have even been given a chance to do so.
Jim Burroway
November 15th, 2011
This letter indicates that Dumont’s nomination was blocked by a secret hold “by one or more members of the committee minority.”
http://hunterforjustice.typepad.com/files/dumont-withdrawal-ltr.pdf
Timothy Kincaid
November 15th, 2011
Yes, that is Dumont’s statement. It may even be correct. There certainly are Republicans who will object to anyone gay (though recent votes have revealed them to be surprisingly fewer than I would have thought).
Right wing wacko Ed Whelan (which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong, just biased) thinks otherwise.
He does make a good point. Plenty of folk have been approved over loud objection, so that doesn’t explain the lack of hearing.
I suspect the truth is somewhere between.
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