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Phobius’ inbox this morning shrieked with alarum: The anti-marriage initiative Proposition 8 is in grave danger, “Code Blue” in fact.
(from Frank Schubert himself) “The institution of marriage is in cardiac arrest in California and I am pleading with you to help save it. Please set aside what you are doing for a minute and pay close attention to what is happening with Proposition 8. Marriage as we know it is in a life or death moment. Gay activists held a fundraiser on Tuesday night at billionaire liberal Ron Burkle’s mansion in Beverly Hills where they raised an astonishing $3.9 million. Even as guests were being entertained by Barbra Streisand, Melissa Etheridge and Mary J. Blige, No on 8 operatives were busy launching a sneak attack on the institution of marriage. They began dumping an unbelievable $7 million on air time this week alone! Here is the situation we face: Unless we raise $3 million in the next week, we’re going to lose. If you love the institution of marriage, this is one of those moments that you will remember the rest of your life… We have all worked hard as volunteers and contributors, but this is the moment when traditional marriage as we know it will either live, or it will die. Years from now, when we look back on our lives, this will be a day to remember. The day when marriage went into cardiac arrest, the victim of a ruthless and false assault on the truth. The day when you had a chance to sacrifice greatly to save God’s precious gift to us. This is Code Blue for marriage. What is your response?”
In reality, the polls are all over the map right now; some show us winning, some show the bigots winning. We can be cautiously optimistic given the Obama surge of cellphone-toting young folks who don’t have a stick up their ass about other people’s sex lives, but we must keep up the good work – each of you should try to convince ten wavering people this week how anti-American this initiative is.
But, again, the polls are close, and what do our rightwing friends stoop to when polls are close? Well, ten guesses. If you put blackmail or extortion on your top ten, then Bingo! Click “read for more” for their latest shenanigans, this is rich.
Threatening Letters Spark New Prop. 8 Controversy
A threatening letter has sparked a new controversy here in San Diego surrounding the gay marriage debate. Donors who gave money to the No on Prop 8 campaign say they received blackmail letters demanding money, and the Yes on 8 campaign now says the letters were sent by their employees.
The letter from Yes on 8 came by certified mail, demanding at least $10,000. Jim Abbot knows exactly why he’s being targeted – his business gave $10,000 to a group called Equality California, which supports No on Prop 8.
Jim says nearly 25 percent of his staff is gay.
“We wanted to support their freedom to marry,” he said.
The letter says if Jim doesn’t give an equal donation to Yes on 8, the name of his company will be published. It reads in part, “It is only fair for Proposition 8 supporters to know which companies and organizations oppose traditional marriage.
“I feel like it’s blackmail, and as you can imagine, real estate business has been tough lately and to have someone come at you like this… it’s very distressing,” he said.
Yes on 8 confirms they sent around 30 companies the letter. A spokeswoman told News 8 they are just trying to hold their ground in a passionate race. She added that No on 8 supporters picketed the Manchester Grand Hyatt after Doug Manchester donated $125,000. The publicity caused at least one very large group to cancel its event at the hotel.
She also pointed to a popular blog that asked readers to dig up dirt on Yes on 8 supporters, see if they’ve contributed to less than honorable causes, or have done something otherwise egregious, with the hope they can force the Yes on 8 campaign to return their contributions, or face a bunch of negative publicity.
But News 8 couldn’t find anything from No on 8 supporters demanding money from Yes on 8 supporters.
As for Jim, he stands behind his donation, and will not be making a similar one to Yes on 8.
“We’re not caving… we’ll support our employees. We’re going to support the freedom to marry, a fundamental right to do what we can to make sure it’s not taken away,” he said.
Click here to see the original extortion letter.
“Money” quote:
“Were you to elect not to donate comparably, it would be a clear indication that you are in opposition to traditional marriage. You would leave us no other reasonable assumption. The names of any companies…that choose not to donate…to ProtectMarriage.com…will be published.
…We will contact you shortly to discuss your contribution.”
Code Blue? Sounds more like a Code 211.
JESUS spoke to me THIS MORNING. And he said VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 8. I urge all of YOU to ask Jesus and listen carefully for the answer. As JESUS said on the cross: “גוייִש משוגעת”
Jesus wanted us to love our neighbor as ourselves. No one “hates” gays. The “YES on 8” position isn’t about stripping gays of any of their rights. This issue, YES on 8, is about RESTORING was has been traditionally known as “marriage,” namely one man and one woman. According to many studies, the BEST situation for a child is to be in a loving and stable home with their father and mother. Children learn different things from a mother and different things from a father. To be truely complete, children need to learn from BOTH. Two mother’s and/or two father’s CAN’T give the child what they truely need. Again, I am most concerned with the children. Some families have problems and are broken. Why should we give up? Why isn’t the goal to help these broken families? The CA judges decision for gay marriage was 4 to 3. Ultimately, it was ONE person’s opinion and/or interpretation of the Constitution that led to the change in the law. I would neither call that resounding support for the change, nor would I call it resonable for the rest of society to be unquestioning of it’s validity. I disagee with the four judges and agree the THREE dissenting judges. Marriage is an historical institution and has value in society. Whether or not a person is religious, it has always been recognized that marriage is between a man and a woman. No one is taking away ANY rights from the gay community by supporting YES on 8, the gay community ALREADY has equality through the law CA. As a matter of fact, last year, CA allowed Registered Domestic Partners to file a Joint tax return. Just like a married couple! This WILL NOT CHANGE. For your further information, heterosexual couples have to be 62 or older to qualify. Gay RDP actually have MORE rights than heterosexual couples. VOTE YES ON 8!!!!!!!!!
‘According to many studies, the BEST situation for a child is to be in a loving and stable home with their father and mother. Children learn different things from a mother and different things from a father. To be truely complete, children need to learn from BOTH. Two mother’s and/or two father’s CAN’T give the child what they truely need.‘
Way to ignore the equal number of studies that show the opposite there. Not to mention that children virtually always find other gender-specific role models to complement their parents when necessary. For the umpteenth time: IT TAKES A VILLAGE!
If a child is happy with two mothers or two fathers, who the hell are you to tell that child that it’s wrong by relegating their parents’ relationship to second-class status in the eyes of the law? The LAW. It’s not about your God, it’s about equality under THE LAW. Now spell that with me: L.A.W. Laaawww. Good girl. An extra Bible story for you tonight!
Prop 8 isn’t really for the children, it’s for the parents who are too squeamish to teach their children about the real world. In the real world, many kids have two moms or two dads regardless of marital status and Prop 8 is an assault on every single one that loves his/her parents unconditionally. What about those children?
Prop 8 does NOTHING other than enshrine bigotry into the constitution and marginalize children in an attempt to punish their gay parents. You remember the constitution, right? Your arch enemy? The ‘weapon’ that the ‘activist judges’ use to perpetually shatter your dreams of a holy land in Huntington?
*cough* thumper *cough*
SMS, Child of Gaia, Lesbian Mother of 2