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NOM’s Numbers Problem With Marriage Equality Polls

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NOM, the National Organization for Marriage, has a numbers problem with recent polls that show a majority of Americans support marriage equality. Ever since last Friday’s ABC News/Washington Post poll that found 53% of voters in America support same-sex marriage, NOM has been on the attack.

The first shot across the bow was, incidentally, in the Washington Post’s own article announcing the poll results, which included a response from NOM president Brian Brown.

“Opponents of same-sex marriage took issue with the poll, which asks respondents: “Do you think it should be legal or illegal for gay and lesbian couples to get married?” Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, argued that the term “illegal” could be inferred to mean that violators could be imprisoned, which most Americans would consider harsh.”

Later, the Washington Post adds, “Post-ABC News polls have used the same “legal or illegal” wording in every poll about same-sex marriage since 2003. Other surveys by the Pew Research Center, the Associated Press and CNN show similar trends.”

Then, on Monday, in her National Review column, Maggie Gallagher, NOM’s Chairman, wrote, sarcastically, “Major meme alert: A majority of Americans now allegedly support gay marriage! This is very hard to believe given, say, November exit polls showing just 40 percent support SSM (and 54 percent oppose it). It’s also very hard to believe given that gay marriage is having a hard time gathering majority support even in deep-blue states, from California to Maine to Maryland.”

But Gallagher has revealed her hand, and turned the case of whether or not a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage into one of “my poll is better than your poll.” And if that is the game, Gallagher has already lost.

Who among us would opt for a four-month old exit poll (or, just exit polls, period) over a reputable ABC News/Washington Post poll that has asked the same question the same way for the better part of a decade, and can compare all the results?

Add to that the fact that this is not the first major, credible, national poll that finds the same fact: support for marriage equality in America has reached the majority.

In an email blast to “Marriage Supporters,” NOM president Brian Brown states on Monday that the “Human Rights Campaign is crowing about a new poll supposedly showing that 51% of Americans oppose DOMA. You know that’s wrong, and I know that’s wrong.”

The question is, why “is that wrong?,” (it’s not — the HRC study is very accurate,) and, why didn’t Brown include the ABC News/Washington Post poll in his email? Why didn’t Brown mention that, based on the HRC study, conservatives are evenly split on DOMA repeal? Could it be because NOM’s email marriage supporters are foolhardy enough to dismiss an HRC study, but smart enough to believe an ABC News/Washington Post poll?

Last year, before Gallagher’s November exit polls, two August polls found the same fact. A CNN poll found 52% of Americans believed “gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married and have their marriage recognized by law as valid,” and an AP/Roper poll found 52% of Americans answered “Yes,” to the question, “Should the Federal Government give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex, or not?”

But wait, there’s more!

Gallagher didn’t dare to touch the most-shocking aspect of the ABC News/Washington Post poll that found a startling 63% of Catholics support same-sex marriage. Why? It’s often been asked if NOM is a front for the Mormon Church, or a consortium of religious institutions, and how much it benefits from religious donations. Could this be the reason Gallagher has refused to touch upon that aspect of the poll?

In her National Review column, Gallagher also drops a rather unkind remark, stating that what she calls a “Democratic hack” poll that shows only 31% support for marriage equality (“when offered the alternative of civil unions or no recognition at all,”) is the most accurate, because it is a robo-calling push poll, “and Americans are becoming scared to say what they really think on the issue.”

If that’s really true (of course it’s not!) then Gallagher should hand in her keys to the company car. NOM has spent millions upon millions of dollars in key marriage equality battlegrounds, twisting and tweaking and successfully changing outcomes by appealing to the radical extremists. If she now thinks that all her time and money has led to a nation of sheep, perhaps it’s time to take another tack?

In her NOM blog, Gallagher adds, “Gay marriage advocates are no longer persuading, they are intimidating and silencing. If people are afraid to tell the strange person on the phone their real views on marriage, that in itself is evidence of a culturally significant shift–but not one to crow about.

“This is an interpretation and time will tell: but this interpretation has the advantage of being totally consistent with the results of recent elections on the issue.”

Which is why the NOM folks — Maggie and Brian — are the first to claim, “The only poll that counts is a free and fair vote on the part of the people.”

But is that true?

Civil rights activists, and many in this country consistently state that the majority should never vote on the rights of the minority. We at The New Civil Rights Movement agree. Why? terms like the “tyranny of the majority,” for one. But as Thomas Jefferson wrote, “that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

[image Maggie Gallagher standing (almost) alone: lost in miami]

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News

White House Mocks GOP With ‘Worst Person You Know’ Meme After Matt Gaetz Blames McCarthy for Shutdown

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11 hours ago

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September 20, 2023

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In a rare move the Biden White House on Wednesday mocked House Republicans with a popular internet meme to highlight remarks made by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz that show how the Florida Republican  is blaming the impending, likely shutdown of the federal government on Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Congressman Gaetz specifically says “We cannot blame Joe Biden” and “We cannot blame House Democrats” for it.

Gaetz, who did not vote to hand McCarthy the gavel back in January, for weeks has increasingly been targeting the House Speaker. Last week he threatened he would get McCarthy removed as Speaker, going as far as to say he was “out of compliance.” On Tuesday a reporter found a resolution with links to Gaetz declaring the Office of the Speaker “vacant” on a baby changing table in a House restroom.

Fox News’ Liz Elkind reported on Gaetz’s comments via social media, “MATT GAETZ pins shutdown on McCarthy: ‘We will have a government shutdown and it is absolutely Speaker McCarthy’s fault. We cannot blame Joe Biden for not having moved our individual spending bills. We cannot blame House Democrats. We can’t even blame Chuck Schumer in the Senate.”

READ MORE: ‘Brazen and Misguided’: Schumer Decimates Tuberville’s ‘Act of Desperation’ – and Threatens to Hold Senators in DC

The White House reposted them, and the “worst person” meme, known as the “Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point.” The meme was published in 2018 by Clickhole. a satirical website.

The federal government will shut down in 10 days if Speaker McCarthy cannot pass legislation to keep the government funded after September 30. That legislation will need to be acceptable to the Senate, and President Joe Biden. House Republicans, intent on stripping funding for Ukraine, defunding Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations, along with the Dept. of Justice and FBI, are digging in their heels amid “chaos” and “infighting.” Some have called it a GOP “civil war.”

See the White House’s post below or at this link.

 

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News

‘Brazen and Misguided’: Schumer Decimates Tuberville’s ‘Act of Desperation’ – and Threatens to Hold Senators in DC

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13 hours ago

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September 20, 2023

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Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took strong action on Wednesday, slamming U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville, vowing to get several officers in the U.S. Armed Forces confirmed to top posts, and threatening that if the Georgia Republican lawmaker who has blockaded well over 300 military promotions does not release his holds he will hold Senators in D.C. over the weekend.

“In an act of desperation, Sen. Tuberville is trying to use a procedural step to overcome his own holds,” Majority Leader Schumer wrote on social media Wednesday afternoon, before delivering a floor speech. “You read it right. His own holds.”

“He is trying to make himself the gatekeeper of which officers are promoted or languish,” Schumer added. “We can’t allow this to continue. We’re taking action.”

On the floor of the Senate he added: “We cannot allow Senator Tuberville to decide which of our dedicated and brave service members get promoted and which get to languish. Which military families are able to settle in their new posts, and which must remain in limbo. We cannot we should not allow that to be the case.”

READ MORE: Tuberville Refuses Responsibility but Says He’s Blocking 300 Military Promotions Because ‘We’re Not a Communist Country’

“So I have just filed cloture on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Army Chief of Staff. These men should have already been confirmed. They should already be serving in their new positions,” Schumer said. “The Senate should not have to go through procedural hoops just to please one brazen and misguided senator.”

“But this is where we are. In the end, the Senate will overwhelmingly vote to overcome Senator Tuberville’s blockade of these three nominees by voting for cloture then the Senate will overwhelmingly vote to confirm them,” he vowed. “And these three honorable men will finally be able to assume their positions and the abortion policy that Senator Tuberville abhors will remain in place. Senator Tuberville will have accomplished nothing.”

It is rare for a Senate Leader to target one member of the body, and even more rare to do so by name, but Senator Tuberville’s blockade, which he began in February, has harmed military readiness, according to multiple top Pentagon officials and former officials.

Tuberville has said he has blocked at least 319 military promotions, which require Senate confirmation, in response to the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members who need to travel out of state to obtain abortion health care services. Many GOP-majority states have imposed abortion bans, forcing out-of travel.

READ MORE: ‘Years to Recover’: Tuberville’s 300+ Military Holds to Have Long Impact Says Top Biden Navy Pick

But Schumer’s reference to “gatekeeper,” and later, in his floor speech saying, “which of our dedicated and brave service members get promoted,” may also refer to Tuberville’s unprecedented personal attacks on individual officers awaiting promotion.

Last month the Georgia freshman Republican Senator targeted over 20 individual U.S. Military officers, promoting an attack on their remarks supporting diversity and equity programs, or even, in one case, blasting one officer for their “celebration” of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Tuberville, who denied holding up hundreds of promotions is having a damaging effect on the military and morale, also has said he is blocking these promotions because the Biden administration is “woke.”

Recently, Tuberville told Bloomberg News each military officer’s promotion takes two hours of voting by the Senate, which could take them up individually despite his block. Tuberville falsely said voting on all the promotions would take “no time at all” to complete.

READ MORE: ‘A Nazi Movement—All the Way to the Top’: Critics Denounce Trump’s Antisemitic Attack on ‘Liberal Jews’

Watch Majority Leader Schumer below or at this link.

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OPINION

Fetterman Vows to GOP ‘Jagoffs’ He Will ‘Save Democracy by Wearing a Suit’ but He Has Two Conditions

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14 hours ago

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September 20, 2023

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Amid several days of right-wing, Republican, and Fox News outrage targeting U.S. Senator John Fetterman after Senators were told they may now wear casual attire on the floor, the Pennsylvania Democrat is promising to “save democracy by wearing a suit,” but he has two conditions.

Senator Fetterman stands at least six feet eight inches tall and weighs in at 270 pounds, according to The Washington Post, which attempted this week to debunk right-wing conspiracy theories that he has a “body double.”

He is known for wearing Carhartt sweatshirts and shorts more often than suits and ties, and after he was elected last year many in the media worried how he would transition to the more formal restrictions expected of sitting U.S. Senators. As it turns out there is no actual “dress code” that applies to Senators, and some, like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), have taken advantage of that fact on occasion.

Some, like one menswear editor, have taken the opportunity to mock other unique dress aspects of some political figures.

READ MORE: ‘Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party’: McCarthy and Far Right Republicans Mocked as GOP Divide Grows Even Greater

On Tuesday Sen. Fetterman mocked his detractors, including Fox News, which has aired at least several segments on his casual attire while suggesting the relaxed enforcement of the already non-existent “dress code” in the nation’s top deliberative body is an example of the “decline of standards in everything.”

One of Fetterman’s detractors has been having her own challenges this week: U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), caught vaping, taking photos, and allegedly engaged in sexual groping during a performance of a family-friendly musical.

READ MORE: ‘Knock It Off’: Matt Gaetz Thinks Merrick Garland Should Tell the President to Not Allow Hunter Biden at State Dinners

In response to a Fox News social media post that claimed “People are furious after the Senate dropped its dress code requirement,” Sen. Fetterman said: “I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, they’ll make me a folk hero.”

On Wednesday, Fetterman continued his colorful remarks, while mocking his critics – namely, House Republicans – who, he suggested, feel sweats are the end of the American republic.

The House is currently mired in “chaos,” a word Reuters, Fox News, MSNBC, The Hill, Axios, The Washington Post, and others have used to described the state of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s conference just eleven days before what appears to be a likely shutdown of the federal government. It appears less and less likely Republicans will be able to pass legislation that will keep the government open after September 30, and continue funding Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

“If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week,” Sen. Fetterman wrote.

READ MORE: ‘This Is Stupidity’: House Republican Slams McCarthy and His ‘Clown Show’ of ‘Lunatics’ as Clock Ticks Toward Shutdown

See the social media photos above or at this link.

 

 

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