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nomemailNOM Marriage News: California Edition    May 1, 2009

Dear Jane,

It’s not news to you and me: The drive to impose gay marriage “whether we like it or not” continues.

The people of New Hampshire do not want gay marriage. But a legislature bought and paid for by gay billionaire Tim Gill chose to ignore their wishes and do the will of a big out-of-state donor base. Now the next question: Will New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch veto the bill?

Governor Lynch does not support same-sex marriage. He’s said so publicly, as recently as a few weeks ago. Will he do the right thing? Will he stand up against the money guys and be the voice for the values of New Hampshire people? We’ll make certain he hears from New Hampshire people who care about marriage—thanks for helping us get the message out.

One thing is certain: The mask of tolerance which gay marriage advocates once wore is slipping off; the gloves are coming off. Will the bullies win? Will they persuade us to surrender something as deep, as core, as sacred as marriage to politicians who care only about the next election?

Here’s my pledge to you: not without a fight. The fight for marriage is a fight for decency, common sense, and for God’s own truth. We will fight for marriage in New Hampshire and Iowa, and Maine, and New York, and New Jersey, and anywhere else in this great and God-blessed nation where marriage is under attack.

A bit of good news the media will not let you hear: A just-released Quinnipiac poll shows no change in support for gay marriage in the last year. Americans oppose gay marriage 55 percent to 38 percent. And the hard-core gay marriage supporters—people who say they want gay marriage rather than civil unions—make up just 33 percent.

That’s right: Two-thirds of Americans just don’t believe in gay marriage. Because they haven’t been able to persuade, gay marriage advocates have to silence opposition.
Standing up to bullies requires courage, and grace under fire.

What courage and grace were on display at the National Press Club this week! I had the honor to be with Carrie Prejean, the beauty queen who chose truth over the tiara. Carrie was appearing with NOM at our press conference as we launched our new “No Offense” ad campaign, the second ad in our $1.5 million media campaign for marriage.

Watch Carrie, and NOM’s President Maggie Gallagher and me in the news clips below—perhaps you may be seeing her right now on a TV near you. At our press conference she said, “I’d rather be Biblically correct than politically correct.” What an amazing young woman! You can see the ad at www.nationformarriage.org.

Carrie is not exactly a rich woman—except in the sense of being richly blessed by moral courage, by an inner beauty and strength which (if possible) outshines the gift of outer beauty God gave her. If Carrie can give up the Miss USA crown to stand for marriage, if she can afterward face the public insults, the ongoing attempts by pageant officials and others to belittle and demean her dignity (as if those people can touch that!)—what excuse do you and I have to back down from this fight?

I’m asking you today to heed Carrie’s message: Stand up for what you believe. Help us get this new ad message out: Marriage matters. Gay marriage has consequences. Can you sign up for monthly donation of $10 for the next three months to help us launch this ad far and wide? Can you reach down and donate $5, $10, $100 or, if God has blessed you, even more?

Let me be absolutely clear: Carrie does not work for the National Organization for Marriage. She is a spokeswoman for her own views, as anyone watching her can tell.

But we’re very proud that she chose to stand with NOM as we launched our new national ad campaign for marriage, and we’re asking YOU to stand with us as we get her message on marriage out to millions of Americans—especially young Americans who need to know they are not alone, that they can fight back. See the ad for yourself at nationformarriage.org. And pass it on to three of your friends today!

Bullies can only win if you and I let them. At NOM we’re not going to let them.
Thank you for your prayers, your support, and your well-wishes.

It’s an honor to know and serve people like you.

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown
Executive Director
National Organization for Marriage
20 Nassau Street, Suite 242
Princeton, NJ  08542
bbrown@nationformarriage.org

P.S. Watch for Maggie Gallagher on Larry King Live this evening, Friday night. And don’t forget to see the ad and help spread the word at www.nationformarriage.org.

NOM in the News

Carrie Prejean on the Today show, talking about NOM’s new ad
MSNBC

Carrie Prejean Fights Back in New Anti Gay Marriage Campaign
FoxNews
May 1, 2009

While former Miss Californians Tamiko Nash and Raquel Beezley and current Miss California Director Shanna Moakler have been busy this week posing for a NO H8 Campaign to overturn Proposition 8 in California, the reigning Miss California has been busy promoting her new television ad campaign against gay marriage for the National Organization for Marriage.

Miss California Becomes Spokeswoman for Ad Campaign
ChristianityToday.com
April 30, 2009

The National Organization for Marriage is promoting Miss California as a spokeswoman to oppose same-sex marriage.

Carrie Prejean told NBC’s “Today show today that marriage is “something that is very dear to my heart” and she’s in Washington to help save it.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

Christian Nationalist Group Working to Get Its ‘Biblical Worldview Spread Across the Nation’

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Last week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation prohibiting transgender people from using public school facilities that match their gender identity. That legislation was crafted by the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, a right-wing organization that seeks to elect “godly leaders in our nation at every level” and then use them to “restore the Judeo-Christian foundation of our nation.”

Following the signing of this legislation into law, Jason Rapert, a longtime religious-right activist and ardent Christian nationalist who founded the NACL, took a victory lap, crediting his organization for the law and celebrating its success in pushing back “against the things of the devil in our country.”

As Rapert reported, this legislation had first been proposed by Arkansas school board member David Naylor during an annual NACL meeting and then brought to the Arkansas state legislature by state Rep. Mary Bentley, who serves on the board of the NACL.

On Friday, Rapert interviewed Bentley on his “Save The Nation” program, where she celebrated the NACL’s efforts “to get our biblical worldview spread across the nation.”

“Thank goodness we’ve got some common sense left here in Arkansas,” Bentley said. “[It was because of the NACL] that we were able to get that passed as model policy and bring it forth. I just love seeing grassroots come together and school board members coming to the capitol and going to the governor’s desk and just seeing it all work and flow just exactly how we want to. So, for the folks that are supporting NACL and what we’re doing, this is what we want to do across the country.”

“This is an example of the power of the NACL’s ability with model legislation,” Rapert replied. “This was brought by one of our members, and this policy actually could be immediately adopted by school boards in every school district across this country. If the school board wanted to adopt it, this is the model that they can utilize. And in addition to that, just like you did, go and pass it for the state so that this is going to apply to all the school boards in your state.”

Rapert and Bentley agreed that Arkansas has now blazed the trail on this issue, thereby making it easier for legislatures in other states to enact the same law.

“That’s what happens when you can be a leader,” Bentley asserted. “Once you make a trail, it’s a lot easier for people to follow once you get that trail made.”

“Thank you again for being a part of the NACL,” Bentley declared. “It’s just what we need in this nation right now to have it moving forward, to get our biblical worldview spread across the nation.”

This article was originally published by Right Wing Watch and is republished here by permission.

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News

Pence Ordered to Comply With Subpoena, Testify Before Special Counsel’s Grand Jury

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Mike Pence, the ex-vice president, must testify before Dept. of Justice special counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection, a federal judge has ruled, rejecting his claims of executive privilege.

The judge is requiring Pence to answer questions about his conversations with Donald Trump leading up to the insurrection, and to answer any questions related to any possible illegal acts Donald Trump may have committed, according to ABC News’ senior investigative reporter Katherine Faulders and CNN’s Abby Phillip.

Judge James Boasberg, the chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, “outright rejected Trump’s executive privilege challenge, but ruled more narrowly on Pence speech and debate challenge,” Faulders adds.

The judge, apparently citing Pence’s “speech and debate clause” claim, said “that Pence can still decline to answer questions related to his actions on January 6 itself, when he was serving as president of the Senate for the certification of the 2020 presidential election,” CNN reports.

READ MORE: ‘We’re Not Gonna Fix It’: TN Republican Says Congress Can Do Nothing to Stop Gun Violence – Calls for Christian ‘Revival’

NBC News reports Judge Boasberg “did, however, grant Pence a partial victory as to his argument that he was shielded from having to testify about Jan. 6 because of his constitutional role as part of the legislative branch.”

In what some legal experts dismissed as a faulty argument, “Pence’s legal team had argued that the Constitution’s ‘speech and debate’ clause should prevent special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors from eliciting any testimony about communications or activity related to Pence’s role as president of the Senate in presiding over the certification of the election results.”

Overall CNN calls it “another win for special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the Trump-aligned effort to subvert the 2020 election. Smith subpoenaed Pence for testimony and documents earlier this year.”

Pence can still appeal.

Watch MSNBC’s report below or at this link.

This is a breaking news and developing story.

This article has been updated to add video.

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RIGHT WING EXTREMISM

‘Taking Guns Away Is Not the Answer’: Scalise Encourages Prayer After Nashville School Mass Shooting

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The official line from House Republicans on Monday’s mass shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville is to encourage prayer and making schools “safer,” but “taking guns away is not the answer.”

GOP Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-most powerful Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, on Tuesday encouraged prayer, waiting for more facts, and looking into mental health option, despite his record of voting against them. Six people, including three nine-year olds and three adults, were shot to death after a shooter shot through the doors of Covenant Presbyterian Elementary School.

“The first thing in any kind of tragedy I do is I pray,” Scalise told a reporter Tuesday when asked if there’s anything Congress can do to reduce gun violence and deaths. “I pray for the victims. I pray for their families.”

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) also encouraged prayer over action. “We’re not gonna fix it,” he declared point-blank, while calling for a Christian “revival.”

READ MORE: Tennessee Governor Slammed After ‘Praying’ for Nashville School Community Without Mentioning Mass Shooting

Scalise was shot in 2017 in a rare act of left-wing gun violence by a man angry at then-President Donald Trump. He and House Republicans have repeatedly used that attack to target Democrats and their policies.

“I really get angry when I see people trying to politicize it for their own personal agenda,” Scalise continued, referring to shootings, “especially when we don’t even know the facts. There are facts coming out.”

“It looks like the shooter originally went to another school that had real stronger, much stronger security and ultimately went to this school,” Scalise said, which is false. According to a CNN report, the shooter had previously “scouted” a second location but had a detailed plan and maps of The Covenant School.

“Let’s get the facts,” Scalise insisted, suggesting no action should be taken before any investigations into this shooting are complete.

The Washington Post in a continually-updated report notes, “There were more school shootings in 2022 — 46 — than in any year since at least 1999.”

It adds, “There have been 376 school shootings” since Columbine, in 1999, and, “More than 348,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine.”

But Scalise urged Americans to “work to see if there’s something that we can do to help secure schools.”

READ MORE: New WSJ Poll Is Devastating for DeSantis and His ‘Anti-Woke’ Policies

And he insisted reducing the number of guns in America, currently believed to be over 400 million – more than the total population of the country – is “not the answer.”

“We’ve talked about things that we can do, and it just seems like on the other side, all they want to do is take guns away from law abiding citizens, before they even know the facts. The first thing they talk about is taking guns away from law abiding citizens. And that’s not the answer, by the way. So why don’t we number one, keep those families in our prayers and see if there were things that were missed. Along the way, we’ve talked about the need to improve mental health in this country, and that’s been a driver of a lot of these shootings as well.”

But just last September, Scalise, along with all but one House Republican, voted against a bill that would “increase access to mental and behavioral health care.”

He also skipped a vote one week earlier on the Mental Health Justice Act of 2022.

Watch Scalise’s remarks in this clip, below or at this link.

 

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