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Mike Huckabee’s False, Fear-Mongering Facebook Rant About ‘Hitching Post’ Gay Marriage Story

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How many people have told how many lies about the Idaho wedding chapel being “forced” to marry same-sex couples? Mike Huckabee’s name should be near the top of the list.

If you’re as old as I am, you were raised to think that pastors and political leaders were to be admired and revered. 

Mike Huckabee in one fell swoop disintegrated that idea yesterday when he posted an outlandish, false, fear-mongering, hate-filled, anti-gay warning on Facebook.

Huckabee has been using false “religious liberty” stories to fuel his likely 2016 run for the White House. In polls this year, he’s consistently the GOP’s top choice among likely candidates — assuming Mitt Romney is not a likely candidate. Of course, Hillary Clinton beats Huckabee by 10 percentage points in head-to-head runoffs, but I digress.

As much of America now probably knows, the state of Idaho is now a marriage equality state. 

The tiny Idaho city of Coeur d’Alene has a reasonable non-discrimination ordinance, and now that same-sex marriage is legal, one for-profit wedding chapel has been all over the news.

LOOK: Almost Everything You’ve Been Told About The Idaho Wedding Chapel Story Is A Lie

The Hitching Post is owned by a husband and wife team of Christian ministers who make their living marrying people. But rather than choose to establish a ministry, they chose to create their business as a for-profit business, subjecting themselves to the laws of the land.

Along comes the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm that has fought and lost same-sex marriage from California to Virginia. 

They somehow convinced Donald and Evelyn Knapp to sue their beloved city over the non-discrimination ordinance, despite the fact that no same-sex couple has asked the Knapps to marry them, no one has filed a complaint with the City, and the City has even told the Knapps they would work with them to help them.

But it’s election season, and the religious right is feeling attacked because gay people are destroying civilization by declaring love for one another and marrying.

Enter ordained Southern Baptist minister Mike Huckabee, eager to expand his audience, his base, his Fox News ratings, and his Facebook likes.

Besides, what’s wrong with lying for Jesus, right?

“Remember when same-sex marriage activists used to claim that it would never infringe on other people’s religious beliefs? Well, that was a lie,” Huckabee wrote on Facebook yesterday. “Donald and Evelyn Knapp own a wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, called The Hitching Post. They’re both ordained ministers and devoutly religious, so they declined to perform a same-sex wedding.”

Let’s stop right there.

Can Pastor Huckabee please name the same-sex couple who asked the Knapps to marry them?

Also, what “same-sex marriage activists” are “infring[ing] on other people’s religious beliefs”?

“Last week, after the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of Idaho’s same-sex marriage ban, the city declared the Knapps in violation of the town’s anti-discrimination law.”

Let’s stop again.

That’s a lie too.

“If they refuse to violate their religious beliefs and marry gay couples, they’ll face – brace yourself – up to 180 days in jail and a fine of $1000 a day.”

And, false again. The city’s ordinance provides for a discretionary fine of $100 to $1000 per instance — not per day. And that’s providing someone files a complaint and the City finds them guilty. None of which has happened.

“The Knapps say they’ll shut down their business first.”

Also, false. The Knapps earlier this year said that, but now they’re fighting.

“The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a federal lawsuit on their behalf. The city claims they don’t deserve a religious exemption because they’re a for-profit business.”

False.

“Here’s my question: how many pastors accept payment for performing weddings? Because if you do, you’re next.”

And, false.

Here’s what the City of Coeur d’Alene wrote on their Facebook page after the religious right attacked them.

“The city of Coeur d’Alene has been contacted by a huge volume of people inquiring about our anti-discrimination ordinance, passed in 2013 by the City Council. These contacts have been a reaction to a lawsuit filed by the owners of a local marriage chapel, the Hitching Post, which claims the city has taken inappropriate action against their business for their decision to not perform same-sex marriages. In fact, the city has received no complaints about the Hitching Post and we have never threatened them. If we did get a complaint we would investigate it like any other complaint to determine if there is a legitimate violation of a city code. If we investigate it and determine that they fall within our exemption for religious corporations, we would not pursue it further because they would be exempt.

[Bolding mine]

Further, City of Coeur d’Alene spokesperson Keith Erickson made clear that the City has “never threatened to jail them, or take legal action of any kind.”

Mike Huckabee calls gay people bullies.  

Who’s the bully here? 

No gay person who has filed no complaint against ministers who don’t want to marry gay people?

Or a man who uses the might of his decades in public life, a Fox News TV show, and a Facebook page filled with 1,618,896 fans to attack a tiny Idaho town of about 45,000 people?

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr

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News

‘Start the Kevin McCarthy Death-Clock’ After Biden Wins Debt Ceiling Battle: Rick Wilson

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Appearing late Saturday night on MSNBC after it was announced that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had reached an agreement “in principle’ on a budget deal, former GOP strategist Rick Wilson claimed this could be the beginning of the end for McCathy’s speakership.

Sitting in on a panel with guest host Michael Steele, Wilson suggested that McCarthy’s decision to compromise with the president to avoid a default that would spin the economy into chaos will not go over well with far-right members of his House caucus who could make a motion to “vacate the chair” to express their displeasure.

Asked by host Steel about what comes next, Wilson stated it was a win for the White House which will not make conservatives happy.

RELATED: ‘Crazy cuckoo MAGA people’ could sink debt ceiling deal: Dem strategist

“Great night for Joe Biden, great night for the White House even though I think their messaging has been kind of tentative the past few weeks” the Lincoln Project founder began. “I think though we are now going to start the Kevin McCarthy death-clock. He has certainly got a very angry part of his caucus tonight who probably burning up his phone no matter how good it is for the country not to default.”

“It’s not going to please the chaos caucus in the GOP,” he added.

Watch below or at the link:

 

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News

Debt Ceiling: McCarthy Faces ‘Lingering Anger’ and a Possible Revolt as Far-Right House Members Start Issuing Threats

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As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) continues to negotiate a deal to avoid a debt crisis, members of the far-right Freedom Caucus are growing furious with him over broken promises he made to them.

According to MSNBC political analyst Steve Benen, with a slim GOP majority in the House, McCarthy is walking a tightrope to get a budget deal passed and may need help from House Democrats if members of his caucus refuse to go along with him.

As Benen points out, in order to win the speakership McCarthy agreed to an easier path for a motion to “vacate the chair” which could end his tenure as Speaker. That could come into play if the Freedom Caucus stages a revolt.

“… as the negotiations approach an apparent finish line, the House Republicans’ most radical faction is learning that it isn’t likely to get everything its members demanded — and for the Freedom Caucus, that’s not going to work,” he wrote in his MSNBC column.

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Citing a Washington Times report that stated, “[Freedom Caucus members] want everything from the debt limit bill passed by the House last month plus several new concessions from the White House,” Benen suggested far-right House Republicans are now issuing veiled threats.

In an interview, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) stated, “I am going to have to go have some blunt conversations with my colleagues and the leadership team. I don’t like the direction they are headed.”

With Politico reporting, “The [House Freedom Caucus] was already unlikely to support a final bipartisan deal, but lingering anger with Kevin McCarthy could have lasting implications on his speakership,” Benen added, “If this is simply a matter of lingering ill-will from members who come to believe that GOP leaders ‘caved,’ the practical consequences might be limited. But let’s also not forget that McCarthy, while begging his own members for their support during his protracted fight for the speaker’s gavel, agreed to tweak the motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules, which at least in theory, would make it easier for angry House Republicans to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.”

Adding the caveat that he is not predicting an imminent McCarthy ouster he added, “But if the scope of the Freedom Caucus’ discontent reaches a fever pitch, a hypothetical deal clears thanks to significant Democratic support, don’t be surprised if we all start hearing the phrase ‘vacate the chair” a lot more frequently.”

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BREAKING NEWS

Prosecutors Tell Trump They Have a Recording of Him and a Witness: Report

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Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial have notified the ex-president’s attorneys they have a recording of him and a witness. The notification comes in the form of an automatic discovery form, CBS News reports, which “describes the nature of the charges against a defendant and a broad overview of the evidence that prosecutors will present at Trump’s preliminary hearing or at trial.”

CBS reports prosecutors have handed the recording over to Trump’s legal team.

It’s not known who the witness is, nor are any details known publicly about what the conversation entails, or even if it is just audio or if it includes video.

READ MORE: ‘Likely to Be Indicted Soon’: Trump Might Face Seven Different Felonies, Government Watchdog Says

According to the article’s author, CBS News’ Graham Kates, via Twitter, prosecutors say they also have recordings between two witnesses, a recording between a witness and a third party, and various recordings saved on a witness’s cell phones.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case related to his allegedly unlawful attempt to hide hush money payoffs to a well-known porn star by falsifying business records to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.

See the discovery form above or at this link.

Image via Shutterstock

 

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