We have another scandal. Yes, another scandal involving a well-known leader and gay sex. This one, according to Andrew Sullivan, the conservative writer who at one time was a George Bush supporter, is bigger than Foleygate. Seems there are some prominent opponents of same-sex marriage engaging in same-sex sex.
Ted Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, has resigned, following allegations that he paid escort Mike Jones for sex. Jones decided to out Haggard after he realized the minister was a hypocrite who denounced gay marriage. Haggard has confessed to buying methamphetamines and receiving a massage from Jones but continues to deny having sex with the man, claiming to be "steady" with his wife. He is also saying he was "curious" about the drug but didn't use it. Right! Anybody thinking, "I didn't inhale?" Anybody thinking, "Depends on the definition of massage?"
Haggard has been a staunch defender of marriage as the union between a man and a woman. After Massachusetts legalized gay marriage, he worked to organize state-by-state opposition to same-sex marriage. But during this time, Jones said that he and Haggard, who paid him for sex, were having tryst after tryst.
the above is from missy comley beattie's 'The Medium is the Massage' (counterpunch) that c.i. passed on because i was planning to write about this topic. i think mcb sets it up but if you missed the update, he's now admitted to sexual relations.
what interested me about the story, besides the hypocrisy, was how it played out last week. on thursday, haggard was denying it all. by friday, he was denying sexual relations (and people were saying they were false accusation that were 'political') but admitted he bought drugs - once! - but did not use them because he felt bad.
i found that really interesting. he was denying a sexual relationship but copping to a crime (buying illegal drugs is a crime whether you use them or not). that really tells you how screwed up sexually our society is.
at that point, he clearly had no interest in being honest. he was still denying the sex. (which the outer said was paid for but haggerty could have finessed that.) but he was willing to admit to the illegal purchase of the drugs.
when he was in save-your-own-ass mode, he would admit to breaking the law, and not just any law in a nation with a never-ending-war-on-drugs.
is haggerd gay? who knows. he may just be bisexual. but the reality is he confessed to a crime that results in hard time while denying sexuality.
that's a sign of how screwed up our country is.
he's getting sex on the side because he can't admit what he wants. he gets caught and cops to drugs.
it's a bit like mark foley admitting he had an alcohol problem before he could admit he was gay.
and, if you think about it, the refusal to admit reality is a very basic problem. haggered couldn't admit his reality. there are still some americans who can't admit the reality of the illegal war.
they want kyle snyder on the cross. they talk about how 'deserters are shot' and other b.s.
bully boy? he gets off with a pass.
kyle snyder said no to illegal war. bully boy started the illegal war. even if they think kyle snyder's wrong to check out, you'd think they'd have a sense of proportion.
but they don't and they can't because they're lying to themselves the same way that haggerd did. they're kidding themselves that their uber, if not super, patriots and if they really cared so much about this country, they'd address the reality of how the illegal war has hurt this country (and iraq, and the whole world due to the unrest).
it's easier for them to lie to themselves. like haggered did during the 3 years he was having sex with a man. (while doing the 'gays are bad' talk and noting that it says so 'in the bible!')
if we could all show a little reflection, a little honesty, would we be in this war?
what's bully boy lying to himself about?
clearly, he's lying to himself about 'winning' the war. (or else he's lying to the american people.)
why is that lie so important?
because he's staked his legacy on it?
maybe. but he lied us into war, cooked the intel, bombed in 2002 hoping to force saddam hussein's hand.
what is it that he couldn't admit?
hagger and bully boy were friends. in better times. the white house is in denial mode now. claiming he was 1 of many. in better times, haggered would brag about how he spoke to bully boy each monday.
the government of canada's lying to itself as well. they know the illegal war is wrong, that's why they won't participate in it. but sunday they refused to grant asylum to war resister joshua key.
what lie are they telling themselves? how do they reconcile knowing that the war is illegal but not providing a haven to those who say 'no' because the war is illegal?
a lot of self-lying going on.
lying in the democratic party as well. alexander cockburn's 'The Message of Campaign 2006' is a must read and here's a taste of it:
Does McCain's latest statement Iraq--a call for 20,000 fresh U.S. troops to be sent there--square with the Democrats' position on the war? The answer to this is of course that the Democrats don't have a position on the war beyond the de facto one of trying to make sure no peacenik candidates slipped past the guard post supervised by Rahm Emanuel, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
As is the case with the American people overall, the majority of ordinary Democrats want US forces leave to quit Iraq in the immediate or relatively near future. This was not the posture of Democratic candidates approved by Emanuel, particularly in tight races. Most of them have talked about withdrawal as a matter of many months. The Democratic leadership would sign onto a McCain beef-up plan in minutes, flailing away at Bush for the next two years for losing the war. For the left position we'll probably have to wait for the commission headed by James Baker or a mutiny by the generals, aware--just as they told Rep John Murtha this time last year--that the war is a bust and it's time to quit Iraq.
Campaign 2006 has shown us clearly enough that about the outer limit of popular sanction is the ability to lodge a formal protest on Election Day. Such protest can only have actual consequences in the very few remaining congressional districts not gerrymandered into permanent incumbency or rotted out with vote fraud. Mostly the voters seem to have felt that both parties are pretty awful, but as the outfit that's been running the country without opposition for six years the Republicans deserve to get a kick in the pants.
The fact that this protest is purely formal is attested by the adamant refusal of the Democrats to offer anything by way of a substantive alternative, beyond saying Bush is an incompetent fellow. Indeed, the substantive effect of Campaign 2006 has been to state in terms plain enough for a simpleton to understand, that resistance is futile, since both Republicans and Democrats agree that the Bill of Rights is a dead letter and that wars must go on, and jobs to disappear, despite overwhelming popular disagreement with such policies.
closing with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'
Monday, November 6, 2006. Chaos and violence continue in Iraq, a US war resister is denied refugee status in Canada while another remains 'underground,' and as this and more fails to get coverage, we're all supposed to pretend that a verdict will bring about that long promised 'turned corner.' Operation Happy Talk -- remember wave breaking takes places in shallow water as well as deep. For examples of the former, pick up any daily paper today.
On Sunday, Tom Godfrey (Toronto Sun) broke the news that the Canadian government had denied refugee status to US war resister Tom Godfrey. Joshua Key became the third war resister denied asylum by the Canadian government. The two who came before, Jeremy Hinzman and Brandon Hughey, are still awaiting word of their appeal.
Key's case was seen as the strongest of the three due to what Key saw while serving in Iraq. One example can be found in Michelle Mason's documentary Breaking Ranks, where Johsua Key states: "As we got down the Euphrates River and we took a sharp right turn , all we seen was heads and bodies. And American troops in the middle of them saying 'we lost it.' As soon as I stepped and I walked out the back of my APC, I seen two American soldier kicking the head around like a soccer ball. I stepped right back inside the tank and I told my squad leader . . . 'I won't have no part of this'."
In December 2003, Joshua Key returned from Iraq on leave and decided to self-check out. He, Brandi Key (his wife) and their children moved to Philadelphia where they lived 'underground' with Joshua doing welding jobs and Brandi waiting tables. The story of Jeremy Hinzman's war resistance was something Joshua Key learned of online. In March of 2005, the Key family crossed the border into Candada where Joshua, Brandi and their four children have have made their home since.
Tom Godfrey (Toronto Sun) notes that Jeffrey House, the attorney for Joshua Key, states he's "filed refugee claims in Canada" for "[a]t least 35" war resisters. None have yet to be awarded refugee status by the Canadian government which is in stark contrast to the Vietnam era. House tells Godfrey that he believes Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board "doesn't want to hurt relationships with the U.S. by granting refugee status to deserters".
Information on war resistance within the military can be found at Center on Conscience & War, The Objector, The G.I. Rights Hotline, and the War Resisters Support Campaign. Courage to Resist offers information on all public war resisters.
Joshua Key, in his own words (France's Le Monde translated by New Socialist):
My name is Joshua Key. I was born in 1978 in Guthrie, in central Oklahoma. My family worked on a ranch. We had a hard time making ends meet, but I loved the outdoor life, amongs cowboys, and where we didn't have to wear shoes until we started school. I married Brandi after high school. We were the same age, and from the same background. I dreamt of becoming a welder, but I didn't have money for school. So I looked for work doing anything. But there was no future in Guthrie, which has no industry. We went to Wisconsin, then returned, as we found nothing. Our future seemed dim, and we already had two children. It was then I met the recruiters from the Army. It was February, 2002. They knew how to talk to me, that's for sure!
On the topic of military talk, Kyle Snyder remains 'underground.' Last Tuesday, US war resister Kyle Snyder turned himself in at Fort Knox after self-checking out and moving to Canada in April of 2005. Jim Fennerty, Synder's attorney, worked out an agreement regarding Snyder's return with the US military. Fennerty had done similar negotiations for war resister Darrell Anderson when he returned to the United States.
While Darrell Anderson had a Purple Heart and family members who would be actively and strongly making their voices heard, Kyle Snyder grew up in foster-care and appeared to have less of a support network than Anderson. Courage to Resist is asking supporters to call 502-624-2707 to speak to Major General Robert M. Williams and tell him "Discharge Kyle Snyder!" In addition, Brett Barroquere (AP) reported on the reaction in Canada to the US military burning Synder yet again and notes that war resisters Corey Glass and Patrick Hart have no faith currently in their own fates should they return.
Last Friday, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez (Democracy Now!) interviewed Kyle Snyder who explained: "I had jointed the military October 22, 2003, and I had originally joined for basically, the verbal promises that were given to me at the time then, too. I was 19 years old." When the verbal promises were again broken last week, Kyle Snyder self-checked out again. Snyder, Hinzman, Key, Anderson, Glass, Hart and Hughey are part of a movement of war resistance within the US military that also includes Camilo Mejia, Pablo Paredes, Carl Webb, Stephen Funk, Aidan Delgado, Ricky Clousing, Mark Wilkerson, Ivan Brobeck, Robin Long, Ryan Johnson, Clifford Cornell, Katherine Jashniski, Agustin Aguayo and Kevin Benderman.
While the US government fights war resisters, AP notes the rumors tha Zalmay Khalilzad, US ambassador to Iraq, may be pulling his own self-checkout according to an unnamed White House official. Possibly the White House had to drop the ignorant 'stay the course' motto because of the high turnover at the top?
In Iraq, Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) surveys the chaos and violence and notes: "Iraq has not been this bad in decades. The occupation is a failure. The various pro-American, pro-Iranian Iraqi governments are failures. The new Iraqi army is a deadly joke. Is it really time to turn Saddam into a martyr? Things are so bad that even pro-occupation Iraqis are going back on their initial 'WE LOVE AMERICA' frenzy. Laith Kubba (a.k.a. Mr Catfish for his big mouth and constant look of stupidity) was recently on the BBC saying that this was just the beginning of justice, that people responsible for the taking of lives today should also be brought to justice. He seems to have forgotten he was one of the supporters of the war and occupation, and an important member of one of the murderious pro-American governments. But history shall not forget Mr. Kubba."
Riverbend notes the shutting down of two Iraqi TV stations. Al Jazeera reports: "Iraq's interior ministry has ordered two televesion stations off the air" on charges of 'inciting violence.' In July, that was a popular talking point for the puppet of the occupation, Nouri al-Maliki. As noted last night: "That's the four-part 'plan' that you don't hear much about, that you never heard much about other than empty praise and the first two-parts. One of the 'steps' was curtailing press freedom. You didn't hear much about that because it's kind of hard to pass the lie of 'democracy' off at the same time Nouri al-Maliki's going to destroying the press."
As all outlets cover the topic of the day, the reality of life in Iraq goes little noted. Some of the small reporting coming out of Iraq includes the following.
Bombings?
AFP reports that a bus bombing killed two people and left ten more wounded. AP reports a mortar attack in Baghdad with "no immediate reports of damage or casualties." New Zealand's Newswire reports that, in Baghdad, "mortar rounds slammed into areas around Baghdad's Green Zone".
Shootings?
In Amil, AP notes, three people were wounded. Borzou Daragahi (Los Angelse Times) reports that two firefighters were shot dead in Baghdad.
Corpses?
On today's KPFA's The Morning Show, Alieen Alfandary noted that "the bodies of 50 murder victims were discovered yesterday, the bulk of them in Baghdad."
In other news of violence, the US military has announced five deaths today bringing the total US military deaths in Iraq to 18 for the month thus far. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count places the death toll for US troops in Iraq since the start of the illegal war at 2836.
Meanwhile AP reports on "Desert Crossing" -- a series of war games by the US government ("70 military, diplomatic and intelligence officals") in 1999 which found that a war in Iraq "would require 400,000 troops, and even then chaose might ensue." No word yet on if or when the aspect of starting an illegal war might cause chaos was also commissioned.
In deployment news, Friday's snapshot noted Jamie McIntrye (CNN) reporting that convicted prisoner abuser (for Abu Ghraib) Santos Cardona was being redeployed to Kuwait. On Saturday, Reuters reported that press attention had been followed by the announcement, by the military, that Cardona "would return to his base at Fort Bragg, N.C. The Army offered no explanation as to why Mr. Cardona's unit commanders had plan to deploy him, given his record in Iraq."
In peace news, Jenna Russell (Boston Globe) notes that a number of anti-war vets are gearing up for the Veterans Day Paradeparade seasons including Members of Veterans for Peace in Portland (ME) and Veterans for Peace in Machester (NH) and quotes Doug Rawlings: "War is not just flags flying and people in uniform. The reality is, death and destruction go along with it. We're tired of the pagenatry glorifying war." Remember that as a Veteran's Day offfering, David Zeiger's documentary Sir! No Sir! is available on DVD at the discounted price of $14.95. That's a limited time offer. The amazing documentary documents the war resistance within the military during the Vietnam era. How powerful is the documentary? Henry Kissiner should declare: "See this film! It changed my life! After one viewing, I confessed to international war crimes!"
In other peace news, historian Howard Zinn spoke with Andrea Lewis and Philip Maldari on today's KPFA's The Morning Show and he noted that, regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's elections, his hope was that Americans were waking up: "I have no doubt that the Bush administration and the Bush program, they're on their way down and I hope the American people are waking up." Zinn and Anthony Arnove's Voices of a People's History of the United States will be presented this Thursday at 7:30 pm, Berkeley Community Theatre (1930 Allston Way) and participants will include Alice Walker, Mos Def and others.
And Ehren Watada's father, Bob Watada, and his step-mother, Rosa Sakanishi, continue their speaking tour to raise awareness on Ehren -- the first commissioned officer to refuse to deploy to Iraq. Upcoming dates include:
Nov 6, 2-4:30PMBoston, MALocation: University of Massachusetts/BostonSponsor: The Institute for Asian American StudiesWilliam Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social ConsequenceTime: 2-4:30 pm
Nov 6, 7PM Worcester, MA. Location: Clark University – University Building, Lurie Room Sponsors: Veterans For Peace Chapter 10 Contact: Bob Flanagan, 508-755-1479, IrishBob54@aol.comNov 7, 4:30PM Portland, ME Location: Meditation Center Sponsor: Veterans for Peace, Chapter 1 Contact: Doug Rawlings, 207-293-2580, rawlings@maine.edu,
Nov. 7, 6-9PM Brunswick, ME Location: Morrill Room, Curtis Memorial Library, 23 Pleasant Street Pot luck supper and speaking engagement Time: 6 - 7:30pm
Nov 8, 7PM Albany, NY Sponsor: VFP National Location: TBAContact: Elliot Adams, 518-441-2697, elliottadams@juno.com
Nov 9, TBA Philadelphia, PA. Location: Annenberg School of Communication, Penn University, Room 109 Sponsors: Iraq Veterans Against the War, Delaware Valley Veterans for America, Military Families Speak Out, Gold Star MothersContact: Bill Perry, 215-945-3350, BpVetforPeace@aol.comNov 10, 7:30PM New York City, NY Location: St. Paul/St. Andrews Methodist Church West End Avenue and West 86th Streets, Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.netGeorge McAnanama, gmacan@aol.comNov 11, 11AM-5PM New York City, NY Veterans Day Parade Sponsor: NYC Area Chapters of VFP & IVAW Contact: Thomas Brinson, 631-889-0203, ltbrin@earthlink.netNov 12, TBA Long Island, NY TBANov 13, 7PM Ann Arbor, MI "The Ground Truth" and Bob Watada Location: TBA Sponsors: Michigan Peace Works http://michiganpeaceworks.org,Contact: Phillis Engelbert, 734-761-5922, philliseng@yahoo.com
