June 30, 2015

Trump Keeps Beating The Anti-Mexico Drum: 'They're Killing Us At The Border!'

Presidential candidate and (former) reality-TV star Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to rail against Mexico even after NBC-Universal severed business with him for his comments on Mexican immigrants.

Firing off a pair of tweets early in the morning, Trump restated his hard line against Mexico ("not our friend&quot while making sure to add, "I love the Mexican people." He complained of the country is "killing us" on the US border and gobbling up American jobs.

Trump's remarks calling immigrants "rapists" and drug dealers during his presidential announcement speech have defined most of the buzz around his candidacy so far.

First, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision severed its ties with Trump on Thursday, saying it was pulling the plug on its broadcast of his Miss USA pageant, prompting Trump to threaten a lawsuit.

On Monday, NBC, which produced Trump's reality-TV vehicle "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice," announced it too would be dropping Trump due to his "derogatory statements" about immigrants. That included his Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-mexico-killing-border

June 30, 2015

KKK Chapter To Hold Confederate Flag Rally On S.C. Capitol Grounds

The Ku Klux Klan will hold a protest on the South Carolina capitol grounds over the state's decision to consider removing the Confederate flag, the Post and Courier reported.

Brian Gaines, a spokesman for the South Carolina Budget and Control Board, confirmed to Politico that the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, which is based in Pelham, N.C., reserved the capitol grounds in Columbia on July 18 from 3 to 5 p.m. for the rally. Gaines said that the capitol allows all groups to reserve the grounds for events, regardless of ideology.

The chapter's grand titan, James Spears, told Politico that the group will protest "the Confederate flag being took down for all the wrong reasons."

"It’s part of white people’s culture," Spears said.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kkk-protest-confederate-flag-south-carolina

June 30, 2015

Girl Scouts returns $100,000 after donor demands that it ‘not be used to support transgender girls’

Gil Scouts of Western Washington CEO Megan Ferland said that she decided to return a $100,000 donation after the donor wanted a guarantee that the money would not help transgender girls.

In an interview with Seattle Met, Ferland explained that her organization was thrilled when it received the gift representing a quarter of its annual fundraising because it could cover the cost of sending 500 girls to camp.

But after Caitlyn Jenner announced her transition to a woman in May, Ferland said that the donor sent her a distressing request.

“Please guarantee that our gift will not be used to support transgender girls. If you can’t, please return the money,” the donor wrote.

Ferland recalled that the letter made her “very sad,” but she quickly made up her mind that the money had to be returned.

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http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/girl-scouts-returns-100000-after-donor-demands-that-it-not-be-used-to-support-transgender-girls/

June 30, 2015

Idaho county clerk threatens to marry her dog after Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage

A county clerk in Sioux Falls, Idaho was overheard saying that she was so disgusted after the Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage that she was “just going to marry my dog.”

Ellee Spawn told KSFY that she was waiting in line at the Minnehaha County treasurer’s office when one of the clerks made the comment.

“I overheard a part of a conversation with a person in front of us and the clerk that was there, they were discussing the SCOTUS ruling from last week,” she explained.

“Her reaction to that was ‘well apparently I’m just going to marry my dog, because we can just marry whoever we want anymore,'” Spawn recalled. “It struck a cord; I thought that was wrong, you can’t compare bestiality with two consenting adults getting married — they’re not the same thing.”

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http://www.rawstory.com/2015/06/idaho-county-clerk-threatens-to-marry-her-dog-after-supreme-court-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/

June 30, 2015

Aryan Nations throws its support behind Dylann Roof

The notorious hate group has applauded the Charleston massacre and encouraged others to follow Roof's example

BILL MORLIN, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER

The Aryan Nations, whose messages of hate and white superiority have fueled violent crimes and domestic terrorism for decades, is applauding the murderous acts of accused racist killer Dylann Storm Roof.

Only hours after the 21-year-old was arrested for brutally shooting nine people at Charleston, South Carolina’s Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., Aryan Nations leader Morris Gulett offered praise and urged others to follow Roof’s example.

“I, for one, am very glad to see young people like Dylann Roof acting like men instead of the old 60’s era hippies stoned on weed and interracial love,” Gulett posted on his web site.

“We had better see much more of this type of activism if we ever expect to see our America return to it’s (sic) rightful place in the world and our children grow up in a clean safe healthy enviroment (sic),” Gulett wrote.

Other racists individually have offered support or praise for Roof in comments posted on a forum hosted by Stormfront, the world’s largest hate site.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/30/aryan_nations_throws_its_support_behind_dylann_roof_partner/

June 30, 2015

Ross Douthat is a clueless scold: How he just exposed the bankruptcy of conservatives’ anti-gay marr

Ross Douthat is a clueless scold: How he just exposed the bankruptcy of conservatives’ anti-gay marriage arguments

The New York Times scribe laments last week's marriage decision, with the usual hand-wringing & cherry-picked data

LUKE BRINKER

Does the dawn of nationwide marriage equality herald the triumph of a fundamentally conservative institution, or does it signal that institution’s erosion?

The answer, according to New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, is both. In his Sunday column, the Gray Lady’s resident social conservative identifies a great cultural irony: “While the conservative case for same-sex marriage triumphed in politics,” culminating in last week’s Supreme Court ruling for marriage equality, “the liberationist case against marriage’s centrality to human flourishing was winning in the wider culture,” Douthat writes. Without the latter development, he posits, the former would not have been possible.

Douthat’s argument — familiar to followers of social conservative thought — goes like this:

The traditional understanding [of marriage], which rested on sex difference, procreation, and real permanence, went into crisis in the 1960s and 1970s. But in the 1990s, when The Atlantic informed readers that “Dan Quayle Was Right” about unwed motherhood and today’s Democratic front-runner fretted about the costs of no-fault divorce, there were reasons to think that a kind of neo-traditionalism might still have purchase in America.

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http://www.salon.com/2015/06/30/ross_douthat_is_a_clueless_scold_how_he_just_exposed_the_bankruptcy_of_conservatives_anti_gay_marriage_arguments/

June 30, 2015

GOP declares war on the Supreme Court: What’s really behind the reactionary plot against the judicia

GOP declares war on the Supreme Court: What’s really behind the reactionary plot against the judiciary

There's some serious conservative rage to be leveraged right now, and Ted Cruz is leading the pandering contest

JIM NEWELL

My God, they are so mad. Isn’t it great? Scott Walker and Mike Huckabee are still talking up constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. Bobby Jindal is suggesting (jokingly) (???) that “if we want to save some money, let’s just get rid of the court.” And now Jeb Bush is in even more trouble with conservatives because his brother appointed John Roberts, who has now written a whole two (2) opinions over the course of 10 years that conservatives don’t care for.

But the candidate who’s most successfully leveraged apocalyptic conservative outrage to his advantage in the hey-look-at-me competition has been our main man, Ted Cruz.

Is Ted Cruz feeling a little … left behind? Here’s a fellow who gets the chills when the camera flash turns from him to anyone else. He declared his presidential candidacy more than three months ago, and in the meantime, a dozen other jokers bearing neither the lofty principles nor sharp, double-Ivied intellect of Ted Cruz have joined him in competition. The nerve of it all.

What the hell, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Donald Trump? How dare you vie for the mantle of most outlandish nutso person in your own desperate, doomed-to-fail bids? That’s Ted Cruz’s “lane.” Cruz’s whole thing is about serving as the principal vessel for the raging underbelly of American conservatism. He’s the one who is constantly trying to shut down the government and/or default on federal debt payments in the service of repealing some law or another that he doesn’t like. That’s his thing. Step off.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/30/gop_declares_war_on_the_supreme_court_whats_really_behind_the_reactionary_plot_against_the_judiciary/

June 30, 2015

O'Reilly Incensed By Rainbow White House Display After Gay Marriage Ruling

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was taken aback by the Obama administration's decision to light the White House in rainbow colors after the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.

"I was a bit surprised to see the White House doing a victory lap using actual White House property on Friday," O'Reilly said on Monday night. "The people’s house was illuminated in rainbow colors to celebrate the gay marriage decision. What about all the Americans who believe that a redefinition of marriage is not the job of the Supreme Court?"

O'Reilly said President Obama "did an 'in your face' to traditional Americans" with the White House display.

The Fox host also blasted comedian Stephen Colbert for mocking Justice Antonin Scalia's dissent in the gay marriage ruling. O'Reilly said Colbert "might want to think about alienating traditional Americans to the extent he has — it could be very bad for business."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bill-o-reilly-white-house-rainbow

June 30, 2015

Roy Moore Backtracks: Court Order Doesn't Stop Gay Marriage In Alabama

Source: TPM/The Auburn Plainsman

After causing confusion on Monday by stating that an Alabama Supreme Court order would stall gay marriage in the state for 25 days, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore walked back his statement.

"In no way does the order instruct probate judges of this State as to whether or not they should comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling," Moore said in a Monday statement clarifying his earlier remarks, according to The Auburn Plainsman.

On Monday, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order stating that the parties in the same-sex marriage case decided by the Supreme Court have 25 days to file a petition to rehear the case. Moore then told AL.com that the order keeps probate judges in Alabama from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples for 25 days.

Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow said on Monday that Moore's initial interpretation was incorrect. Moore later told AL.com that while the order does not prohibit probate judges from issuing gay marriage licenses, they will not be forced to issue the licenses in the next 25 days.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/roy-moore-bactracks-gay-marriage-order

June 30, 2015

Arkansas Clerk Will Resign To Avoid Issuing Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

A county clerk in Arkansas will resign on Tuesday due to a moral objection to issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, ArkansasOnline reported on Monday.

Dana Guffey, who served as a clerk in Cleburne County for 24 years, said that her decision to leave the post was not made out of hate, according to ArkansasOnline.

Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert (R) published a tweet on Sunday with the news that a clerk in the state would resign over the Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry.

Rapert said he would support clerks who refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples. "I encourage all political leaders of Arkansas and leaders in the faith community to rally around County Clerks who choose to refuse to comply with an unjust ruling that violates religious freedom and states rights," he wrote in a Sunday Facebook post. "I encourage all likeminded political leaders around the entire nation to do the same. We cannot sit idly by while 5 robed lawyers try to seize power from the states and the people."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/arkansas-clerk-resigns-gay-marriage