Rep. Virginia Foxx in a Homophobic YouTube Moment

Meet Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) who spoke today during the debate over the Matthew Shepard Act -- the federal hate crimes bill that passed the US House of Representatives 249-175-11 (yea-nay-no vote or abstained).

Ms. Foxx had her very own special YouTube moment during the debate when she said the following:

“I also would like to point out that there was a bill -- the hate crimes bill that's called the Matthew Shepard bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn't because he was gay."

She added: "This -- the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."

This was said, btw, whilst Judy Shepard was in the room. Real nice.

To their credit, this is what the Democratic response was:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), who supports the hate crimes bill, stared in disbelief before answering a question about the statement.

"It's just sad the Republican caucus has been reduced such a fringe," she said. "It's sad they would go out of their way to prevent people from getting justice."

And, so, I started to wonder, where the hell would she get an idea like this? Thank god for all of us, Ms. Foxx twitters, a fact which, btw, has not escaped the LGBT activists on the web, and a fact that she may come to regret in the morning... regardless, her tweet sends us to the speech of one Don Feder, from the Jewish World Review, who enlightens us on the wonderment that is the anti-hate crime point of view:

Take the 1998 homicide of Matthew Shepard. Was Shepard murdered because he was a homosexual? Possibly. But it's equally plausible that he died because his murderers wanted drug money, and Shepard (weighing in at 105 pounds) was an easy mark. According to a 2004 report by ABC's "20/20," that's what many close to the case believe.

Well, I'm glad that's off our chest. Although, it sends a chilling tone about future robberies... apparently, it's common practice for robbers to pick up gay men in bars, drive them around, beat them, and then tie them to a fence post a la the crucifixion. Remember, kids: carry a gun or this, too, could happen to you in a simply mugging (I have a sneaking suspicion Ms. Foxx is also a fan of the NRA, unconfirmed, so she would like the sentiment).

Of course, that side would have to ignore the queer panic defense...

So, Ms. Foxx, today I give you a special present:

For being just so-gosh-darn-special. But, you know, at least this little YouTube clip will put you up there with the likes of, oh, I don't know, Marilyn Musgrove, Sally Kern, and Jean Schmidt. And we all know how wonderful those women are.

As for the remainder of Don Feder's article, I'll say this: the majority of it is a mass of slippery slope, "end of the First Amendment" argument that we've become used to. I'm sure I've said this before, but, if not, it bears repeating: freedom of speech does not include freedom to rape, assault, or kill. And, yes, we do consider intent in murders... self defense, what?

Thanks to Glenn Thrush at Politico for the quotes.

Krikorian Announces for OH-2

Bizzarest story ever. Is he Dem? Is he Rep? Is he Independent.

Apparently David Krikorian, Independent candidate from 2008 for OH-2 against Mean Jean Schmidt and Vic Wulsin, has annouced that he will be running again as a Democrat.

From Cincinnati.com:

Krikorian said he had strong support running as an Independent in 2008 against Democrat Victoria Wulsin and Incumbent Republican Jean Schmidt. He earned about 18 percent of the vote. But without the backing of one of the parties, he said it will be nearly impossible to win in 2010, he said.

"It's like you're at a basketball game looking at the players and saying 'I’m as good as any player out there but I can’t even sit on the bench because I don’t have the uniform,'" said Krikorian.

Krikorian said he spent the past few months "talking to Democratic and Republican leaders across the spectrum and the response was very strong from both sides of the aisle." In the end he decided to seek the Democratic nomination. He likely didn't get very far with Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou though. The GOP head has no kind words for Krikorian and actually had him kicked out of a Republican meeting.Meanwhile, Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke said he was "shocked" when Krikorian called him this morning to give him a heads up on the announcement.
"David was in to see me a couple weeks ago. It was clear he was thinking in this direction. It's always good to see people come back into the Democratic Party, but he's going to have some fence mending to do," said Burke.

Check out his election page.

I wonder if Vic will run this time? I kinda hope not, but Krikorian creeps me out -- he tried some dirty tactics against Wulsin last time around. Maybe he'll do the same for Schmidt. But that doesn't make it right.

Election 2010: A Preview

Though not as sexy as a Presidential election year, 2010 promises to have its own drama involved, not the least due to people like Janet Neopalitano, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Rod Blagojevich leaving their posts with interims to be re-elected in 2010.

Let's look at the election of 2010:

• 35 of the 100 Senators will be up for election this round, including interim reelections in Colorado (Sen. Ken Salazar is becoming the Secretary of the Interior) and New York (Sen. Hillary Clinton is becoming the Secretary of State). This will also include Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who is likely to face off against Gov. Sarah Palin in expectation of either a 2012 or 2016 Presidential bid (if she's smart, she'll hold off until 2016 and 6 years in the Senate to make an honest bid). Ohio's former Governor and current two-term Senator, George Voinovich, is also up for his third term.
• There are 36 gubernatorial races. This is fun because some power players will be term-limited, including: Bill Richardson (D-NM), Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS, rumor has it she will run for Senate, and retiring Senator Brownback will run for Governor, thus merely reversing the two roles), Jennifer Granholm (D-MI), Ed Rendell (D-PA), Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA, who is rumored to want to run for Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat), Sarah Palin (R-AK), and Mark Sanford (R-SC, who is rumored to be on the short list of people they want to move up the Republican hierarchy). Our own popular Gov. Strickland is also up for reelection, with rumors of lightly tainted Rep. Rob Portman running against him.
• The House elections are more difficult to talk about, as there are 435 of them. But, DCCC Chair Van Hollen feels that upwards of 70 Democrats are vulnerable.

How does this play in Ohio? Let's look at the ones we know are going to be fun here at home:

Governor Race -- Ted Strickland (D, i) v. Unknown (R)

Strickland is still very popular for a swing state Governor in the rust belt -- as recently as December, 54% of the populace approved of the job he was doing. That's pretty good. He stayed out of the election, for the most part, except for a little bit of talk about whether he would be a VP candidate to which he responded: "Absolutely not. If drafted I will not run, nominated I will not accept and if elected I will not serve. " That's pretty emphatic, and I know it impressed me. He's been pretty "up" on serving Ohio, and it seems that he's happy and good at the job.

I suspect that Strickland's fate is tied to two major points:

1. The success of Barack Obama.
2. The reorganization of the Republican party.

If Barack performs adequately or well, and things start to show mild improvement, I think Strickland will be a shoo-in. On the other hand, if Obama starts to falter or things aren't looking better, I think Strickland will be an easy target. On the flip side, if the Republicans get their act together, and they field a really strong candidate (not a joke like Ken Blackwell), or if they do something amazing like the 1994 Contract With America, then I think Strickland could, at the very least, face some difficult competition.

Former 2nd Congressional District Representative and White House budget director Rob Portman is thinking about a run for the Governor's mansion. (And Wikipedia, though it's uncited, says former 12th Congressional District Representative John Kasich is a possible contender... though that seems like a weak choice because he doesn't have the statewide name, though he served for 18 years.)

Senatorial Race -- George Voinovich (R, i) vs. Unknown (D)

As of now, it looks like George Voinovich is planning on running and not retiring, though there were some rumors (the man is 74 years old). Otherwise, Rob Portman was one they were pointing to as a possible candidate for the Republicans. Unlike Strickland, Voinovich is very much at risk for being "offed." He's definitely a target, considering the Democratic swings in 2008. With Ohio going blue for Obama, and strong Republican incumbents like Chabot being knocked out, it is likely that the Democrats will target Voinovich as an easy pick off.

And there is no shortage of people willing to take him on, it seems. The "Democratic bench" is heavy, and Public Policy Polling has surveyed a few over the last few months to see how they would match up. It does not look good, as GV only enjoys a 30% approval rating, with only 37% of his own party approving. The match-ups, then, look like this:

Voinovich - 38% vs. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher - 40%

Voinovich - 42% vs. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson - 32%

Voinovich - 38% vs. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner - 42%

Voinovich - 39% vs. Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman - 37%

Voinovich - 33% vs. Rep. Tim Ryan (17th CD) -- 33% (TIE)

Voinovich - 37% vs. Rep. Betty Sutton (13th CD) - 32%

At this point, the only definitive person he blows out of the water is Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. And there are a lot of people missing on that list -- including popular Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory (though there's one huge skeleton in the closet that would come out, I think, in a brutal Senatorial race). Mind you, this is two years back, and it all still hinges on the success of Barack Obama and the Republican leadership.

The exciting part, if a woman wins (and I'm rooting for Jennifer Brunner, btw, though Tim Ryan is cute cute cute), it would be the first female Senator from the state of Ohio.

---

Electoral-vote.com lists two Ohio Represenative races as "hot" this time around, and I tend to agree:

Ohio's First Congressional District - Steve Driehaus (D, i) vs. Unknown (R)

Driehaus knocked off Chabot by a measly 2 points. It would be a good fight, again. But who would they get to run? Perhaps Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine?

Ohio's 15th Congressional District - Mary Jo Kilroy (D, i) vs. Unknown (R)

Kilroy beat Stivers by 0.8% in a strongly Republican district. It's likely to be a hot spot.

Oh, and something I'll add to the predictions...

Ohio's 2nd Congressional District -- Jean Schmidt (R, i) vs. Unknown (D)

And they better not pick Vic Wulsin again. The woman cannot win an election. Sorry, Vic, we love you.

ELECTION 2008: ENDORSEMENT: Vic Wulsin for OH-2

Second endorsement...



QueerCincinnati.com is throwing its hat behind Dr. Victoria Wulsin for OH-2, even though I can't vote for her :-).

Why? Because she knows what the hell is up with our issues. Jean Schmidt has repeatedly proven that she has no idea what the world is about, and she's bad on a lot of the issues that we care about.

It would be easy for people to say "oh, you like her because she's a Dem and they told you to like her." Granted, that's true. And, granted, she's been marked as part of the DCCC's red-to-blue program, but let me get a little bit of information out there: before she became political, Wulsin was active in Cincinnati's HIV/AIDS prevention community. She used to sit on the Cincinnati Regional Advisory Group, a small meeting of local prevention providers (ranging from the insane 4CHARIS/SARA-IRP faithbased organization to STOP AIDS to the UC Early Intervention Program to Planned Parenthood). Also, granted, a lot of people who sat on that crew thought she was a little outspoken.

But, really, I'd rather have a loud, proud, in-charge woman who is outspoken on the right things than Jean Schmidt, who is a loud, proud idiot with nothing but her own selfish interests at heart.

I'm all for Vic. I've met her personally and I know she's good with us.

How many people can honestly say they know Jean Schmidt?

PS On the whole malariotherapy thing -- first off, she didn't do any experiments; her involvement seems to be limited to reviewing the information. Also, in a world where we have no way to cure HIV/AIDS, isn't it important that we at least look at the evidence? Malariotherapy was proven bunk, but so have a lot of things in the HIV/AIDS crisis -- are you going to hold everybody accountable just because something they looked into, either professionally or on the side, was proven wrong? Really.