Something Is Seriously Wrong In Tennessee: School Board Member Fesses Up To "Good Ole Boys", Violence And Murder!

"They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed."

Just'a good ol' boys

Never meanin' no harm.

Beats all you never saw

Been in trouble with the law

Since the day they was born 

Staightnin' the curves

Flatnin the hills

Someday the mountain might get 'em

But the law never will 

lyrics - theme song - The Dukes Of Hazzard 

Daniel Thornton, a member of the Haywood County School District in Brownsville Tennessee has sent the most disturbing email to petitioners of the Dorothy Bond affair: an email so chilling that it may make him a target for the "good ole boy" network that he fears. 

Backtrack: last week, Wayne Besen and Truth Wins Out called for the termination of high school principal Dorothy Bond who warned gay students that they were "not in God's path." Although Bond resigned within hours of the fracas, the petition went through to members of the school board. The following was the email response Daniel Thornton sent to Truth Wins Out and other petitioners:

Mr. _____, Thank you for your email. I appreciate you taking the time to write about your concerns. Unfortunately, I don’t believe anything else will be done. Haywood County, Tennessee has many issues bigger than this and they haven’t been dealt with either. The good ole boy system is alive and well in our community and has created haven for the select to operate. Several have tried for a long time. They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed. I wanted to respond to your email so that you know it was received. I also wanted to give you more insight into our community.

Respectfully,
Daniel Thornton

The possibility of a hoax via hacked email exists, but so far, Thornton hasn't spoken out about it. I spoke with Wayne Besen, the recipient of the email, who feels that the email is genuine.

Nevertheless, "They leave, forced to shut up, or are killed" is too strong to be dismissed.* The shocking sentiment is there: Haywood County is still stuck in the violent era of blatant, violent racism and bigotry fueled by Right Wing Christof*scism.

"Every Child, Every Teacher, Every Community Deserves Excellence"

(motto on the Haywood County School District website)

Then again, Haywood still reflects much of what we have seen in Tennessee in the past months regarding gay teens and bullying: from the "Can't Say Gay" bill to a proposed bill protecting bullying on religious grounds, Tennessee has held its head high in bigotry. And while the teen suicide rate in Tennessee is (slightly) on the decline, the efforts of religious groups to keep "gay" out of the classroom are still virulent enough to overturn any inroads made in suicide prevention.




Beyond Gay Teen Suicide and Bullying
The Thornton email goes beyond the issue of teen suicide, bullying or overly righteous principals: the "good ole boy" network seems to be alive a well and such a network always impact a good many community areas. The subjects of racism and rampant political cronyism are definitely on the table. What further stories lay in the background, shading Haywood County's past are likely to make the County look more like a scene from "Deliverance" than from The Dukes of Hazzard. The implications of the email are no comedy.

The "good ole boy" network has national political implications as well: we all knew it was part and parcel of the George Bush legacy. And certainly know that New Gingrich is part of such a network: the network has been a substantial part of the GOP for more than half a decade. The extent to which is has been weakened may simply distract us and lull us to thinking that it no longer exists.

Tennessee has shown us that it exists. Maybe just as violently as it ever has. Which brings us to the man of the moment: Daniel Thornton. Research shows him to be a local realtor with a probable family history (the local airport is named Thornton Airport). Beyond that, who he is and if he indeed wrote the (now infamous) email will come to light within the next hours. Has he put his life and life of his family at risk?

Only Tennessee knows.

*If it hasn't already gone viral, hopefully, this article will help it to.

When Guns Become Godly: The Winning GOP Candidates, The Christian Right and the NRA.

https://publicfrenemy.wordpress.com/tag/jesus/

Two or three centuries from now it will be recognized that all the competent killers are Christians; then the pagan world will go to school to the Christian - not to acquire his religion, but his guns. 


- Young Satan, from Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger


From Joe.My.God:

The St. Gabriel Possenti Society has named GOP Sen. Mike Johanns (NE) as its "gun saint" of self-defense for his work to thwart gun control laws. In other news, there is a Patron Saint of Handgunners. Or will be, rather, if the Vatican approves the request of the Society.

A quick rundown of the GOP and Libertarian candidates running for President shows that all of the frontrunners except Romney have opposed gun control laws. On the other side, Obama supports the Second Amendment with a caveat about individual ownership:

“I think it’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally...  We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. 

OK, we all knew it existed, that strong link  between the NRA and the Christian Right, but has it gotten stronger? Let's put it this way: it's as strong as it ever was.

The Christian Right - NRA Link

Perhaps the most powerful visage of a strong link between the Christian Right and the NRA is that of Pastor ("Rome Is The Whore of Babylon") John Hagee. He is the headliner for Citizens United For Israel and is the most prominent Christian Zionist around. He came to prominence during the 2008 election as one of John McCain's questionable religious mentors (Rod Parsley being the other one of note). His insistence that Israel must the be spark of Armageddon has caused him to be both vilified and glorified - especially in NRA circles. 


So it may not be a surprise that the ties of the Christian Right and the NRA have gotten stronger since 2008. 


Michele Bachmman addressed the NRA's 2011 annual meeting with: 


“In 18 months, we’ll face one of the most important elections of our time. In 2012, we have the opportunity to repeal the current president and elect a Constitutional conservative who will protect our Second Amendment rights.”

Rick Perry drew cheers from a speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University when he was introduced by the chancellor:  “Today’s speaker also has an A+ rating, but it’s from the National Rifle Association.”


Newt Gingrich gave a speech to the NRA equating American exceptionalism, the Second Amendment and the "Creator's" God-given rights (see below at 3:57 mark). 


Recently, Rick Santorum used a 1994 of Mitt Romney's to underscore a certain amount of distance between Romney and the NRA. The quote "I don't stand in line with the NRA" was taken out of context during a different between Romney and Ted Kennedy concerning gun control laws, but was not a blanket denegration of the NRA.


The Problem With Mitt and Obama


Perhaps more than his Mormonism, Mitt Romney's support for gun control (ala the Brady Bill) has caused concern among the Christian Right: it seems that he flip-flops on his association with the NRA more than any other issue. For while he is an actual member of the NRA, he is strongly against private use of assault weapons and has worked with local gun groups in Massachusetts to restrict gun ownership. 


And the Christian Right/NRA crowd won't stand for even a tepid involvement in gun control:

While delivering one of the liveliest and best-received speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said the president's low-key approach to gun rights during his first term was "a "conspiracy to ensure re-election by lulling gun owners to sleep."

Will gun control become a major issue in the election? Probably not, but the Christian Right would like it to be: along with DOMA, the repeal of DADT, contraception and health care reform, gun control is a major "social conservative" issue. And if Romney wins the nomination, his support of the Brady Bill just may be another mark against him. 

Waiting for Armageddon

If the Rethuglican Party loses to any degree in November, the Christofascist Right will implode.


Right.


Rick Santorum will NEVER let that happen! He will go down in righteousness and anger and disgust at the thought of another Obama administration. He will definitely throw up!

On March 6th, Will The Rest Of The GOP Candidates Be Raptured?

The end of the world will not come if a Christian Right advocate does not win the race for President.
But tell that to the Christian Right.

With the religiosity that has covered the GOP presidential primary race, it's a wonder that the candidates have not formed a denomination of their own: the "I'm Christian, Dammit!" denomination. The pandering, the moralizing, the attacks on Obama's Christianity have given America a panoply of righteousness that has never been seen since Pat Robertson's bid for political legitimacy. Some people think it came to its peak with Santorum's "vomit" statement about JFK's speech concerning separation of church and state.

However, some people do not. Nor do they want it to peak. They certainly don't want it to die.

Rapturists believe that certain people will be bodily taken to heaven before the end of the world. So it stands to reason that if they think that the end of the world will come with the re-election of Obama or a non-quite-so-overtly-Christian politician, people will be raptured. Yes, I know that's a stretch in reasoning, but look who we're dealing with here:

And as the time line goes the book of Revelations says there will be 3 1/2 years of false peace before the end of the world. obama promised peace in the world. So if Obama is the anti- christ then the time-line would be june 2012. But it is all in God's hands now. - Yahoo Answers 2008
With all that is taking place in the Middle East, the stage is being set for that great day when we see Jesus in the clouds, and I believe it will be in my lifetime. Hallelujah! Are you ready to meet him in the air? If your sins are forgiven, you'll be among those who will be raptured. With all the horrors on this earth, He can't come too soon.
- Exposing Liberal Lies, June 11, 2011

Continuing The Fight For Domination
Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich and Santorum were the Christian Right's biggest pitch yet for political domination, yet even Herman Cain and Ron Paul got into the act.* And although Perry, Bachmann, and Cain are out of the running, their exit statements show no signs of letting up on righteousness (ala the evils of "socialism" and "Obamacare"):

Perry:

“I’m not slipping off in to the sunset. I’m not riding off into the West. We’ve got plenty of work to do right here in the state of Texas,” said Perry at a hotel ballroom just north of Austin, ”and I’ve got plenty of fight left in this 61-year-old body.”

Bachmann:

“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside,” Bachmann told a crowd of supporters in West Des Moines. But, she added, “I will continue fighting to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism.”

And from the looks of it, neither Santorum nor Gingrich will not go silently into that good night. Santorum's endless moralizing will continue to be an echo which will never fully be silenced. And while Romney is still expected to take all-important Michigan (Motown Showdown), a Romney win will not quell the voice of the zealot: gays, feminists and people on food stamps are evil and only a "Jesus Candidate" can save America.

And if Santorum should win...the moralizing will ramp up to a fever pitch, effectively ending any rational debate on many issues.

When Will It End? The Moralizing, That is.

It is a fete accompli that the Christian Right has tasted blood in the political arena with Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry and Santorum. It's voice has been heard loud and clear through the issues of same-sex marriage, contraception and treatment of the poor and disenfranchised. Throughout the last twenty years, the "death" of the Christian Right has been posited without any regard for its ferocity. What we are seeing now is an animal that has political teeth to match that ferocity: it has hold of politicians and their campaigns. It has hold over caucuses. It has hold over billion$ in donations. But it's power may be its downfall: too much moralizing, too much money spent, too much animosity towards Obama and liberalism may become too much for America.

We hope. Because if the Christian Right and its minions get a true hold on America...

it may be the end of the world as we know it.

*Warren Throckmorton, who first uncovered that Paul was boasting about an endorsement from a pastor who advocates for the death penalty for gays and lesbians, notes that Heath [Mike Heath, Iowa State Director of Paul's presidential campaign] was also the Board Chairman of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, one of the most fringe and virulently anti-gay groups in the country. - Right Wing Watch

Having Someone Look After You

On my wall

When in the course of human events...


It's necessary to have someone look after you. 


It's part of your Declaration of Independence: in order to be independent, you need a little help, a little confidence, a little assurance. Not so much help that you are not independent. Not too much confidence to become smug. Not too much assurance to become foolhardy. Just enough.  

Obama, Breitbart and Video Tapes

The thought of oh-so-sinister Obama putting a hit out on poor Andrew Breitbart has been too compelling for the conspiracy theorists. Now they have "revealing" tapes of Obama during his Harvard years to prove just how sinister and radical he really is. 


How will Obama react? With aplomb. Which will get the Right even angrier. 

I'm A Believer: Davey Jones Was A Better Human Being Than Andrew Breibart

There is nothing in Davey Jones' wikipedia entry that says he was a liberal in politics. But I think that he had an entertainer's heart and that says a lot. 


Andrew Breitbart's entry only shows that he was rabid in his attacks on liberals and frequently edited videos and statements in order to make people look more sinister than they really were (Shirley Sherrod). 


I don't think he was a nice person. 


Both Davey Jones and Andrew Breitbart died on on the same day.


Davey Jones will be misssed.