Vaughn Walker Redux? Unmarried Activist Circuit Court Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional!

A U.S. District Court judge lives in San Francisco. He is apparently single and he is 67 years old. And even though he was appointed by George Bush, his decisions have been to the left of center.


Especially the last one.

BREAKING: BUSH APPOINTEE FINDS DOMA UNCONSTITUTIONAL | Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.” White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. The decision represents a serious setback for House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), whose Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) defended DOMA after the Obama administration announced it would no longer defend the law.

So far, no source on the net has revealed any heterosexual tendencies: in all of his bios, there is no mention of a wife or family. Check out VoteSmart, wikipedia, judgepedia, and the website for the United States District Court  Northern California, Northern District California: no family whatsoever. There is no statement by White as to his sexual orientation either.


Of course, whether or not White is gay, speculation will run high and the Court of Christian Right Opinion will be delivering its verdict and accusations of conflict of interest will fly for sure. However, the old saw of  'activist judges" is bound to see a lot of action as well. Why? Because Hon. Jeffrey White was a Bush appointee! 


"Activist Judges!!"


One could argue that it was Dick Cheney who ushered in today's era of "activist judges" when he bemoaned the fate of Massachusetts in 2004:
"In Massachusetts we had the Massachusetts Supreme Court direct the state of -- the Legislature of Massachusetts to modify their constitution to allow gay marriage."
Since then,courts supportive of gay rights have been termed "activist" and the toll has became ubiquitous to such support. Iowa Supreme Court justices learned that the hard way when they unanimously voted to uphold a ruling of Polk County District Court granting gay couples the right to marry: three of the justices were voted out of office in 2010. 


Retired District Court Judge Vaughn Walker declared California's infamous Prop 8 to be unconstitutional. 


Brouhaha ensued even before it was learned that Walker was gay and in a long-term relationship. 


And, of course, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals became "activist" once they upheld Walker's ruling and declared that his sexual orientation had nothing to do with his ability to decide on the case. 


Watch Mark Fiore's warning against activist judges below. While it's satirical, the attitude it conveys is chilling.


The Election Year War On The Courts

Last December, presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich stated Courts “are forcing us into a constitutional crisis because of their arrogant overreach." He also created a firestorm when he stated that he thought some judges should be rounded up and arrested. And another aspirant to the presidency, Rick Santorum, said "They [the courts] have become in effect most powerful of the three (branches of government), and they should be the least."

Ron Paul: "For judges who see themselves as social activists, their vision of justice is more important than the letter of the law they are sworn to interpret and uphold."

Mitt Romney has come under fire for perhaps being the least vocal about "activist" judges: some people suspect him of liberal chicanery when it comes to appointments.
Judge Jeffrey S. White


The judge in question is no stranger to controversy about his decisions: e.g in revoking USDA approval Of Monsanto's Genetically Modified Sugar Beets, and in ordering a thorough review of the program's affects on other foods, White caused a stir among farmers and the likes of Monsanto Corporation. In other words, it was not exactly what George Bush would have done. And in 2005, White allowed four municipalities and various environmental groups to go ahead with a lawsuit against federal agencies, saying that government involvement in certain overseas projects contributed to global warming. Again, he didn't look like a Bush appointment, that's for sure. 


So is Jeffrey S. White a closeted gay liberal judicial activist? Should it matter? The Right may scream "YES!", while the rest of the country may not care. 


Ahh, the election year.

BREAKING!! U.S. Disctrict Court Declared DOMA Unconstitutional!

Prejudice, we are beginning to understand, rises not from malice or hostile animus alone.  It may result as well from insensitivity caused by simple want of careful, rational reflection or from some instinctive mechanism to guard against people who appear to be different in some respects from ourselves.

Board of Trustees of University of Alabama v. Garrett, 531 U.S. 356, 374-75 (2001) (Kennedy,J., concurring)

BREAKING: BUSH APPOINTEE FINDS DOMA UNCONSTITUTIONAL | Moments ago, Judge Jeffery White of the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Constitution’s equal protections clause in a case brought by Karen Golinski. Golinski, represented by Lambda Legal, “was denied spousal health benefits by her employer, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.” White was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in 2002. Read the full opinion here. (HT: GinnyLaRoe)

The entire decision is HERE. And it's worth reading!

Hooking Up With Studboi1: Top Border Cop, Romney Campaigner And Congressional Candidate In Scandal Of Epic Hypocrisy!... And We Love It!

In terms of hypocrisy, it doesn't get any sleazier than this. And sometimes lurid, yellow journalism has its uses.

"If what [Babeu's attorney] says is correct [about Jose's being illegal], either the sheriff had a long relationship with someone he knew was undocumented, while all the time being Mr. Bluster about the border and using it for political gain," or he threatened to deport someone he just broke up with, Merritt says. [Phoenix News-Times' interview with Nancy-Jo Merritt, Phoenix immigration attorney]

In the Arizona border patrol controversies of recent years, no one has stood out more than Paul Babeu. Even Joe Arpaio couldn't eclipse him in visibility and bravado: John McCain stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him, FOX News profiled him and his activities, and Babeau's political aspirations looked bright.

HUFFPOST, 2-18:


Republican Congressional candidate Paul Babeu, currently serving as a sheriff in Arizona, stepped down on Saturday from his position as the co-chair for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign in the state, after an explosive allegation from a Mexican man, who claims to be his ex-boyfriend, that Babeu threatened him with deportation to Mexico.
In other words, the hypocritical sh*t has hit the proverbial fan: the reason he threatened the ex-boyfriend with deportation is because the ex refused to sign a document silencing their affair. The Phoenix New Times reported all the salacious (and vicious) details revealed through hook-up sites, emails and phone texts in a five-page long article sure to become fodder for election year pundits ...like me.

For in dealing with hypocrisy, you can't be hypocritical. And this story is too horrifically hypocritical for me to pass up. I have to make the most of it. Sounds snarky, I know, but that's the way it is. Exposing hypocrisy is like that.


Paul Babeu And His Right Wing 
Political Dream Machine


At the age of 18, Paul  Babeu was elected to city council for North Adams, MA. He then went on to become commissioner for Bekeley County, MA. (1992 - age 23). In 1996, Babeu ran for Massachusetts State Senate as a nominee from the GOP, but lost. He subsequently lost two bids for Mayor of North Adams.


All the losses, however, were with extremely narrow margins, so Babeu's political drive was not quelled.


After joining the Massachusetts National Guard, Babeu rose in ranks to become major in the Arizona National Guard, serving in Iraq, then was deployed as a Commander in Jump Start and the United States Border Patrol.  In 2002, he became a patrolman in Chandler, Arizona, receiving two life saving medals and becoming the Police Association President. In 2008, he became the first Republican sheriff elected in Pinal County history (founded 1875).


As sheriff, Babeu's activities couldn't be more exemplary ... or anti-immigrant: while reducing emergency response time 40% and being awarded nearly $7 million in grants, Babeu "reorganized" the sheriff's department and became the leading voice in Senator John McCain's "10-point Border Security Plan." And,

In late 2010, Babeu was asked by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to investigate allegations of wrongdoing in his own department. This 6 month long detailed search led to the termination of Arpaio’s top two deputies.^{[21] (wikipedia)}

In October, 2011, Paul Babeu announced a run for U.S. Congress (newly-redistricted 4th Congessional Arizona Seat)

OK, Now The Sex Stuff

In an era of facebook, twitter and internet hook-ups, sexual exposure has become common. When we got the goods on Rep.Anthony Weiner and "Bishop" Eddie Long, we realized that, in a sense, supermarket tabloids had jumped onto our homepages. And we embraced them with a renewed vigor for the salacious. Why? Because reading about hypocrisy is fun while being infuriated: laughing at the high-minded while telling ourselves that we're not THAT bad is a sinful pleasure. We feel somehow mitigated in our realization that people on the "A-List" can become sleazeballs on the "A-Hole List". 


Now guess which list Babeu is on. 

According to Babeu's ex-lover, Jose (last name withheld because of the ongoing litigation), they met in 2009. Jose then worked on Babeu's campaign websites, facebook and twitter accounts while in a supposedly monogamous relationship. Later, in 2011, Jose discovered a profile of Babeu's on Adam4Adam a gay hook-up site. He confronted Babeu about it and was told that it was an old profile.


But after the request to have Babeu remove the profile, it was still up and active. Jose then decided to do some undercover work on his boyfriend and posed anonymously on the same site. 

"I will suck you off as much as needed."

"Dude, I can't send naked pics over e-mail . . . just can't for my job . . . you can have me in person and what ever else you want." Babeu made a point about his work as sheriff.

Jose showed up for a meeting, and the pair broke up, whereupon an eerie kind of harassment ensued: Jose changed his address several times, with Babeu giving hints that he knew where he was all along (e.g. a Christmas card). Jose then posted comments in sites and editorials intimating that Babeu was not what he seemed. Babeu answered back: "And you say you have loved me? Papi . . . this is no good."

The phone text messages produced by Jose number in the hundreds. The pics on Babeu's Adam4Adam profile have since been erased, some including a full erection.

For the record, Jose states that he is legal and not undocumented, hence the threats of deportation by Babeu's lawyer ring hollow.


Within hours of Jose's incriminating evidence coming to light, Babeu "came out" but stated that his candidacy for Congress remained in tact, while his personal life was just that: personal ...and private.


In Summation To The Jury


Political aspirations. Right wing political cronies and media coverage. Illegal immigration. Threats of deportation. Gay sex. Gay hook-up sites. Infidelity. Pornographic internet photos. The court of public opinion will be at this scandal from all sides: the Right (esp. the Christian Right) will focus on Babeu's sexual orientation and use of hook-up sites; the Left will focus on Babeu being a Republican and his anti-immigration stance; the LGBT community will focus on Babeu's hypocrisy and his closeted machinations. Stand-up comedians will joke about border sheriffs. Pundits and bloggers like me will keep tabs, looking for developments and nuances to highlight Babeu's hypocrisy.


There have been parallels to this scandal: Rep. Mark Foley and Congressional pages, NJ Governor James McGreevey and his infidelity. However, they were but slight blips compared to this earthquake on the Richter scale. Why? Simply because the hypocrisy is so blatantly wrong and so compellingly raw.

In fact, there may be only one entity to be truly sorry for in this story: The National Inquirer. It didn't break the story.

Maybe Cindy Jacobs Had Something To Do With It

I thankfully did not know this morning, that one of my lousier days awaited me. If I did, I never would gotten out of bed.

It started with a computer glitch – one that wiped out all of my daily spreadsheets in an instant, sent them off into the ether never to return no matter how I begged and cajoled my laptop.

I also screamed.

I then tried to console myself with my beautiful ocean view. It was beautifully clear – almost unnaturally so, and I decided to take a picture of a small white craft heading toward the Golden Gate. It looked so alone yet peaceful.

After turning it on, the camera’s screen went black. The lens and its focus must have joined my spreadsheet in the ether. I panicked, seeing as how I couldn’t afford a new one.

I picked up my morning’s pieces, put them aside and concentrated on my schedule: pick up my overdue paperwork for Project Open Hand from my doctor’s office (I really need to get groceries - no paperwork, no groceries), go to a urologist for the results of some tests, go to Open Hand, then to Best Buy to return a godawful boombox, hopefully to put the return toward a camera on sale, shop at Safeway for a special dinner I was making tomorrow, go to Superstar Video to pick up a movie I had special ordered three months ago, then have coffee (just coffee) with a new internet date – a beautiful man who billed himself as “stallion.”

But of course, the horrendous excuse we have for a transit system, MUNI, decided to make the day worse. Much worse.

I panted as I came into the doctor’s office. The paperwork had not been filled out, I was told. Please wait. “About four minutes,” I said. Ten minutes later, I was handed the paperwork and I raced my next appointment. The crawl of MUNI took it’s toll on me and I frantically phoned the urologist’s office to tell them I’d be 10 minutes late.

I was 25 minutes late.

“OK, just tell me straight, biopsy or no biopsy?”

“Biopsy,” he said. Despite antibiotics, my PSA levels not only staid the same, they actually went up!

“How long for the biopsy appointment?”

“As soon as you want. How about a week?”

I didn’t ask how long the results would take. The possibility of prostate cancer was too  eminent. He told me to discount the 20% possibility and not think of it at all. Right. He couldn’t even understand why I seemed so stressed out. I blurted out  a computer-camera-MUNI-must-get-to-Open-Hand-before-it-closes line before I zoomed out the door.

The urologist’s office was next to St. Mary’s Hospital so, of course, there at the bus stop was an ambulance blocking the MUNI lane.

I got on a belated bus, and sprinted four blocks – and arrived at Open Hand 8 minutes after it had closed. 

I then walked to Best Buy (about 1 mile), proceeded to pick out a great buy on a camera and then was told by the check out clerk that I would have to go to Customer Service to process my return. The line for Customer Service looked like it stretched to China and I knew I couldn’t possible make my date if it stayed.

I put the camera down and walked another mile (no direct MUNI service) to my date.

He really was tall and beautiful, friendly and animated. Then he told me about his Valentine’s Day and revealed a nice silver bracelet.

“My boyfriend gave me this as kind of a lavalier kind of thing and I have to tell you that we’ve decided to try to be monogamous.”

The stallion turned into a nice, pet-able pony.  My caregiver side wished him all the best. I won’t tell you what the rest of me wanted to do.

I went to Safeway, then Best Buy and picked up the video.

I got home at 9:00PM.

I’ve just finished making crème brulee for tomorrow and eating my dinner. It is now midnight.

The Curse Of The Prophetess

I can’t help but think that “propethess” Cindy Jacobs, Cindy, Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon Jacobs, had something to do with this day. The video I had picked up was…porn. No, IT wasn’t cursed. I was cursed, because by some weird stretch of the imagination, Jacobs had put a curse on me just for being who I am. Does that make sense? Kinda.

Because when you write about the machinations of the Christian Right (especially the more lunatic fringe), you develop a sense that it will do anything, from voodoo to imprecatory prayers to make your life miserable. It’s not guilt. I’ve done nothing to be guilty about. But the sense that somehow I have upset their machinations, their plans, their “prophecies” creeps up on me once in a while, a I shiver to think of what would happen if they knew my space, where I existed, where I lived and loved.

And somehow, Jacobs found out. Or someone like Jacobs. Maybe Lou Engle. He’s always been railing against gays as “those people who embrace the darkness” (just before, of course, the ubiquitous “but we must love them.”).

OK. Probably my wild imagination.

Oh, I should also tell you that I’m writing this in WORD. For some inexplicable reason, my internet connection has been lost.

To Be Continued. Maybe.

When Giving Hope Is Considered Evil: Dan Savage Gets Savaged By "Ex Gay" Minister And Associate Of "Bishop" Eddie Long

The gay teen anti-suicide/bullying movement, It Gets Better, finally got the unkindest cut of all, courtesy of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality Radio Hour with Peter LaBarbera:  Pastor DL (short for "Down Low") Forster called for the arrest of Dan Savage, the creative mind behind the phenomenally successful attempt to quell the country's spate of teen suicides.


And the supposed pastor has long billed himself as "ex-homosexual," and has had a close association with "Bishop" Eddie Long and his New Birth Missionary congregation. Go figure.


Dan Savage responded in his inimitable Dan Savage way:

Gay Kids Are Still Killing Themselves

posted by DAN SAVAGE on MON, FEB 13, 2012 at 10:34 AM

And it's not because gay kids are still being told that they're sick and sinful by their preachers. And it's not because gay kids are still being failed by cowardly school administrators and callous school boards and cowed teachers. And it's not because gay kids are still being bullied by straight kids who have been told that gay people are sick and sinful and that gay people, by simply existing, represent an existential threat to their families. And it's not because the religious right opposes all efforts to prevent anti-gay bullying in our schools and is pushing for new laws that create a special right for little religious bigots tobrutalize gay children. And it's not because some gay kids have parents who subjected to years of psychological and spiritual violence before throwing them out and cutting them off.

No. It's my fault. And I should be arrested.

The Low Down On Down Low

DL Foster (Christian name Darryl, but attributes the DL to "Down Low") does not have a page on wikipedia.org. He is, however, mentioned in passing as one of the leaders of the ex-gay movement, which is surprising, considering that Exodus International (the leading "ex-gay" group) distanced itself from Rev. Foster back in 2006. Foster's own ministries are a dizzying mixture of self-inflicted racism, self-loathing, come-back-to-God because you are "sexually broken" polemics centering on the African American Community, in particular Atlanta, the hub of "Bishop" Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church (at which Foster was invited to speak about the evils of homosexuality ... and to hawk his book


Foster's autobiography,  Touching A Dead Man: One man's Explosive Story of Deliverance from Homosexuality,  has long been out-of-print and is available only by downloading it through Foster's website.* It is, of course, a "book that launched a thousand deliverances." [sic]. Needless to say, however, unless you read the book, you will not know just how much Foster was in "the homosexual lifestyle" or if, in fact, he was ever gay at all. 

Bigot-enablers


The 27 videos of "ex-gays" and their proclamations are problematic: the self-loathing cannot be hidden. Their self-acceptance comes across as a merely a polemic (as Low Down would have it, but a poor one) based upon deep-rooted self-loathing: "falling" back into a destructive lifestyle of sex and drugs is predominant. Even those who admit to being born gay, never look upon themselves as have ever having any self-worth. Some actually state that they were "enticed" back into a "homosexual lifestyle," as if their own lives were worthless to begin with.


These "testimonies" seldom address one problem: that they may do more harm than good; for the purely prejudiced, "change" is the name of the game. And they care not if it is true or false, because they need something to hang their prejudices on. Harking back to the thoroughly researched topic of the relationship between I.Q. and prejudice, sociologists and psychologists can tell you that such testimonies can cause serious physical and emotional harm to gays, lesbians and transgendered people. And while the "ex-gays" are told how many souls they are helping to save, the reality is this: people will be hurt. 


The Target Is The Message

Foster's latest raison d'etre is not African American men and women who identify as gay, but gay men and women who identify as Christian. Yes, you read that right. Gay Christian Movement Watch - one of Foster's online "ministries" - is perhaps more like Gay Christian Movement Witch Hunt, alerting people to more progressive ministries and organizations and demonizing them ad infinitum:

GCM Watch seeks to facilitate balanced discussion regarding the “gay christian movement” and enlighten the broader Christian constituency through research, documentation and examination of movement’s various adherents and their beliefs in contrast to traditional Christian doctrine.

A close look at his polemics (his own word, since he considers gay Christians and affirming churches heretical) reveal nothing that could be considered a "discussion" and certainly nothing approaching balance.
To sum up: after the American Family Association warned us that Ellen Degeneres was dangerously "nice" and should be fired from being a spokesperson for JC Penney, a suppoosedly "ex-gay" minister has called for the arrest of Dan Savage because he founded the movement It Gets Better. 


Being nice to people and giving them hope sure ain't what they used to be.




*One reviewer of Touching A Dead Man: "I feel sorry for this man's wife. He'll be skulking around the men's room sooner or later, if he isn't already."
4 copies of the paperback book are available for an astounding $64 ea. Perhaps someone thinks of it as a curious collector's item. 

Strolling On Augustine, Patron Saint Of Guilt And "Just War"

It is true, then, and in no way false, that the devil's power is exorcised in infants, and that they renounce him by the hearts and mouths of those who bring them to baptism, being unable to do so by their own; in order that they may be delivered from the power of darkness, and be translated into the kingdom of their Lord. What is that, therefore, within them which keeps them in the power of the devil until they are delivered from it by Christ's sacrament of baptism? What is it, I ask, but sin?

While strolling around Lake Merced, I can never help but be touched by beauty and innocence: nothing is sinful, because it is not capable of sin. The heron I spied last night in the bushes was not sinful. But perhaps he had read the writings of Augustine of Hippo and flew off because he thought that I was sinful. Because, Augustine was the creator of the concept of Original Sin - at least as we know it.


One of the basic tenets of today's Christianity is that all of humanity needs to be saved from sin. And most sects and denominations insist that we are all BORN in sin and therefore are prone to evil almost immediately. The more strident actually believe that man is literally born condemned.


And it was Augustine who put this concept into their heads. He was, in a sense, the creator of the greatest guilt complex ever: we're all sinners, we're all despicable, Christ hung on a cross and agonizingly died for our measly souls.

GUILT. GUILT. GUILT. GUILT.


And with the guilt came the arrogance of the righteous - who reminded you that you were a filthy sinner. The Robert Jeffresses, the Lou Engles of our times are pummeling humanity with a sense of guilt. Their power is based upon on guilt. They take advantage of any and all feelings of guilt. It's the only way they can make conversions.

JUST WAR

And Augustine didn't stop at inflicting a massive guilt complex upon Christians and would-be Christians everywhere: he also came up with the concept of "just war" in order to help assuage the guilt. Until Augustine, Christians were so pacific as to be unrecognizable to today's modern Christians: they were not allowed to participate in warfare of any kind - not even defensive warfare. But Augustine changed all that when he insisted that some wars could be just - if they were in defense of the innocent. Unfortunately, Augustine knew human nature all too well, and could foresee that the concept of just war would be taken to it's obvious conclusion: war justified for any reason. He didn't stop the righteously arrogant from creating such war.

It's almost impossible to fathom that one man could cause so much guilt, misery, righteous arrogance and destruction.

But he did. In the name of God.

I don't think I can forgive Augustine.

Heartfelt Eloquence Goes Viral: Washington State's Maureen Walsh Waxes Poetic On Gay Marriage

Ironically, Walsh starts out by saying that she is not as eloquent a speaker as her colleagues in the Washington State House. Not true. 
BTW: she's a Republican. Just not an ordinary one.