I guess Hillary Clinton gets a free pass for her support and alliance with homophobes

[zulchzulu]

In light of the old story about Reverend Meeks being linked by proxy to Barack Obama, why does the Hillary Clinton campaign get a free pass with her support from homophobes? When you look at the membership in the secret religious neo-conservative group "The Fellowship", you can see who she has prayed with for over fifteen years.

When Clinton first came to Washington in 1993, one of her first steps was to join a Bible study group. For the next eight years, she regularly met with a Christian “cell” whose members included Susan Baker, wife of Bush consigliere James Baker; Joanne Kemp, wife of conservative icon Jack Kemp; Eileen Bakke, wife of Dennis Bakke, a leader in the antiunion Christian management movement; and Grace Nelson, the wife of Senator Bill Nelson, a conservative Florida Democrat. Clinton’s prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or “the Family”), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to “spiritual war” on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship’s only public event, the annual National Prayer Breakfast. (Aside from the breakfast, the group has “made a fetish of being invisible,” former Republican Senator William Armstrong has said.) The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God’s plan.

(snip)

The Fellowship’s long-term goal is “a leadership led by God—leaders of all levels of society who direct projects as they are led by the spirit.” According to the Fellowship’s archives, the spirit has in the past led its members in Congress to increase U.S. support for the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the Park dictatorship in South Korea. The Fellowship’s God-led men have also included General Suharto of Indonesia; Honduran general and death squad organizer Gustavo Alvarez Martinez; a Deutsche Bank official disgraced by financial ties to Hitler; and dictator Siad Barre of Somalia, plus a list of other generals and dictators. Clinton, says Schenck, has become a regular visitor to Coe’s Arlington, Virginia, headquarters, a former convent where Coe provides members of Congress with sex-segregated housing and spiritual guidance.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/010937.php

Some homophobes who are not only on Hillary's web site, but one is even getting paid $10,000 a month:

There's Rev. Harold Mayberry:

I'm comfortable in what I believe in. I'm not rejecting people.
As God loves, we love. I don't reject thieves, I reject thievery.

He's talking about homosexuality as thievery. Oh, but wait! He's on Hillary's web site:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=2857

Then there's Darrell Jackson, who made this statement regarding his opposition to same-sex marriage and has renegotiated a nice $10,000 contract with the Clinton team:

Now, we know how we feel on this issue, and I've allowed my position to be known more than anybody else. I stand here as someone who is a pastor to a congregation of a whole lot of people, and I've said it to them and I'll say it to anyone else.

My personal moral position is what I believe and what I subscribe to. I don't have to come here and try to legislate it...There is little doubt in this body what will ultimately happen with that issue. That is a forgone conclusion.

http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess116_2005-2006/sj05/20050413.htm

He's also on the Hillary web site endorsing her:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=1339

Then there's Clinton's South Carolina co-chairs, John Matthews and Linda Short. Both voted for the bill in South Carolina to ban same-sex marriage.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1007/Gay_rights_in_SC_contd.html

Then there's Bill Clinton, who signed the hateful, anti-gay rights Defense of Marriage Act into federal law, campaigning for Hillary Clinton openly. Both he and Hillary were openly for the Act at the time of his signature.

These are people that are ON the Clinton campaign web site and/or are paid by the campaign. Where's the outrage?

Then there's the Golden Gift of Homophobic Hate that Bill Clinton signed called the "Defense Of Marriage Act" ironically while he was cheating on his wife at the time. If you want to know what Hillary Clinton is ON RECORD saying about this despicable piece of legislation, she said in 2000:

She also said she would have voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill passed by Congress in 1996 that prevents federal recognition of same-sex marriage. "Marriage has got historic, religious, and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman," Clinton said.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2000_Feb_15

[BenDavid]

1. You obama folks surprise me with stuff like this. Have you not

understand politics at all. Remember what the Godfather said about your enemies...

[Shae]

6. I'm confused.

Does this apply to Obama's association with Meeks? or just Hillary's associations?

[marshall]

20. If Bill can run as the first black president, maybe she can run as the first gay president

That might buy her a few votes

[frylock]

17. yuh-huh

:eyes:

[dchill]

19. No, I have not understand.

Neither have I hope. Nor have I change. The Godfather said, and have I quote, "Papa's got a brand new bag!"

[kwenu]

24. Maybe that explains her marriage to Bill.

[dsc]

2. You know who is always left out of that, oh so dangerous, Christian cell,

Howard Metzenbaum. Yep that conservative, Christian gay hating bigot, no wait, he was actually liberal, Jewish, and had a terrific gay rights record. Guess that is why his name was left out.

Oh and one part of even your quote, shows the big ass difference. Hillary's homophobes DON'T WANT TO LEGISLATE.

[SoonerPride]

5. We've seen the great legislation from the Clintons: DOMA anyone?

With friends like that who needs enemies?

http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/11/obama-and-gay-m.html

[redqueen]

14. Are you sure?

I thought her association with this vile group was touted as a reason she's been supportive of some rightish legislation...

And there's also this part: Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God’s plan.

[dsc]

15. I am trying to find a link

because I fell of my chair reading it too. I know it was posted on DU but don't know when or by whom.

[dsc]

16. apparently I am conflating two prayer groups

Metzenbaums included the likes of Pressler, Spector, and Chiles.

[cali]

3. good post

and she does indeed get a pass from hypocritical supporters here who shriek about McClurkin over and over. I wouldn't mind if they were consistent, but they aren't. And you forgot her friend Dov Hikind:

"After voting against a same-sex marriage bill in the New York State, Hikind caused controversy by paralleling same-sex marriage to incest.<21> While many Democratic officials do not oppose same-sex marriages, Hikind maintained that, "If we authorize gay marriage in the state of New York, those who want to live and love incestuously will be five steps closer to achieving their goals as well."<22> Hikind was additionally once quoted as saying that "it is laughable to consider the gay community as a deprived community and needing special protections." <23> During a debate about gay marriage, Hikind stated that he would vote "no" to the bill allowing same-sex marriage unless "God sends a message to me during the next two hours of debate." <24>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dov_Hikind

[SoonerPride]

4. Obama is far better than Clinton on gay issues. Really.

http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2007/11/obama-and-gay-m.html

[laconicsax]

21. He really isn't.

Civil unions are a half-measure that are inherently unequal to marriage. If Obama is truly interested in equal rights, then he should be pushing for equal rights, not similar rights.

In your link, he gives a half-assed excuse for advocating civil unions by declaring marriage to be a religious institution that is afforded a certain set of rights. This is such complete and utter bullshit. Marriage is not a religious construct, it is a civil one.

Obama's position is essentially institutionalized segregation and, if you look at what he actually says, place non-religious couples in an expansive gray area. Civil union laws tend to specify that only gay couples are eligible, so what is the 20% of the population that's non-religious supposed to do? Be forced into getting married by a religious institution? That would effectively violate the first amendment by forcing individuals to participate in a religious ceremony to be granted civil rights. Should they instead get married in a civil ceremony by a justice of the peace? If so, then marriage isn't a religious institution and Obama's argument falls apart. The blog post you linked to creating 'civil unions' for everyone and designating 'marriage' as a purely private affair.

I have a better idea. Rather than waste huge amounts of time completely re-structuring the system, just extend 'marriage' rights to everyone. It's quick, easy, and promotes that wonderful concept of full equality and equal protection under the law.

Obama is not "far better" than Clinton on 'gay' issues. He is, at most, equally lousy.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Richard Mellon Scaife Is A Progressive Who Favors Homosexual Marriage

That is all.

[dsc]

8. No he isn't a progressive

but I know for a fact he is pro choice which leads me to believe he isn't exactly a religious conservative. I have no idea of his position on gay rights, one way or the other.

[mopinko]

9. but today is april first, see?

why does she get such a pass?
and why have the people here at du swallowed the swiftboating of jeremiah wright. oh, yeah, cuz they get paid to. hope they all got their checks upfront.

[JayFredMuggs]

10. interesting links

Thanks for bringing this up. I love to watch the Hillary folks defending her over this. Desperation and defensiveness abounds in the Hillary campaign.

[frylock]

18. check post 1 for a few laughs

[ikojo]

11. I sent a Hillary loving friend, who is gay, an article on

The Fellowship and he chided me on it being a few years old! He didn't dispute any of the TRUTH in the article of course, because he cannot, but he said the article was OLD. He also said it was conspiratorial and that he was surprised I fell for it. Oy vey! Jeff Sharlet has written an article about the Fellowship for Harpers and he has a book coming out about the group.

Guess the Hillary fanatics (what defines a cult?) just cannot and will not accept that at her core she's RIGHT WING.

[zulchzulu]

22. That's oddly funny

Your friend just calls the Fellowship link with Clinton as something old... I wonder what the cutoff date is...

[ikojo]

25. When it praises Her Royal Clintonness the age

of the article is of no importance. The date on a given article is important only when HRC is being called on her right wing nature.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. It's always diiiiiiiiiiifferent when Hillary does it.

They'll zero in on some detail as to why that is the case. McClurkin was a horrible offense because he actually got on a stage and performed for Obama, whereas Mayberry and Jackson were endorsing and being paid to work behind the scenes. Which is perfectly acceptable to Obama-bashers for some unfathomable reason. I have been round and round with these people about the hypocrisy and they just stick their fingers in their ears.

Obama's association with Rev. Wright is unforgivable because he knew him for 20 years and there were weddings and baptisms and stuff involved. Obama is therefore responsible for every single thing Wright ever said. Clinton, on the other hand, can have a longstanding association with a known anti-Semite (Billy Graham) or belong to a creepy and extremely powerful prayer cult (the Family) and that's okay because...well...it just is.

[BlooInBloo]

13. We don't expect much from Clinton.

[azmouse]

23. K&R

[malik flavors]

26. Yea, if people want to support Hillary that's cool, but...

don't try to make it seem like Obama is weaker when it comes to GLBT issues, or that his associations are worse then Hillary's. It's just not true. Support who you want, but don't be unfair about it. Hillary is plenty flawed herself.

[Umbram]

27. Not much in the way of rebuttal here... (nt)