National Fundy "Pro-Marriage" Group Strong-Arms in Tiny State Races
By bluegal Tuesday Oct 09, 2007 2:02pm
Talk2Action: ...a billboard went up over I-91 near the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield -- comparing Democratic state Rep. Angelo Puppolo to Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold.
At issue is Puppolo's vote last June not to allow a state constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage to appear on the ballot in 2008. ..."Tactics like this reinforce my belief that I did the right thing," Puppolo told The Springfield Republican. "I voted to keep discrimination off the ballot and out of the Massachusetts constitution."
This group is what Talk2Action calls "the long arm of Dobson." They're "Focus on the Family" funded [see clarification below], and they target small state races (Puppolo is a freshman state rep, for crying out loud) with national money and huge budgets that no state rep can match. Dobson's ilk has no interest in the fact that Puppolo is a devout Catholic, married father of two, who attends Mass every week. Comparing someone like that to Judas Iscariot is desperate, pathetic...and often successful.
Clarification: Frederick Clarkson of Talk2Action writes in: I did not say that National Organization for Marriage or any of the named groups are "funded" by Dobson and or Focus on the Family.
Focus on the Family does set up and work closely with these state level groups, but there is a certain arms length relationship for all kinds of reasons. I doubt any money flows directly from FOF to any of these groups. The relationship, for legal reasons, is less direct.
Blue Gal adds: For tax purposes, too.
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If this sort of batshit crazy ad is in any way successful, I'm going to have to start raising questions as to whether Democracy works.
The political discourse in this country is disgraceful. My heart says don't act like those bitter cynical people but my head says go for it, take it up another notch and be brutal. I keep telling my head to shut up.
I think it was WA state court which recently determined that political lies = free speech.
The rapture based community should be ashamed of themselves
don't worry about it. A republican couldn't be elected from that district if they spent $10 billion on billboards. In fact, the billboard will probably help the guy.
Why do I just feel like gut-punching the next republican that reveals himself to me in conversation? Maybe because talking and reason clearly don't work these idiots...
cervantes @ 5:
:lol:
Good to hear.
It would be hilarious if enough of the voters voted for this guy just to tell Dobson and his medling phony christians to stay out of their business.
It's a fundy version of Godwin's Law: the first person to compare their opponent to Judas Iscariot loses.
Dobson's group is spending how much on this. Could someone show me where Jesus said give to polititians instead of the poor, the hungry, the sick and the needy? These guys are nothing but phony christians and they don't want to share God's love, they just want to tell other people what to do. They are meddlesome nosy busy body sinners, judging other people, which is one of the deadly sins.
The first thing I thought - and I'm sure this will be true of a lot of people - is that the billboard is accusing him of having cheated on his wife. And I bet the people that designed it were perfectly aware of that.
You know, as much as I hate to say it, it's past time to take the gloves off. These people don't do civility. They're nasty. They don't play nice and don't care who gets hurt or gets in their way. These people are NOT Christians. The American version of the Taliban maybe, but not Christian.
I put Dobson in the same category as Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker and that gay-methhead in Colorado Springs whose name now escapes me. They are all hypocritical charlatans.
Thanks for the info...I will be sure to send Mr. Puppolo a nice contribution and I urge anyone else who can to do the same! Fuck the Reichwingers!
This is just the sort of thing that makes people turn and run when they hear the word "religious". I have always said that a lot of so-called Christians are the worse enemies of religion.
This ad isn't about religion, it's about meanness and hatefulness. Something our country could use a whole lot less of these days. But this administration has given them the go ahead due to use of torture and such. I guess they feel if bush, who professes to be Christian, can justify his meanness and hatefulness, they can too.
They quakingly fear gay marriage, but torture?
Not so much....
there is some evidence that judas was actually the favorite apostle and his actions, once thought of as betrayal, were actually commanded by Jesus...
check out: the gospel of judas (esp the book by elaine pagels)
"...desperate, pathetic…and often successful."
Lee Atwater would be SO proud!
a lot of so-called Christians are the worst enemies of religion.
Sorry about that typo.
This means we can label Focus on the Family as anti-Catholic as they are doing a smear campaign on a man of faith. Never mind the fact that if Focus is funding this it is a violation of their tax exempt status.
Jesus wept.
But he knows, there's a special level of hell for hate mongerers who act in the name of the Lord.
If there is a Heaven, and I make it there, I will refuse to enter if Dobson or Perkins or Falwell or any of their followers are in there. I'll just turn around at the Pearly Gate and head the other direction. Hopefully I won't have that problem though.
Wow, that is about 2 blocks from my law office. It's good that my wife and I didn't see it coming into work today or we may have crashed our vehicle.
I am happy to report that legislative support for the amendment banning gay marriage in Massachusetts has weakened substantially since it was introduced two years ago. Notably, Republican State Senator Brian Lees, of Hampden County, one of the original supporters of the amendment, has come out against it now, stating that to take away rights after they have been granted would be wrong. Lees also noted his concern for the effect on families if gay marriage is abolished. This is one Republican I have tremendous respect for.
I think that if more legislators made personal contact with the families affected by their actions, you would see far less support for things such as banning gay marriage. It's easy to discriminate against a faceless, distant group.
Hey cervantes (@5)
Don't forget the idiots in this state elected Mitt Romney.
I live near this sign. I want to scale it, can of spraypaint in hand, and change those url's at the bottom to www.fascistchrist.com and www.GayOlePedophiles.com
I hope there's a big old lightening bolt up there gift wrapped and ready to go for these hateful, self-righteous, judgemental blowhards who think they have the right to judge anyone else.
There is a solid Democratic base in the small state of Mass. Ever hear of the Kennedy's?
Blessed are the peace makers....
Please bless us with peacemakers......Soon!
Will Congress vote to censure this?
I'd rather betray a narrow definition of marriage from a tiny electorate than the Big Kahuna himself.
All Praise Kahuna!
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
Matthew 7:21-23
No way a smear tactic like that will work in this region, the region I live (though I live further west). We maybe many things in western MA but naive aint one of them.
No Republican will ever get elected out here for the foreseeable future.
Infantile jingoism.
I changed my address in the voting office today, and I registered as a Nazi... just one small way to protest the status quo. I'll switch to independent after the 08 election.
Do these things ACTUALLY work???
It's SO over-the-top, I can't believe ANYONE would take it seriously. (I stopped calling people "Benedict Arnold" in third grade.)
It's this kind of trashy advertisement that needs the "feet in the street" approach to get the votes for Puppolo. The local Democrats need to work the polls and hand out palm cards to the voters that discredit this trashy billboard.
Another point is that most people don't pay much attention to billboards. I'm saying this because I recently volunteered at a local renewable energy festival and the festival was advertised on billboards along with other media. We polled everyone that bought tickets at the door and discovered that the billboard was totally ineffective. Word of mouth, then local papers were the best means to get the message to the public.
With that in mind, this trashy billboard will have little impact on Puppolo's re-election. As long as he has his supporters working the polls and writing letters to local newspapers, he has nothing to fear. Dobson just wasted his money.
You need to fight fire with fire. You need a poster with David Vitter (a real betrayer of marriage) in diapers, and two other things to compare him with.
Lets make it perfectly clear, the christian rights ideology more closely resembles those tyrannical regimes that we're supposedly fighting against in the Middle East than anything western or Christian that their name infers.
i guess the war of independence was useless to us after all! 1776 was all for nothing ! long live the revolution!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hadenuf @ 3:
care to link or explain??
i live in wa state
foolme1ns @ 10:
Yepper! And they want to take their supporters money, as much as they can grab, and live "high off the hog". Dobson and his boys are always well dressed, driving fancy cars and living in expensive neighborhoods. All on the dime of their hardworking supporters. Snake charmers, indeed.
I drive past that billboard. It is hard to read and understand, since it is so weird and you are zooming along at 70 miles an hour.
Plus it is located in a progressive part of a progressive state. Must people just go "Huh? What crazies got a hold of that billboard.""
The Dobson focus on the famblee gang.......Again.. Dicking around with some election trying to what exactly? Influence the outcome maybe???? Is that possibly what might be going on here??? And I just bet the motherfuckers have a tax exemption too don't they.... Can I get some freeper to give me a hallulujah, and praise the Lowred??? Huh? Can I??? I know there has to be at least one trolling on this thread...
Riiiiggghhht....But heaven forbid 'those goddamned commie/socialist unions' should be 'influencing' public policy...Yea....right.......Can't have that shit in George and Dicks excellently screwed up nation now can we.........
Separation of church and state folks.... It ain't just a good idea. That notion and 'constitutionally spelled out requirement' doesn't exist just for the hell of it either. ......JD
Counter to the poster
Betrayed...
Marriage (David Vitter)
Common Public Decency (Larry Craig) (Dave Allen)
Almost 5000 Amercian lives (Dubya)
An Average Joe @ 13:
Ted Haggard.
Coffins draped with flags @ 43:
redefines the term "blowhard"
Well, Catholics aren't Christians in the presently accepted sense, are they. Thank God.
cervantes @ 5:
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that billboard will be vandalized in less than a month.
It is hard to read and understand, since it is so weird and you are zooming along at 70 miles an hour.
If you've ever designed a billboard (I have) you know you can't put across more than five or six words. And you're better off with one to three, or even zero.
ysbaddaden @ 29:
Good quote. Bet Dobson and his boys never read Matthew.
Mugsy @ 33:
That's only because we'd have giggling fits over our dirty joke on having heard "been a dick."
When Dobson is discovered wearing two wetsuits and hogtying himself, will it surprise anyone?
SChoir @ 23:
So are you a lawyer?
Could you explain how these people get away with this shit and still maintain their tax exempt status?
Feel like starting a class action?
Ahh yes. Leave it to Authoritarian Theocrats to call the support of freedom, equality and reason a betrayal of America.
Coffins draped with flags @ 39:
Is that kosher?
Small minds are hard at work all over America.
ysbaddaden @ 53:
Nah.
If god didn't want us to eat pork, why did he make bacon taste so good?
There's a local republic politician putting up signs that read "34%". There is no explanation to what 34% means. When asked, most locals are clueless.
greg white @ 21:
Jesus isn't weeping. He knows he'll have the last laugh. Hopefully Dobson will be able to hear it from that great distance between Heaven and Hell.
blogenfreude @ 50:
New logo for repub party--person hogtied and wearing 2 wetsuits.
Someone referenced on a earlier post. Interesting. Should tell you more than you want to know about the Dobson boys.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/whoa-by-tristero-whenever-anyone-...
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 56:
If god didn't want us to do any 69ing, why'd he make the women's look like tacos?
ysbaddaden @ 61:
Mmmmmm, tacos........
I see a rather strong argument here in favor of billboard defacement.
How much you want to bet that this billboard leasing company would deny a Democrat the right to post a similar billboard?
OxyCon @ 64:
What makes you think a Democrat would post a similar billboard?
Holy crap! I live in Springfield and just drove by this ad not 10 minutes ago. I almost caused a crash trying to figure out what the hell was going on. For a second, I thought Puppolo had cheated on his wife or something. With a city being run by the state, an out of control crime problem, and bad schools, THIS is an issue the people of Springfield REALLY care about. BRAVO!
I hope they run this same waste of money ad in Northampton, that would be funny.
Why not run it in P-town while they're at it....
xoites defends Constitution @ 65:
It wasn't similar, but I recall Democrats being forced to take down an anti-Jean Schmidt billboard during the last election.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/duncanblack/race6.jpg
xoites defends Constitution @ 63:
But not defilement?
I can't believe the time, money, resources and brain power wasted on such childishness in your country. How can the world even take you seriously. Honestly, school children have more savvy.
Coffins draped with flags @ 57:
Bush's latest ratings? I dunno, maybe he's happy that the rating had a blip up to 34% this past week.
The Dobson billboard should read:
Accepts: Torture (pic of Abu Grhaib activities)
Condones: "Character Assassination": pic of Booth shooting Lincon at Ford's Theatre
"In Bed With": pic of Ted Haggard
That'll do.
Big
[Deleted. Speaking of phony Christians (and phony patriots, you brought that up) how are you? Sitemonitor]
If you are not for marriage and you have done some drugs and got arrested on a late nite bender, I would vote for you.
If you peached morality and lie all the time and keep kiddie porn in the basement, I won't.
Real people are real people. Don't expect them to be something silly. Thats all image control, or MIND CONTROL. (Well Image Association... but still)
Let's assume for a moment that Dobson is correct - God is an anthropomorphic deity given to punishing those who don't live by his rules. IF that's true, Dobson may well have a ticket on the down elevator for judging others rather than concentrating on keeping his own side of the street swept.
The religious right and the Norquist Repubs deserve each other. Whadda bunch of bastids.
personally, I'd like to know the name of the billboard company who allowed this to be put up in the first place. It would be worth sending a letter or making a call to tell them this is not acceptable public discourse.
Dobson is a walking sack of putrid hatred and viciousness who despises anyone who is not just like him and who doesn't think as he thinks. He is deeply flawed in many ways and is an out and out bigot. The more to be pitied than picked on. He hates everything Catholic and that is part of the reason why he is unloading his bile on Angelo Puppolo. Being anti-Catholic is the only generally accepted bigotry left in this country and this so-called Christian and his allies are prime examples of that bigotry which is rooted in ignorance as is all bigotry. But we have been around for more than 2000 years and we will outlast Dobson and the rest of his sorry lot.
wndrtch @ 72:
Right, because you are "oh so real"....
Coffins draped with flags @ 57:
His party's approval rating?
wndrtch @ 72:
Thank you for that completely off-the-wall ad hominem attack. It has us all scratching our heads. Did you mean to respond to a different thread or something?
Perhaps you should take some time off ... you are showing some serious stress.
If you don't know what "ad hominem" means, look it up.
When is the Rapture due? The sooner these clowns get carried away from the rest of the world, the sooner we can stop expending so much energy counteracting their lies. I seriously doubt that Jesus is coming for them, but whatever, as long as they are gone?
I keep tellin' the Democrats: billboards, people can't help looking at billboards when they're out driving.
They're running an ad like this in Massachusetts? Talk about wasted money. What a bunch of tools! LOL
What's good for the Goose.....
Let the Dem's put up this add in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Monroe with David Vitter in the third square! and in Boise, Pocatello, and Coeur d'Alene with Larry Craig, for starters! And then change marriage to "military" and toss up some adds with all the draft dodgers in the GOP who are acting like hawks around the country..... Give me a break! It's time to fight fire with fire.
NTB@66:
Ha! Yes, let them try that crap in Northampton and we will beat them about the head and shoulders with overpriced, hand-crafted, free-trade, macro-biotic, lacto-vegan, non-confrontational, free-range, indigenous artwork.
And then we'll go have a soy latte and gluten-free brownie at Haymarket.
Dobson and all the other NON-Religious and sick brainwashed haters show their shameful deep hatred over and over, when they use and hide behind God to hurt another human being.
72 wndrtch
You're paraphrasing cartoon rabbit pitchmen for over-sugared cerals?
I think I'm a cereal killer.
Would it have killed you to include basic information such as WHAT STATE THIS HAPPENED IN?
If the Civil Rights Act hadn't yet been passed, these folks would be putting up billboards smearing legislators that were pushing to eliminate anti-miscegenation laws.
I live a couple of districts over, but I just sent Rep. Puppolo a $100 donation for next year's
campaign. Never heard of him before but he must be doing something right. NTB you're absolutely right--Springfield has better things to worry about--watch what you say about 'Hamp though.
Most of you miss the point. The guy told the voters during the campaign that he would vote the other way. He lied. Once he got to Boston he traded any integrity that he had and switched sides for a sub committee chair (more $$$) or a better office or a job for a relative or whatever was on offer . He is a liar and probably a crook. Why is it mean to point this out? If he didn't want to be called a traitor he could have faith with the voters. He did have the option at all times during the campaign to tell the truth. He did not do that.
Hey amabo: did it ever enter your thick head that maybe, just maybe, Rep. Puppolo showed integrity by listening to both sides of the debate & followed his head & heart? Same sex marriage is in Massachusetts to stay. It was voted on in a democratic manner. How about your side not even getting a freakin' 25% vote for your side? WTF??! Not even a quarter of an elected body went your way. Not exactly awe-inspiring. This billboard only goes to show how desperate the Christianists are. They're increasingly calling gay people Nazis, Benedict Arnold, etc. Normal, thinking people are just walking away. Game, set, match. Thank you for playing & we have some nice parting gifts backstage. Over & out.
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