Yesterday, the No on 1 campaign released this great new ad, featuring a Catholic mom who wants nothing more than for her gay son to have the same rights as everybody else.

It seems to have touched a nerve with the other side. A Catholic group is demanding that the ad be taken down, because:

“Everybody knows the Catholic Church is opposed to counterfeit marriages. The Church believes marriage is a natural institution, vindicated by common reason that serves both men and women, and the needs of children. The Church defends marriage as a civic institution believing marriage and family to be the fundamental unit of society,” explained Burch.

“For homosexual groups to suggest that the Catholic Church believes otherwise is disingenuous, dishonest, and an insult to the intelligence of Catholic voters in Maine,” said Burch.

We are on offense here in Maine, pushing back at the Catholic Church which has raised over $214k for Stand for Marriage Maine last quarter.

But the campaign needs your help to win this election, to be the first to protect marriage rights at the ballot box, to keep the momentum up that we have gained since Prop 8. And they need the resources to do it.

We are launching a "moneybomb" for Maine, with a big push to get as much cash in the door for No on 1 by Oct 15th, the last major financial filing deadline and the first day of early voting.

After that date money in the door just isn't as useful for the campaign. They need to figure out their budget for the last few weeks of the campaign.

Give now if you can on Blue America's ActBlue page. Maine is a cheap state. Here's a breakdown of what your donation will "buy".

$1,000 we can blanket the state with radio ads for 1 day

$800 pays for one field organizer for a week

$720 would fund 20 canvasses in key counties around the state on a Saturday

$550 pays for one channel of cable for a day

$420 pays for one much needed field organizer for a week

$330 is 2 radio commercials to beat back their lies

$210 pays for 70 $3/day cell phones to talk to targeted voters

$186 about the cost of 1 radio commercial

$137 will buy supplies for 4 door-to-door canvasses

$108 buys about 100 yard signs for visibility

$72 will pay for signage for visibility for one weekend on a targeted campus

$66 pays for about 20 $3/day cell phones to talk to targeted voters

$54 buys 50 yard signs for visibility

$36 will fund supplies for one door-to-door canvass

$24 buys 20 yard signs for visibility

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There's no other word than "dumbass" that adequately describes Arizona State University's decision not to award President Obama an honorary degree when he addresses the school's commencement today.

Sure, you can cook up lame excuses, such as that the school instead decided to name a scholarship program after him. That's nice. It's still an insult. A dumbass insult.

The Daily Show's Jason Jones visited Tempe to get some of the flavor of local sentiments. That same word kept coming to mind as we watched ASU students try to explain why Obama didn't deserve an honorary degree. My favorite:

"We're trying to be like the Cambridges, where they don't give out any, uh, honorary degrees. Make them so, uh, prestigious. To give them to, like, important people. Heads of state and stuff like that."

Runner-up:

"Wull, I've been at ASU for three or four years, and I don't have a degree yet. Why does he deserve one for being in office for 100 days?"

PERRspectives caught this lovely little bit of Republican propaganda coming from a network utilizing public airwaves:

In a single sentence in one story on religion in the United States, CBS Evening News managed to insult the vast majority of the American people. Describing a major new study on Americans' religious faith from the Pew Forum, CBS' Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans' widely shared belief in a secular society in general is immoral:

"The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America."

Yup, because we know how moral those religionists have been. Darrel Plant found more:

(F)rom The Katie Show:

BOB ORR: At issue is whether or not telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T should be protected from lawsuits when they help the government tap conversations of suspected foreign terrorists - when those calls and emails are routed through the U.S.

Actually, the issue is whether retroactive immunity will be granted to telecoms so they can't be sued by Americans, for illegally participating in wiretapping American citizens in America.

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This morning on Fox NFL Sunday's pregame show, co-host and former NFL player, Howie Long, decided it would be a good idea to insult Al Gore to make a point about sports. Not only is this moron's statement wrong, it's unprofessional and he should be called out for it. Why do people like Howie and Al Michaels feel the need to mix politics with sports? You can write to FOXSports and tell them what you think about Howie's hackery.

Long:"...Mike Martz suffers from a rare form of the Al Gore syndrome, where Al still thinks he's the president and Mike Martz still thinks he's the head coach..."

*Note to Keith Olbermann - If you're looking for someone for your Worst Person In The NFL segment tonight, I think Howie is your man...

Hat tip to Media Matters who first picked up on this. While discussing the Senator Craig scandal last night on MSNBC, macho right-wing tough guy Tucker Carlson tells Joe Scarborough and Dan Abrams about his own high school era run-in with an over-aggressive male in a public bathroom. According to Tucker, upon being "bothered" by this man:

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“I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the — you know, and grabbed him, and … hit him against the stall with his head, actually.”

Tucker released this statement to MM earlier:

Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men’s room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men’s room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That’s absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn’t angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.

So the story goes from Tucker fetching his buddy and hitting this guys head against a stall, to him running away screaming, only to later come back and hold him down. Which one is it, Tucker? Either way you're a weenie.

UPDATE: Media Matters wants MSNBC to account for Carlson's statements

YahooNews: (h/t NonnyMouse)

The Army on Tuesday censured a retired three-star general for a "perfect storm of mistakes, misjudgments and a failure of leadership" after the 2004 friendly-fire death in Afghanistan of Army Ranger Pat Tillman.

Army Secretary Pete Geren asked an Army review panel to decide whether Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger should also have his rank reduced.

Geren told a Pentagon news conference that, while Kensinger was "guilty of deception" in misleading investigators, there was no intentional Pentagon cover-up of circumstances surrounding the former pro football player's death - at first categorized by the military as being from enemy fire.

"He failed to provide proper leadership to the soldiers under his administrative control. ... He let his soldiers down," Geren said. "General Kensinger was the captain of that ship, and his ship ran aground."

At least six other officers received lesser reprimands.

Geren said he considered recommending a court-martial for Kensinger but ruled it out.

What an insult to the Tillmans. What an insult to the intelligence of all of us. NO evidence of a cover-up? Please.

Jane at FDL recounts another failure of memory/failure to appear in the Tillman case, although it appears he's had a change of heart.  VoteVets has an open letter to Bush and a petition you can sign.

Just in time for Memorial Day, the Fox News comedy flop "The 1/2 Hour News Hour" finds a way to avoid being funny AND insult America and the troops. Check out xenophobe Dennis Prager hawking a set of decorative plates commemorating the "Road To Surrender." Using people who are trying to save lives and bring peace and stability to Iraq as punchlines is not funny, it's disgusting.

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When Nonny sent this in (you can send story tips to the sitemonitor account, and if we use it, we'll give you a hat tip), I had to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Talk about being unclear on the concept. He tried to insult Muslims for what he admits is a misconception on his part with something that doesn't insult them. Watch, this guy is destined to be appointed by Bush as a Protocol Specialist for the State Department.

CNN.com : (h/t NonnyMouse)

A man unhappy with an Islamic association's plans to build a mosque next to his property has staged pig races as a protest during afternoon prayers.

Craig Baker, 46, sold merchandise and grilled sausages Friday for about 100 people who showed up in heavy rain. He insisted he wasn't trying to offend anyone with the pigs, which are forbidden from the Muslim diet.

"I am just defending my rights and my property," Baker said. "They totally disrespected me and my family."

Muslims don't hate pigs, they just don't eat them, said engineer Kamel Fotouh, president of the 500-member Katy Islamic Association in this Houston suburb.

"I don't care if he races, roasts or slaughters pigs," said Yousef Allam, a spokesman for the group.

The dispute began when the association asked Baker to remove his cattle from its newly bought land. The association plans to build a mosque, community center, athletic facilities and a school.

Baker agreed to move his cattle but thought the Muslims also wanted him off the land his family has lived on for more than 100 years.

Earlier this month, Baker conceded that the Muslims probably aren't after his land, but he said he had to go through with the pig races because "I would be like a total idiot if I didn't. I'd be the laughingstock now because I've gone too far."

Too late, buddy.

Yahoo News:

President Bush recalled his father's heroics as a World War II Navy pilot, during a rare joint appearance on Saturday by the two men amid a report of strains in their relationship over Iraq.

A new book, "State of Denial," by journalist Bob Woodward, says former president George Bush was "anguished" over the Iraq war and its aftermath, although the elder Bush has dismissed that account.

On Saturday, the two Bushes took part in the christening of the Navy's newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, named the USS George H.W. Bush after the 41st president.

[..]Bush's sister, Doro Bush Koch, christened it by cracking a bottle of champagne on its bow.

The president jokingly likened the new ship to his mother, who is known for her feistiness.

"She (the carrier) is unrelenting, she is unshakable, she is unyielding, she is unstoppable. As a matter of fact, (the ship) probably should have been named the Barbara Bush," he said.

I'm just not sure if that's more of an insult or a compliment to either parent.

The George Allen Insult Generator