Let the eagle soar (obligatory link):
SHARLET: [The] new (Ugandana) legislation adds to this something called aggravated homosexuality. And this can include, for instance, if a gay man has sex with another man who is disabled, that’s aggravated homosexuality, and that man can be – I suppose both, actually, could be put to death for this. The use of any drugs or any intoxicants in seeking gay sex – in other words, you go to a bar and you buy a guy a drink, you’re subject to the death penalty if you go home and sleep together after that. What it also does is it extends this outward, so that if you know a gay person and you don’t report it, that could mean – you don’t report your son or daughter, you can go to prison.
And it goes further, to say that any kind of promotion of these ideas of homosexuality, including by foreigners, can result in prison terms. Talking about same sex-marriage positively can lead you to imprisonment for life. And it’s really kind of a perfect case study and the export of a lot of American largely evangelical ideas about homosexuality exported to Uganda, which then takes them to their logical end.
[….]SHARLET: [The] legislator that introduces the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of the Family. He appears to be a core member of the Family. He works, he organizes their Uganda National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which the Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda…
Looking at the the Family’s 990s [IRS records], where they’re moving their money to – into this African leadership academy called Cornerstone, which runs two programs: Youth Corps, which [it] has described in the past as an international “invisible family binding together world leaders” and also, an alumni organization designed to place Cornerstone grads – graduates of this sort of very elite educational program and politics and NGO’s through something called the African Youth Leadership Forum, which is run by – according to Ugandan media – which is run by David Bahat…
Yutsano
Note to self: tell Sydney to cancel that honeymoon to Uganda. Besides which isn’t this the source for the big schism in the Anglican church?
Blue Raven
And to this day, rich white assholes can’t leave Africa the hell alone.
General Winfield Stuck
The Late Late post. It’s 2:30 in the morn back east Dougj. But I’m not complaining since it’s an early 12:30 AM here.
Catchy title.
People aren’t aware, but there is a sizeable Dominionist block within the Evangelical community hear in the States, and this sounds just like their cup of tea. (no pun intended). And the crazy motherfuckers make the tea baggers look like left wing flower children.
General Winfield Stuck
Living dangerous
Yutsano
@Yutsano: Sorry, should have been more clear. The schism in the Anglican church was partially started by Ugandan bishops objecting to the head church softening on homosexuality stances. I think I’m too damn tired or something.
Col. Klink
Uganda, better now than under Idi Amin. At least you won’t end up on the menu.
That could even be the country’s new tourist slogan.
The Raven
Maybe Margaret Atwood is a prophet.
YellowJournalism
For his birthday, can we get Jesus some new followers?
Seanly
Oh, if we had laws like that then butt seks would be dangerous again. All those closeted senators, representatives and religious leaders could feel ever so naughty! They could go back to living the big lie.
And to boot, they could kill off the poor and minority homersexuals caught by the gay police, allowing them to look tough on crime.
Sometimes I really hate Christian leaders.
Mnemosyne
Oh, great — not only are they discriminating against gay men, now disabled gay men get punished twice as badly as non-disabled ones. It’s two bigotries for the price of one!
And if they claim they’re trying to protect the disabled from being exploited, then make rape a crime and leave the consenting gay men alone. Problem solved.
d0n camillo
Aggravated homosexuality? Sounds like the homophobic christianist wingnuts have found their very own little heaven on Earth. My deepest sympathies to any Ugandan homosexuals. I bet it can’t have been fun to be gay in Uganda even before this shitty law.
superluminar
You know who else had Youth Corps?
Exactly.
Comrade Kevin
Will Larry Craig and David Vitter contribute to this campaign?
Little Macayla's Friend
How come nobody told me War, Inc. was surreal funny tragic real?
(my excuse for being up late)
Why don’t I feel like I’m OT?
burnspbesq
Kafka is alive and well and living in Uganda.
The Grand Panjandrum
Ah, yes, the infamous Family. It ain’t just the Republicans who pray with these hideous jackals. Hillary Clinton has ties to the Family.
Napoleon
If I was one of these rich liberals like say Peter B. Lewis or George Soros I would be funding some organization that spent 24/7/365 getting the word out about exactly what the Family is about instead of trying to get weed decriminalized or something like that. They are some paranoids fantasy of a secret organization attempting to control the country from within come to life.
Aspasia
These people mean business, and because they have money they should be taken very seriously as a threat to democracy. The Family is behind the Stupak amendment to the House Health bill, not to mention other crazy-ass Christianist stuff they sneak into large pieces of legislation. According to Sharlet’s book, their sole agenda is power.
Napoleon
OT but Tommy Ricks is on my radio (NPR) telling me how if Obama mentions an exit strategy in his Afgan speech he is a one term Pres like Carter.
And the American war machine Wurlitzer fires itself up.
Kirk Spencer
Sometime when you want to feel like you need a reason to buy more tin foil, do a little humint game of associative connection between the Family, PNAC, and CPAC.
First level of connection is membership in both. Note (oh please note) the connections where one side is leadership and the other is subordinate (or at least lower level leadership). At this point you look into getting a form – a mold for your tinfoil hat so you always have one ready to go when the old one is ready to remove. But then it can get worse.
Now look for places where the leadership of any of these hold significant power. Tests for this include: CEO for businesses, Head (regardless of title) of government agency, 1/3 or more of the board or commission or people who answer to / advise the CEO and Head.
Now look into how much it’ll cost to line your house and car, and maybe office at work, with tin foil.
Oh, wait, it gets worse. Look at that second list again. Did you stay in the US, or did you notice how this little problem is in several other nations?
The Fellowship – such an innocuous identifier, doncha know.
Hiram Taine
@Napoleon:
There was a discussion a thread or two back about multitasking and how it is indeed possible to do more than one thing at a time.
Punchy
OT, but I just cant believe this, so I must post:
From an article about Tiger Woods accident:
Can you fucking believe that cops will come to your door for questioning, and all you have to do to sober up first and make sure your story makes sense is have the wife tell them you’re sleeping?
I had NO IDEA it was that easy to shoo away the cops. Must suck being rich and spoiled.
disappointedGOPer
Strange how this wasn’t a hot topic among conspiracy theorists.
disappointedGOPer
The Fellowship, I mean.
bago
Wait. Are you telling me that aggrivated homosexuality means more than saying that orange leather couches are gauche?
cmorenc
@Punchy
To keep this on-topic, query if the Woods were having a marital spat over her discovery that Tiger’s true past is as a Ugandan homosexual refugee, and all that stuff about him being an army brat and being taught golf by his dad growing up was just a brilliantly executed P.R. ploy?
Back off-topic a bit: it does seem a bit odd that Woods’ wife thought it a sufficiently urgent emergency to break out the back window of his car with a golf club to extricate him from the car, and that although the air bag didn’t deploy, Woods nonetheless was found suffereing lacerations and bleeding in his mouth (also having the convenient collateral effect of making an on-the-spot breathylizer test a bit awkward for police to bring up). Sounds like regardless of whether Tiger had been drinking a bit before the incident, it wasn’t enough to make him obviously smell or act intoxicated enough for police to feel the need to force the issue, and instead, they suspected he’d come out on the harsh end of some sort of ugly marital spat, and they were disinclined to help feed the media sharks who’d be quickly circling.
cmorenc
Fixed – darn blockquote quirkiness in BJ’s host.
@Punchy
To keep this on-topic, query if the Woods were having a marital spat over her discovery that Tiger’s true past is as a Ugandan homosexual refugee, and all that stuff about him being an army brat and being taught golf by his dad growing up was just a brilliantly executed P.R. ploy?
Back off-topic a bit: it does seem a bit odd that Woods’ wife thought it a sufficiently urgent emergency to break out the back window of his car with a golf club to extricate him from the car, and that although the air bag didn’t deploy, Woods nonetheless was found suffereing lacerations and bleeding in his mouth (also having the convenient collateral effect of making an on-the-spot breathylizer test a bit awkward for police to bring up). Sounds like regardless of whether Tiger had been drinking a bit before the incident, it wasn’t enough to make him obviously smell or act intoxicated enough for police to feel the need to force the issue, and instead, they suspected he’d come out on the harsh end of some sort of ugly marital spat, and they were disinclined to help feed the media sharks who’d be quickly circling.
smiley
@Punchy:
From what I read, he was treated at the scene by cops who called an ambulance which took him to the hospital for treatment. If he was drunk, surely someone would have noticed.
Napoleon
@Hiram Taine:
I missed that thread but presumably those guys decide “I am going to spend $X on politics this year” so in effect their budget is limited. They can split between various issues but to the extent they pour money into one it will come at the expense of another. Someone like Lewis thinks weed is a big deal so that is where it appears to be he spends his money.
Johnny Pez
We’re exporting democracy!
geg6
Fer reals, I find the Family more frightening than al Qaeda. Rachel Maddow has pushed this story and Sharlet HARD. Wish everyone else would.
Hiram Taine
@Napoleon: People having their lives ruined over the illegal status of a substance far less dangerous and addictive than one already legal is no big deal, eh?
Marijuana Arrests For Year 2006 – 829,625 Tops Record High…Nearly 6 Percent Increase Over 2005
SiubhanDuinne
@geg6 / 9:54 am
Oh, agree absolutely. The chances of my life being directly affected by AQ are minuscule in the extreme. But the Family/Fellowship thugs are actually crafting and implementing legislation that will very likely impact me, my family and friends, my community, and god damn it, *MY COUNTRY.* I don’t give a big rat’s ass about the extramarital scandals (except for the entertainment value of watching “That’s Hypocrisy, Part IV”) but I care very much that these people are elected or appointed officials and have such power. And clearly, when it comes to power, they are insatiable.
arguingwithsignposts
@YellowJournalism:
win.
Just Some Fuckhead
I think a better question is if Jesus crashed a state dinner, who would he take as His date?
AngusTheGodOfMeat
Jesus would execute the pundits.
SATSQ 12:3
Annie
Just another form of right-wing, legalized terror or terrorism under the pro-life banner. Or will it eventually constitute right-wing genocide — systematically getting rid of one group people…
Annie
@Annie:
oops that should have read ” one group of people.”
Anya
@geg6: Well if Sullivan does not take it from here and show the same dedication he showed to the Green revolution or the nature of Trig’s birth, then he is losing his touch.
bago
@Just Some Fuckhead: He would make his date. Another bottle of Jesus Juice on tap.
arguingwithsignposts
OT, but I’m heading back home after a pretty damned good Thanksgiving week with the gf.
I’ve started a collaborative novel modeled after the screwtape letters about how lobbyists can control politicians. If you’d like to contribute, here’s a link to the project page. Title: The Politape Letters. I’ll be adding content as I can. Anyone have suggestions for some possible ways lobbyists/influence peddlers can game the system, just let me know.
enjoy the football this afternoon!
Mark S.
@geg6:
I agree. Even the most brain dead fundy would see something wrong with this:
This is Charles Manson insane. I think the press doesn’t cover this because if one of these Family guys gets elected President, they don’t want to miss out on the tire swings. They’ll be the first on board with our new Maoist Christian overlords.
Us DFH’s will still be shrill, but much quieter in our re-education camps.
Napoleon
@Hiram Taine:
Then don’t use it. I really don’t feel sorry for them.
Svensker
So does this mean that members of the Family, like Stupak, believe that all those Catholic priests should be executed? Perhaps he can make that part of his health care amendment.
Cat Lady
I spent a couple of hours yesterday reading this report on the Dublin archdiocese, and the related comments in the Irish Times. If there are any Catholics left in Ireland in 5 years, I’ll be shocked. There is no clearer indication of what happens when church and state interlock than that situation right there, where both institutions have lost all authority and credibility. The Fellowship should be careful what they wish for.
Lizzy L
I just ordered Sharlet’s book.
Oh, and just for the record, the only time I want to know about Tiger Woods is when he’s got a gold club in his hands. Really.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Who will in turn publicly tut-tut the savage brown peoples and point out that a ban on equal marriage isn’t so bad, when you consider. Nice little freedoms you homos got here. Be a shame if something happened to ’em. KnowhatImean?
GregB
Is this what Sarah Palin would call common sense conservatism?
-G
Corner Stone
@Lizzy L:
This is either a really timely Freudian slip, or comedic genius. Or both.
Mnemosyne
@Punchy:
I think you misread the story. The cops came to his door to talk to him after he got home from the hospital. Presumably they did a blood alcohol test there, so it’s not like they’re going to blow the case because Woods’ wife asked them to come back later. If the person you want to talk to has a concussion, it probably is a better idea to wait a day or two to talk to them.
mandarama
@YellowJournalism:
I can leave the Internets happy today, with such a clear winner.
Punchy
@smiley: I wasnt as much implying that Woods was drunk, but that they could so easily tell the cops to beat it if he had been (and I dont think he was). Pretty damn sure Joe Average doesn’t have the opp to have the cops “agree” to come the next morning.
This forever should be known as the Cheney Move, as he perfected the Sheriff Shakeoff after his hunting accident, most likely intoxicated.
gwangung
Actually, if the docs say he has a possible concussion, they do. Otherwise, probably not.
LittlePig
I just heard a repeat of an interview with Jeff Sharlet, the author that wrote “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power” (the book just went to paperback). He talked about how Inhofe in particular was big on getting Family influence in Africa (and getting there on the taxpayer’s dime, via military transport). Interesting that this little news item pops up now.
The guy that runs the Family is flat out nuts. He says right up front he admires Mao, Stalin and Hitler, because they understood the use of power, which is says is more important than love or faith. Now he says that of course they are evil, and he would neeeevvvver do anything like that, but he liked how they got control.
This loon doesn’t realize that Mao or Adolf or Uncle Joe didn’t think they were doing evil, either. This guy wants a world theocracy, and he has the ear of many U.S. senators. Scary stuff.
Notorious P.A.T.
Have you ever heard the old saying “where reason sleeps, monsters flourish”?
Notorious P.A.T.
Is having control of Senators the only reason he has influence, or could it also be because so many people go off to church on Sunday and put money in the plate and raise their children to do the same, thus giving an ancient belief new life and new chances to screw things up?
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Notorious P.A.T.:
Which was the inspiration for one of Goya’s most famous prints. I heard that in Spain they had a few minor problems with so-called Christians getting a little bit out of hand. I wonder if that had anything to do with it?
James F. Elliott
We need to remember that Hilary Clinton is an associate of The Family.
Jon H
@Punchy: “Can you fucking believe that cops will come to your door for questioning, and all you have to do to sober up first and make sure your story makes sense is have the wife tell them you’re sleeping?”
Um, the accident happened at 2 AM, and he didn’t get out of the hospital until, what, Friday afternoon? So this would have been then, after he got out of the hospital.
Presumably, he would have sobered up in the 12+ hours between the accident and the police’s arrival.
Jon H
@Punchy: ” Pretty damn sure Joe Average doesn’t have the opp to have the cops “agree” to come the next morning.”
Er, it depends on the circumstances, doesn’t it?
I mean, if they’re coming to interview a witness, or a victim, they’re not exactly going to bust in.
Given that the cops at the scene of the accident didn’t ID him as being drunk, there’s no reason to presume a crime was involved.
They were probably only there because he hit public property and a neighbor’s tree, and thus they had to complete a report. Had Woods only damaged his own property, they might not have paid a visit at all.
Corner Stone
I think the absolutely most vital part of this whole scenario is that Hillary Clinton should be held accountable. Probably even forced to resign as SoS.
It’s probably the only way we can end the homosexuality in Uganda.
licensed to kill time
@GregB:
You betcha (wink!)
Luthe
@Annie:
But Obama is still Hitler! /snark
rubyruby
Jesus wept.