HAVE A PEACE FILLED NEW YEAR

Aren't equal rIghts for everybody?

In January '09 we have 2 opportunities to demonstrate our support of equal rights for all, and, yes, that includes the glbt community. And by "we", I mean my fellow heteros, not just lgbt folks.

Harvey Milk was right, gays & lesbians should make their voices heard - LOUDER people.

Straights need open their yaps on these issues also - again, LOUDER people.

Here's how we can do it:

Jan. 10 - from 2 - 4
Schenley Quad near the libraries
Rallies will be held nationwide on this day to bring attention to DOMA, locally we need to put the high beams on our County Council, they need to include everyone in their ordinance prohibiting discrimination in Employment, Housing and Public Accommodations.

January 15 - at 5 p.m.
Gold Room, 4th Floor County Court House, 436 Grant St.
County Council Hearing, re above mentioned ordinance. Predictably, opposition to glbt inclusion is bringing pressure to bear on County Council members.

If you'd like to speak at the hearing contact John Mascio, Chief Clerk, JMascio@alleghenycounty.us or 350-6495, no later than 24 hours prior to the hearing.

In Sisterhood

What: In Sisterhood is an oral history project highlighting influential feminists of the region – including Alma Speed Fox, Molly Rush, Eleanor Smeal & Barbara Hafer – via a multimedia exhibit that includes a portrait gallery and videos of their interviews.

Show Runs: January 9 - 25, 2009

Show Opening Reception: Friday, January 9, 2009

Location: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Gallery, corner of Fifth and Shady Avenues in Shadyside

Info.: www.insisterhood.info

The 250th Dream I Had

Warning: this isn't made up. If it were, I would have had the women on roller skates . . .

I got some flannel pajamas for Christmas. So I tested them out, naturally. I have vivid dreams, but the dream I had a few nights ago can only be described as well, maybe you can find the words.

Picture this. Luke wants to film a commercial about Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary to promote tourism and our heritage. The backdrop is the Heinz History Museum. From a second story window, a huge stiff yellow ribbon holds about 60 of Pittsburgh's most famous faces--Ben Roethlisberger; Franco Harris; Luke, his wife Erin, and their baby; Mr. Rogers and his wife, Joanne; August Wilson; Andrew Carnegie and a dinosaur; David Johnson and Peggy Finnegan, all on the ribbon and all smiling.

The camera pans through the window and into the building. . . there is light smoke everywhere and as it begins to lift, it reveals a rollerskating rink. Women wearing red sequined dresses and sporting giant fluffy aqua-net hair begin float out and dance sexily. The backs of their dresses are open, showing off sparkly see-through panties and bras while the disco ball rotates around the rink. In hushed voices, they whispered to each other, "Cherry McDonald is coming."

Finally, a curtain opens and out comes Andy Warhol and when he turns around, he's also Ronald McDonald, hence the name, "Cherry McDonald." He dances around for a bit with the women and at the end in a finale, they all pose together.

If Luke should take my dream idea and use it to promote Pittsburgh, I want royalties.


Lady Elaine

A LITTLE BREATH

New Blog: MacKenzie Carpenter

She hasn't yet joined The Society, but she is now among us at http://mackenziecarpenter.blogspot.com/

That's Our Bush - Still the Worst President Ever

And this is announced on Christmas Eve, as if it's a gift for those of us who know he still doesn't have a clue after eight years:

Bush Orders Pardon Re-examined.

I'm 51 years old; I've been following politics for over 40 years. I never remember hearing of a pardon being "re-examined" - have you?

Happy Holidays!

Laurie Mann
No Longer the World's Slowest Blog
http://www.dpsinfo.com

wishing you peace and a full belly this holiday season

You never know when the meter's going to run out

This evening I learned that a young friend of mine - she was in her twenties - died. She'd moved from Pgh. to North Carolina a few years ago with Tom, the love of her life.

Tonight he told it happened last Saturday, in South Carolina. They had a car accident, she died in the life flight helicopter on the way to the hospital.

Her name was Jaime Vodvarka. She was a force of light and life.

She is the first person I ever hired for a job (years ago). I remember the day well. Jaime was my last interview of the day, I'd already met 3 ho-hum candidates for the job. When Jaime barrelled in, every bell & whistle in my head started clanging, "This is the one, you MUST hire her!" I told myself to pipe down & interview the woman, at that point I didn't even know if she could speak.

After a long & freaking energizing conversation, I hired her. My bells & whistles were correct, at every problem, at every disappointment, I could count on Jaime getting me up, wiping myself off and hitting the trail again. And she never even realized she was doing it.

The love of her life told me they'd gotten married a couple of weeks ago in a very small wedding (3 or 4 people in attendance). I said that was a really good thing. It might not be the wedding the world thinks you should have, it's the one they did have and they had it just in time.

Just in time is something I learned when I returned to life from my heart attack. This time - as I type - is just in time.

But Jaime, it's a crooked life when I out lived you my young friend.

Safe Merry Christmas

This is the time of year that firefighters look forward to and dread. In these tough economic times we find that citizens attempt to heat their homes in unconventional ways, creating more of a fire hazard for themselves and those responding. Christmas lights, unchecked , creat electrical shorts at inopportune times. Candles are left burning, and of course holiday parties, with alcohol involved many times, lcreate opportunity for cigarette butts left in places like sofas or dropped in trash cans, that many times smolder in sofa's or cans without anyone's knowledge.

Please be safe this holiday season and remember that fire safety is especially important this time of year.

wild thing you make everything jolie

This post is apropos of nothing.

I was 12 in 1966 and a huge fan of most of the groups in what adults back then called the British Invasion.

One of my favorite songs is "Wild Thing" by the Troggs.

American Chip Taylor wrote the song. Chip's real name is James Voight, he's Jon's brother & Angelina Jolie's uncle.

Angelina's other uncle is Barry Voight whose chosen profession, of all things, is geologist.

Hey, Merry Christmas - you make everything groovy. Why am I still awake?

New Email Group for LGBT Bloggers

All LGBTQ bloggers through the Commonwealth are invited to join a new email group. To participate, you should identify as part of the Pennsylvania LGBTQ community and have a blog. Your blog can be about any topic, not necessarily LGBTQ issues.

Our goal is to build stronger connections and community to demonstrate the rich diversity of Pennsylvania's gay community. Please visit http://groups.google.com/group/pa-lgbtq-bloggers to subscribe.

Thanks.

www.carmenformayor.com

Carmen Robinson's , (female candidate for mayor) campaign website: http://www.carmenformayor.com/ (it's a work in progress - not much info on it now)

Contact email: info@carmenformayor.com

Thanks to Matt Hogue posting this info on his blog.

Hobbies?

So, who here has a hobby and what is it? I'm just curious.

-Agent Ska-

Pittsburgh Toys for Tots ignores "New Needy"

Finally, the information on the Toys for Tots open house.

We are hosting an open house from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM on the 19th and 20th of December. The location is 313 Boulevard of the Allies which is Lawrence Hall on the Point Park University campus. To receive toys you will need to bring identification for both yourself and your children, proof of government assistance, such as welfare, WIC or Access cards and the children themselves.

For those of you who may not recall, in 2007 Toys for Tots did not offer open houses because of the lack of manpower (deployment to Iraq) and their new West Mifflin location. They asked agencies to pick up the slack. My then agency didn't question anyone about being eligible for government assistance and served hundreds of families.

The Marine in charge told tales of hundreds of people waiting in the snow and freezing rain with no port-a-john, no food or beverage and a lot of children. Apparently, it wasn't pretty and hard to manage (imagine what people do to ensure their children have a nice holiday).

I don't think the plan went very well, mostly due to agencies' capacity to absorb hundreds if not thousands of extra people.

So this year, the Open House is back. I am not sure what happened in previous years, but the requirement of proof of government assistance stuns me. This was printed by the PG which is a partner in this project (see the relentless Goodfellows pleas the past month), the very same paper running story after story about the new needy.

Will an unemployment check count as proof of government assistance (especially if you worked in financial services and the government assisted your bosses)? What if you are working two part-time, minimum wage jobs and giving up time at the foodbank line to try to get some toys for your kids? What is you just qualified for LIHEAP? What if you just got your pink slip yesterday and know that money is going to be tight?

I am stunned. Certainly, people on public assistance deserve the toys. But what about all of the other people?

Anita Bryant

So as soon as I got home from seeing Milk, I rushed to my computer to see if Anita's still alive.

She is.

31 years ago that woman was a hot mess, starting trouble where there didn't need to be any. 31 years ago my 1st daughter was born, so I wasn't paying as close attention to politics as I do now, hence my need for Google's assistance.

Was Bryant's religious crusade against homosexuals the beginning of the fundamentalist Christians' political activism? I don't recall there being a previous onslaught.

Anita made her fame as pitch woman for Florida o.j., up until a boycott of her juice, led by homosexual activists across this nation, caused juice sales to dry up @ which point the juice folks dropped her like a hot potato.

One of the central tenets of La Bryant's anti-gay fear mongering was that, because homosexuals don't reproduce, they are reduced to recruiting "our children".

Harvey Milk opened many of his rallies with "I'm here to recruit you." So, thanks Anita, for a cool rallying cry.

Too bad about your losing your lucrative o.j. endorsement and - boo hoo - your record & book sales vanishing into thin air and your having to declare bankruptcy. All that financial stress, not to mention bad press, led to your divorcing your husband. (It barely took a New York minute for La Bryant's fundamendalist fans to drop her upon learning she divorced her hubby.)

Milk's a good movie.

I hope that Milk serves as a call to action.

Get up off your duffs people, run for local office, help someone running for office. Just do it. Harvey Milk lost THREE times before being elected.

I'm here to recruit you.

Because these ads are driving me crazy too

.

WATCH THE 1ST. STORY CAREFULLY

MAKES SENSE TO ME

NOW's Feminist Action Agenda for 2009 And Beyond

Working with a new president and a more women-friendly Congress

With women's rights supporters headed to the White House and in congressional leadership, we have an opportunity to reverse some of the backward movement of the past eight years, and begin to again move forward in addressing equality and opportunity for women and girls. The following Feminist Action Agenda is by no means exhaustive, but it is a starting place.

Please join us in this effort, and sign up to receive periodic email action alerts when we need your help. This is our opportunity to ensure that women and children are remembered and included in addressing the current economic crisis, and a chance to reverse the last eight years of disappearing jobs, reduced family incomes, the persistent wage gap for women and people of color and the massive national debt. Also be sure to vote in our Feminist Agenda Survey on how critical the following issues are to you.

To increase equality and opportunity for women and girls, we propose the following action agenda:

ECONOMIC JUSTICE
Close the Wage Gap and Ensure that Women are Paid Equally
Adopt legislation that includes the elements of the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act and the Fair Pay Act as well as provisions that close the loopholes under the Equal Pay Act
Lift the 1991 limitation (cap) on damages that can be awarded to sex discrimination victims
Direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate systemic patterns of pay discrimination in occupational categories where more women and people of color are employed
Restore the policies and programs of the Department of Labor in order to promote the needs and interests of workers and enhance the capabilities of the Women's Bureau
Reinstate the collection of data on women workers and strengthen the Office of Federal Contract Compliance so that there is better oversight of federal contracting with women and minority-owned businesses
Improve Benefits for Workers
Pass legislation authorizing paid parental leave for federal workers, extend the unpaid Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to cover employers with ten or more employees and remove Bush administration limitations on FMLA
Promote and enact expansion of paid Family and Medical Leave and guarantee minimum paid sick days to include all workers
Make the minimum wage a livable wage, protect overtime pay, return "comp time" decisions to workers, and expand unemployment coverage
Establish proportional parity in pay and benefits for part-time and contingent workers
Increase Women's Retirement Security
Protect the existing structure of Social Security, reject proposals to divert Social Security contributions into individual investment accounts and oppose benefit cuts to retirees
Increase benefits for widows, divorced or never married women, elderly women and women with disabilities
Make the Social Security payroll tax more progressive and/or raise the cap on taxable income
Establish a "Family Service Credit," an earnings credit that takes into account the number of years spent "working" at home or as a caregiver out of the paid workforce in calculating benefits, and expand the Special Minimum to include years of caregiving
Reduce the minimum number of marriage years required to receive spousal benefits from 10 to seven
Increase the widow's (or survivor's) benefit to 75 percent of the couple's combined benefit (capping the maximum benefit) and increase the funeral allotment
Extend employer-based retirement plans to proportionally include part-time and seasonal workers
Extend the spousal protections of traditional defined-benefit plans to also protect defined-contribution plans
Adopt a national program to encourage personal savings that would provide a federal match contribution for low-income workers
Make High-Quality Child Care Affordable, Accessible and Safe
Improve the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and authorize a refundable caregivers credit
Provide for a $10 billion new investment in next year's budget for the Child Care Development Block Grant and other early childhood programs
Raise reimbursement rates paid to child care providers so that they can receive a living wage, and provide grants to child care workers to improve their education and training
Target grants to support high-quality infant and toddler care that is available to all parents
Economic Crisis Measures
Provide additional rental assistance through a housing voucher program, a temporary increase in food stamp benefits, an expanded and improved TANF contingency fund, as well as expanded and extended unemployment benefits
Help states financially, so they can provide programs and services to struggling families
Ensure that jobs programs, including capital projects and infrastructure building programs, also include jobs for women, people of color, people with disabilities and the unemployed and under-employed
Modernize the Federal Poverty Measure to take into account current consumption patterns for basic necessities, income assistance from public programs, necessary expenses and geographical differences in the cost of living
Plans to reduce poverty should be integrated with job creation planning, expansion of education and vocational training programs, infrastructure building and other efforts to end the current economic crisis
Reform Welfare Assistance Programs
Abandon punitive welfare reform provisions under the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program and adopt provisions that will help families escape poverty permanently
Lift the five-year time limitation on assistance until the economic crisis passes and more jobs are available
Authorize additional funding to fully support subsidized child care programs for women transitioning to education, job training or employment under TANF
Reduce the number of work hours per week required for TANF recipients to continue receiving assistance
Increase significantly the allowable number of hours per week of education and job skills training that count as required "work" for continuation of TANF benefits
Increase the percentage of women in the program who can be permitted to finish high school and attend a postsecondary institution or vocational training program
Expand housing, transportation and nutritional assistance for TANF families
Assure access to health care coverage and adopt counseling, rehabilitation treatment and federal assistance programs for women -- particularly pregnant women -- who have experienced substance abuse problems
Change the Family Violence Option to a mandate to assure that all state TANF programs conduct domestic violence screening and provide assistance programs
Eliminate the "family cap" which permits states to deny support to infants born into a family on welfare
End federal funding of untested marriage promotion programs and "fatherhood" programs that take funding away from the parent who is actually raising the children in need
Economic Security for Children
Restore at a minimum the $6.7 billion to state-run offices of child support enforcement programs that were slashed by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, so that the billions of dollars owed to families can be collected and expeditiously distributed to custodial parents
Expand federal programs and funding to aid child abuse and neglect prevention and assistance programs, considering that child neglect and abuse costs society $103.8 billion annually
Expand the Child Tax Credit so that it covers all caregiving (including non-married partners and disabled adults) and makes it fully refundable for low-income working families
Expand funding and eligibility for services covered under the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC), a low-income hunger relief program that currently faces a shortfall due to increasing food prices and the growing number of families seeking help
Support Women-Owned Businesses
Increase funding for the Women's Office at the Small Business Administration and strengthen the women's procurement program so goals can be more easily achieved
Increase the proportion of federal contracts awarded to women-owned businesses from 3.4 to 10 percent
Increase the Small Business Contracting Goal and expand use of subcontractors
Promote a domestic budget that provides human needs services and programs that help women and families avoid or escape poverty

Rescind the numerous tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals and corporations pushed through in the last eight years

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND SEXUAL HEALTH
Stop Abstinence Education Funding by halting the $183 million taxpayer giveaway to dangerous, ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, and replace them with medically-accurate, age-appropriate sex education. Prioritize programs that stress both abstinence and contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies

Support Medically Accurate and Comprehensive Sex Education by authorizing federal grants to help fund local school district programs and provide information especially to at-risk groups

Reduce Unintended Pregnancy by significantly increasing funding for Title X Family Planning Programs by at least $1 billion annually in order to reduce unintended pregnancies that can lead to a lifetime of poverty

Assure Contraception Affordability and Access
Repeal the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act provision that eliminated affordable birth control for campus clinics and health centers serving low-income women and reinstitute mandatory Medicaid coverage for birth control
Reject policies that allow pharmacists to refuse to fill contraception prescriptions
Require insurance companies that cover other prescription medications to also cover prescription birth control
Withdraw the age restriction on over-the-counter emergency contraception
Withdraw the Global Gag Rule
Promote reproductive health care programs in other countries, including those that provide abortion services or make referrals for abortion care or engage in advocacy for abortion rights
Improve access to Emergency Contraception ("the morning-after pill") by requiring dispensing of EC to rape victims in every hospital emergency room receiving federal funds, and by ensuring its availability in clinics serving low-income women

Permit abortions for U.S. military women serving overseas who have been deprived of access to safe legal abortion while serving their country in areas where a safe abortion cannot be obtained locally

Restore U.S. Funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), a critical agency that advances voluntary family planning and maternal health in 150 developing countries

Authorize funds for medicine and supplies to ensure safe childbirth and obstetric care, and make contraceptives available to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases
Allocate at least $1 Billion to International Family Planning to fund critically important aid programs in developing countries that provide access to reproductive health care services

Enact the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) to protect by federal statute a woman's right to choose an abortion, thereby immediately restoring reproductive freedom for the millions of women who face interference with their reproductive rights as a result of onerous state and federal restrictions

Repeal Hyde Amendment Restrictions on Federal Funding for women who depend on government subsidized and government provided health care. Health insurance must cover programs such as family planning and abortion services for Indian Health Services and Medicaid recipients as well as individuals in prisons, in the military and residents of the District of Columbia

Halt Adoption of a "Provider Conscience" Regulation that threatens women's access to birth control and other reproductive health care services by allowing doctors and other healthcare workers to opt out of practices like prescribing birth control pills, inserting IUDs, or dispensing emergency contraception that they find morally objectionable

Approve Funding for Stem Cell Research
Broaden the number of human embryonic stem cell lines that are available for federally-funded research
Support medical advancement and innovation with embryonic, amniotic, cord blood and adult stem cells to secure treatments for scores of debilitating and life-threatening diseases
Ensure ethical standards by requiring informed written consent for donors of surplus embryos
Reform the Food and Drug Administration and Hold it Accountable to Consumers
Restore policy that is based on scientific research findings, not political or corporate interests
Fund independent studies on drugs and devices, and require manufacturers to fully disclose all clinical trial results
Assure that Advisory Committee members are free from conflict of interest
Conduct a thorough review of manufacturers' compliance with FDA recommendations on monitoring silicone breast implant patients, and reporting of adverse events including how they affect the health of fetuses and children born to women with implants
EQUAL RIGHTS AND ENDING SEX DISCRIMINATION
Keep Women and Girls in the Picture by establishing a cabinet-level Office on Women (analogous to the cabinet-level Office on Drug Control Policy) that would evaluate federal programs, initiatives and policies for their impact on women -- addressing both opportunities and inequities -- and improve their effectiveness through coordination and strategic planning.

Nominate and Confirm Fair and Independent Federal Judges, including nominees for the Supreme Court, circuit courts and U.S. attorneys who have a demonstrated commitment to constitutional rights and recognize women's rights to privacy and equal treatment under the law

Appoint Feminists to Key Positions in the Departments of Justice, State, Defense, Commerce, Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as the other departments and agencies. Ensure that appointees in the new administration reflect race and gender diversity, and strive for gender balance across the government

Advance Constitutional Equality for Women
Hold hearings on the need for and legal implications of a Women's Equality Amendment or Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution that would assure that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex"
Pass legislation to enact an ERA and promote the amendment's ratification by three-fourths of the states with no time limitation on the ratification process
Ratify CEDAW, the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and remove the Reservations, Declarations and Understandings (RDUs) attached by prior administrations that undermine its meaning and intent.

Enact Hate Crimes Prevention legislation to expand existing federal hate crime laws to cover acts of hate violence based on the victim's real or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability

Lift the Combat Exclusion on Women in the Military and the ban on assigning women to forward support companies

HEALTHCARE FOR ALL
Promote and Enact Comprehensive Universal Healthcare
Guarantee the inclusion of equal and unrestricted access to comprehensive, high quality, affordable and timely reproductive health care, including contraception, pre-natal, birthing and post-natal care
Include insurance coverage for medically necessary post operative stays -- births, breast cancer, etc.
Promote a single-payer plan which will reduce inequities in access, improve health outcomes and quality, and control rising costs in our health care system
Ensure Every Child Has Health Care
Promptly pass an improved and expanded SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, to ensure that every child and pregnant woman has access to affordable health coverage and health services, including all medically necessary services
Work with the states to simplify the application and enrollment process to make it easy for all children to get covered and stay covered
Pass ICHIA, the Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act, which removes the five-year waiting period for new immigrants and gives states the option to provide health coverage to lawfully residing low-income immigrant children and pregnant women through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
Promote Healthy and Informed Pregnancies, Births and Post-Natal Care
Discourage procedures that are not medically needed or widely requested, like cesarean sections and induced labor
Increase the number of nationally certified midwives, expand the midwives and birth centers considered to be eligible care providers in Medicaid and all insurance programs, and allow nationally certified midwives to practice autonomously
Provide federal financial assistance to increase the number of birth centers that provide high-quality, cost-effective care and minimize the need for expensive interventions and c-sections
Ensure Equal Rights and Access for Women with Disabilities
Provide complete access to healthcare services, facilities and equipment that includes but is not limited to wheelchair access, sign language interpreters, facilities to accommodate large-size patients, and materials formulated specifically for the blind or visually impaired
Ensure equal reproductive and parenting rights for women with disabilities, and increase their access to abortion, birth control, obstetrical services, gynecological care and adoption
Require that all heath insurance plans cover mental health and disability-specific services and maintain low deductibles and co-pay fees
Require each state to have at least a minimal Medicaid-funded personal assistance program so that all individuals with disabilities can choose to live in their own homes
Encourage states to write "waivers" redirecting Medicaid funds that usually go to institutions into personal assistance services instead
Expand HIV-AIDS Prevention and Treatment Programs for Women and Girls with robust support for HIV research, prevention, and treatment

Reauthorize the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to allow the Indian Health Service (IHS) to modernize and improve its delivery of healthcare services, provide in-home care for the elderly, and develop programming to address behavioral and mental health well-being

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Appoint an Advisor in the White House to promote strong enforcement of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and to propose new initiatives to eliminate violence against women

Prevent Sexual Violence and Domestic Assault
Fully fund and enhance the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
Prioritize prevention efforts and expand grants for education and survivor assistance programs that include underserved racial, cultural, religious, disabled and senior communities, and which address incest, pedophilia, child sexual assault, dating violence, adult sexual assault and rape in the home, on campus, in the workplace and community and in the military
Address the need for better assessment tools to evaluate the likelihood of further violence, as well as the evaluation of new enforcement techniques such as GPS monitoring
Require sexual assault programs and all medical services facilities receiving federal funds to include emergency contraception as part of any medical protocol when treating rape and domestic violence survivors and to provide rape kits free as part of their services
Undertake a comprehensive study (with recommendations for change) of state family courts to determine the nature and extent of child custody awards to parents with documented domestic violence and child abuse records
Safeguard laws preventing individuals convicted of domestic violence from owning and carrying firearms
Promote legislation that would provide a civil rights "private cause of action" for victims of gender-based violence
Reform Family Law treatment of violence and make custody guidelines more strict to protect both children and survivors of domestic abuse
Promote Peace and Provide Humanitarian Aid
End the U.S. involvement in the Iraq civil war by immediately establishing a short timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops, to be replaced with military forces from other nations for peace-keeping purposes and assistance in re-construction
Oppose further administration requests for "emergency spending" on the war and support reallocating these funds to supporting and rebuilding the lives and communities in our own country
Address Violence Against Women Around the World and Stop Sex Trafficking
Increase efforts to identify and apprehend sex traffickers operating in the U.S., strengthen the Department of Justice resolve to prosecute these crimes, rework requirements for prosecuting traffickers in order to protect victims, and allow trafficking victims to seek civil restitution from their traffickers
Pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), which provides an opportunity for the United States to be a leader in preventing violence against women around the world.
Provide asylum rights for women to protect them from violence and end "honor killings," forced marriages, genital mutilation, femicide, child marriages, mass rape as a weapon in armed conflict, and other atrocities
Promote the treatment and elimination of obstetric fistulas, which develop due to a lack of adequate medical care during pregnancy and birth
LGBT RIGHTS
Establish a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Liaison Position in the White House to improve communications with and enhance policies affecting the LGBT community

Ensure Federal Benefits for Same-Sex Couples by enacting a federal domestic partnership status that would allow domestic partners, regardless of sexual orientation, to receive federal benefits and treatment equal to married couples under the law

Support Marriage Equality and oppose any federal constitutional amendment to outlaw or ban same-sex marriage as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution

Repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy to end all discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender individuals in the military, and amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prohibit discrimination against LGBT service members

Pass Legislation to Prohibit Discrimination against LGBT Individuals in education, employment, housing and public accommodations; add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal nondiscrimination laws, without religious exceptions from civil rights laws

Expand Adoption Rights for all couples and individuals regardless of sexual orientation and marriage status

EDUCATIONAL EQUITY
Restore, Protect and Enforce Title IX
Rescind the Department of Education's 2005 Athletics Policy and do not permit colleges and universities to demonstrate that they are providing equal participation opportunities to women simply by sending an email survey to their female students and treating a failure to respond as evidence of a lack of interest in playing sports. Make the governing standards those that are detailed in the 1996 Policy Clarification
Increase Opportunities for Women in Science, Math, Engineering and Technology
Expand federal government efforts to assist women in the math, science, engineering and information technology fields in order to promote their presence in graduate schools, on faculties, in labs and research institutions
Promote equal pay and promotion for women on college and university faculties, public school teachers and researchers at educational institutions receiving federal financial assistance
Limit Sex-Segregation in Public Education
Withdraw the 2006 Department of Education regulations allowing public schools to establish sex-segregated schools and classes that foster sex discrimination and sex stereotyping
Adopt restrictions on education funding if school districts choose to offer schools or classrooms segregated by sex, other than those permitted under the original Title IX law and regulations.
Mandate biennial evaluations and stipulate the criteria for evaluations-all to be submitted to the Department of Education and released to the public via the Internet
PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND ENDING RACISM
Promote and Protect Affirmative Action by advocating for education and employment policies that affirmatively address gender and racial disparities throughout our society

Pass Comprehensive Civil Rights Legislation that would undo court decisions that have limited access to civil rights protections and fair treatment in the court

Advance Fair and Comprehensive Immigration Reform that reflects the social and economic forces affecting the lives of immigrant woman and their families

Provide a path to citizenship that allows immigrant women to have work permits (as opposed to the current dependent visas that prohibit any work, keeping abused women effectively captive to their abusers)
Support non-discrimination in the workplace and fair wages with increased support for education, access to health care and social services and protection from exploitation and abuse in the home and workplace
Specifically promote fair and equal treatment for domestic, seasonal and migrant workers
Immediately End Illegal Raids and Cruel Long-Term Detention which endanger women and children

MEDIA FAIRNESS AND ACCESSIBILITY
Ensure Full and Fair Representation of Women In The Media.
Promote diversity in media ownership and prevent further consolidation of media ownership. Currently, just as an example, women own six percent of the commercial broadcast TV stations in the U.S., and people of color own a mere three percent
Create a national dialogue about the "soft hate speech" and violent/exploitative images that pollute all forms of media, degrading women and other oppressed groups
Increase funding for public media, such as PBS and NPR, and support the expansion of community media and other independent outlets, such as low-power radio stations
Invest in developing universal, affordable Internet access for all; implement a national high speed Internet policy
Protect network neutrality and the open concept of the Internet; carriers must not be allowed to institute discriminatory toll charges on content and services delivered via the web
Appoint FCC (Federal Communications Commission) members who are committed to serving the people of the U.S., not corporate interests.
Restore and enforce the Fairness Doctrine for all broadcasters under FCC regulations
The administration and Congress must also work together to allocate appropriate funds and craft legislation that will advance these goals
RESOURCES:
National Organization for Women, An Action Agenda for the 110th Congress: http://now.org/issues/legislat/110thagenda.html
Center for American Progress and New Democracy Project, Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President:
Jessica Arons and Shira Saperstein's chapter on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights: http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/changeforamerica/pdf/reproductive.pdf
Winnie Stachelberg and Mark Shields' chapter on LGBT Priorities: http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/changeforamerica/pdf/glbt.pdf
Center for Reproductive Rights, Federal Policy Agenda: Advancing What's Right for Women and The Nation: http://www.reproductiverights.org/pdf/FPA_UPDATED.pdf
Citizens for Midwifery at Healthy People 2020, http://cfmidwifery.org/resources/
Coalition on Human Needs, Towards Shared Recovery: Congress Must Do More to Reverse the Recession: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2008/sharedrecovery103108.pdf
LCCR Education Fund, Civil Rights Monitor 2007-2008. Vol18:1, Winter 2008.
National Birth Policy Coalition, http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org
National Women's Law Center, A Platform for Progress: Building a Better Future for Women and Their Families: http://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=3308§ion=infocenter
National Organization for Women, Women in Media Fact Sheet: http://www.now.org/issues/media/women_in_media_facts.html
For more information, contact Pat Reuss preuss@now.org or 202 628 8669

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Center for Progressive Leadership - apply for ’09 now!

Deadline to apply/Closing Date: January 5, 2009

The Center for Progressive Leadership is a nonpartisan organization that runs Political Leaders’ Fellowships in Pennsylvania and four other states.

CPL’s 9-Month Fellowship is a program for working professionals who are looking to advance progressive change at every level of civic and political involvement, including:

Future Candidates and Elected Officials
Campaign Professionals
Nonprofit and Advocacy Leaders
Community Organizers and Activists
Policy and Media Leaders

During the program, the Fellows:

attend five weekend training workshops
receive hours of one-on-one leadership coaching
engage with experienced mentors
network with peers from across PA

For more information/to apply, contact Paula Umana, pumana@progressiveleaders.org

Run, Baby, Run

I know that some of you are already on the Run, Baby, Run yahoo group, but I thought I'd put an invite out there to people who are interested in local politics, specifically in women, young people, minorities running for office.

I try to keep it on as even a keel as possible, but as it is non partisan, around election time some tempers may flare (not mine, of course).

It's a place to ask questions, give updates on how campaigns are going, etc. Healthy debate is welcome - snide, rude b.s. isn't.

Men & women are welcome to join.

I believe you'll be directed to the group on Google using this address http://groups.yahoo.com/group/runbabyrun/

There's a spot on the site where you can sign up for membership. These requests come to me & I've approved all of them, except for Sarah Palin & John Edwards...(just joking, he never asked to join, neither did La Palin).

Ciao, the ballot box beckons,
Gloria

60TH ANNIVERSARY

JUST BECAUSE I WANTED TO:

more animals

11/5/08 - so what have we learned today?

That State Rep. Chelsa Wagner's NOT running for mayor.

That a Pgh. policewoman, (last name Robinson), IS running for mayor. This bit was just reported on KDKA radio.

Ought to be interesting...

PROP 8

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

# of female state legislators is up

O.K., this might only be of interest to me, regardless I'm passing along tidbits from an email sent by the White House Project. Hope springs eternal...

From: The Colorado Independent - 11/17/08

"(In 2008) The number of women running for state legislative seats ... 2,328 sought office, up from the previous high of 2,302 in 1992. In 2006, even more women ran for state legislator, but more seats are up for election nationwide in non-presidential years...

"... 2008 was a record, and it managed to get us from 23.7 percent of women serving in state legislatures to 24.2 percent,” Debbie Walsh, director of the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics...

Colorado tops percentage of women state legislators as gains inch forward...the highest percentage of women serving as state legislators this year, barely edging out Vermont and New Hampshire...

...38 percent of Colorado’s lawmakers are women, ahead of Vermont’s 37.8 percent and New Hampshire’s 37.7 percent. In only one chamber in the nation — the New Hampshire state Senate — do women hold a majority of seats...

...Women made slight gains in the U.S. Congress, netting a Senate seat and three House seats, for an identical 17 percent membership in each chamber... the U.S. is 71st in the world for its percentage of women in the lower House...

IT'S WORLD AIDS DAY

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

to everyone!

Keyword Search Amusement

Who doesn't get a kick out of knowing the top five searches that bring people to a blog? I surely do.
Here are the keywords that bring people here.

1. Obama Pittsburgh October 27
2. 17 children
3. pittsburgh porn (umm...I didn't realize there was a large industry...but then again, I wouldn't.)
4. Lynn Cullen
5. peduto ijustine

others that amuse me:

-Buy my daughter

-mayor requirements

-don't trust anyone over 30 (I kid you not).

-inappropriate humor

-mega vagina (why do I feel it's wrong to write that all out?)

-evil women are

-women's views on sex

-"journalism degree" "Don't want to write for"

-aaron mcgruder's agent?

-an acronym for woman

-all male gay bars in pgh,pa.com (I'm not quite sure that we're the place to go to for that)

-barbie conventions

-chris potter and birthday and pittsburgh blog

-free pittsburgh porn

-frank dermody medical marijuana (SAY WHAT? Furreal?)

-fucker woman from alaska

-how can a women have 17 kids?

-house keepers in men's locker rooms (huh?)

-is women's right a joke (uhh it is SO good this person can't be tracked easily)

-where to find sarah palin glasses in pittsburgh pa

-why women shouldn't be police officers

There were quite a few people searching for Pittsburgh Porn and the other one keeps being about having 17 children.

ooookay then...

-Agent Ska-

JUST BECAUSE IT'S SO CUTE

more animals

REALLY SOMETHING SEEN ALL AT ONCE:

Women, minorities, autistic children: Conservative radio's vitriol not reserved for Obama

As Media Matters for America documented,

the nationwide network of conservative radio hosts -- personalities without the national prominence of Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh -- engaged in an all-out effort to foment hate and suspicion of Barack Obama by participating actively in an echo chamber of smears and falsehoods about the primary candidate and then Democratic nominee. But these same radio hosts were by no means discerning in their vitriol and did not save their ire solely for Obama. The smears ran the gamut, both in the context of the 2008 election, as Media Matters noted in the previous report, and beyond. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general), the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets of these radio personalities' invective. Media Matters and Colorado Media Matters have compiled some of their more noteworthy attacks on these groups.

Immigrants

In discussing immigration reform or immigration in general, conservative talk-radio hosts have repeatedly smeared immigrants -- Latino immigrants in particular -- as violent, uncivilized, or having sinister motives against the United States. Media Matters has documented several instances of talk-radio hosts baselessly blaming undocumented immigrants for the mortgage crisis, citing bogus statistics -- refuted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development -- to claim that they held a significant percentage of subprime loans.

G. Gordon Liddy
G. Gordon Liddy smeared undocumented Mexican immigrants, claiming they "want to reconquer America, they say"

On the June 5 broadcast of his radio show, G. Gordon Liddy asserted: "[T]he problem that I have is with people who come over here and instead of wanting to become Americans, you know, fly the American flag, learn English, and so forth, they want to fly the Mexican flag, they want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien." Liddy later added: "They want to reconquer America, they say."

Jim Quinn, Lee Rodgers
Conservative radio hosts claimed HUD said 5 million illegal immigrants were given subprime mortgages, despite HUD's reported denials

On October 10, KSFO's Lee Rodgers repeated a variation of the claim that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that it gave "5 million illegal aliens" subprime loans which have not been paid back. The same day, Quinn & Rose's Jim Quinn also claimed that "[f]ive million of these bad mortgages went to illegal aliens" without citing a source for the figure. But neither noted that HUD has reportedly stated that this statistic is false.

Michael Savage
Savage: "Illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty

Discussing the Italian government's reported decision to deploy soldiers on city streets to combat violent crime allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, Michael Savage said during the August 4 broadcast of his radio show: "So they've done there what we need to do here. We need to get our troops out of Iraq and put them on the streets of America to protect us from the scourge of illegal immigrants who are running rampant across America, killing our police for sport, raping, murdering like a scythe across America while the liberal psychos are telling us they come here to work." Savage added: "[Y]ou turn on the cable news, they're covering again a missing child. Not a missing country but a missing child. ... We hear about the rape of a woman, but not about the rape of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty is crying, she's been raped and disheveled -- raped and disheveled by illegal aliens."

Savage: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. ... [T]hey never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers"

Michael Savage asserted on the June 23 broadcast of his radio show: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. You're telling me they're going to assimilate? They will never assimilate. They come here and they bring their destitute ways to this country, and they never assimilate." He continued: "And then their children become gang-bangers. It is a disaster." Savage added that earlier immigrants to the U.S. "had used toilet paper and toothbrushes and they knew how to survive in this country. They took a job or they worked. They didn't come and sit and have 16 children and eat beetle nuts."

Savage: "Bring in 10 million more from Africa. ... They can't reason, but bring them in with a machete in their head"

On the January 29 broadcast of his radio show, while discussing President Bush's AIDS spending proposal in the State of the Union address, Michael Savage responded to a caller's assertion that he "do[es]n't know anything about Africa" by unleashing a series of attacks on the continent and its people, including the claim that AIDS "got" to Africa "because it was spread from eating green monkey meat" and that "in Africa ... people settle arguments with machetes."

Savage on Muslim immigrants: 15th-century "throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists"

On September 16 broadcast of The Savage Nation, discussing a caller's claim that "Muslim fundamentalists" are "walk[ing] around Northern Virginia as if they own the place," Michael Savage asked, "Why would a nation that is as evolved as America, and as liberal as America is socially, want to bring in throwbacks who are living in the 15th century?" He also asked: "What is the societal benefit of bringing in throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists?"

Sex and gender

As Media Matters noted, right-wing talk-radio hosts have also repeatedly made sexist comments about female politicians -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- often highlighting a woman's physical characteristics, in one instance referring to Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin's "smoking-hot" looks while calling Obama a "little bitch." Others referred to Sen. Hillary Clinton as a "bitch" and, in numerous instances, remarked on her voice, with one describing it as "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice." Also, as Media Matters noted, hosts and guests have attacked progressive women as "ugly skanks" or "whores," impugned women's abilities as political leaders, and some have even questioned allowing women the right to vote.

Chris Baker
Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to" "smoking-hot" Palin

While discussing Palin's assertion that Obama was "palling around with terrorists" on the October 6 broadcast of his radio show, Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to a smoking-hot chick from Alaska." Baker did not note that The New York Times article Palin cited for her claim about Obama's association with William Ayers reported that "the two men do not appear to have been close," or that the Obama campaign did indeed respond to Palin's claim.

Baker on Palin's appearance at VP debate: "Shoulda had a little cleavage going ... I noticed a panty line on her"

On the October 3 broadcast of The Chris Baker Show, Baker said Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate, and that he "noticed a panty line on her."

Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"

On the October 2 broadcast of his radio show, Baker said, "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker later said: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right?"

Minneapolis radio host said Code Pink protesters "ought to have all their tubes tied"

During the September 5 broadcast his show, Baker stated of McCain's speech at the Republican National Convention, "I'll tell you, though, in the speech -- the best part of the speech was when those Code Pink nuts -- another bunch that ought to have all their tubes tied. All right? I can't stand these Code Pink broads."

Mark Belling
Belling: "When you think of Hillary Clinton," the word "bitches" comes to mind

Milwaukee radio host Mark Belling declared on his September 11 radio show, "What's the process that determines which potholes get patched the fastest [in Milwaukee]? I'll tell you what it is. No, they don't go and judge it on severity. ... It's who -- can I use this word? When you think of [Sen.] Hillary Clinton what do you think -- what word comes to mind? Yes, can I use that word here? All right, it's who bitches the most."

Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch"

During the September 4 broadcast of The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch," and "embittered old has-been" and also stated that the "previous generation" of feminists "were so ugly you couldn't stand to look at them." Belling made these remarks while discussing Steinem's September 4 Los Angeles Times op-ed, in which she criticized McCain's choice of Palin as his vice-presidential running mate.

Jon Caldara
On Caldara's KOA show, Coulter claimed women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America"

Appearing as a guest on the June 16 broadcast of Jon Caldara's Newsradio 850 KOA program, Ann Coulter asserted that women aren't "concerned with how capital is generated and created," and claimed that women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America." Her remarks echoed those in a 2007 blog posting that quoted her as saying, "If we took away women's right to vote, we'd never have to worry about another Democrat president."

Caldara asked Coulter if Clinton was "bitch-slapped" in debate

Discussing the January 21 CNN Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Caldara during his broadcast that evening asked Coulter whether it was "fair to say" that Clinton "got bitch-slapped tonight."

Bill Cunningham
Cunningham on Democratic women: "[A] lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them"

On the October 29 broadcast of his Cincinnati-based radio show, host Bill Cunningham stated: "Traditionally, we think of women as Democratic voters because a lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them."

Mark Levin
Levin on his "National Organization of Ugly Women" remark: "[F]or now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women"

Addressing his September 4 comments on Sean Hannity's radio show, in which he called the National Organization for Women, the "National Organization of Ugly Women," Mark Levin said on his September 8 radio show: "I just wanted to underscore that maybe I shouldn't have called them the National Organization of Ugly Women. For now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women." Levin first made his remarks while discussing with Hannity NOW's opposition to Palin.

Quinn & Rose
Quinn called NOW the "National Organization for Whores," said columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name"

On his syndicated radio show, Jim Quinn referred to the National Organization for Women as "the National Organization for Whores," and said of Philadelphia Daily News columnist Fatimah Ali: "[Y]ou know, Fatimah, what's your real name? Come on, seriously. I mean, get an American name, will you, if you want to be an American." He then asked: "You don't suppose she's a liberal black Muslim, do you?"

Quinn: "[T]he goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal"

After reading from a blog post about a Georgia teacher who reportedly informed the school principal and campus police that a picture of a vampire one of her students had drawn might contain gang symbols, Quinn stated on the November 6 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose that the incident is evidence of "the chickification of schools, the feminization of society, and the war on masculinity." He then stated that "the goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal, a crime."

Jim Quinn: Steinem opposes Palin because Palin "declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism"

On the October 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Jim Quinn claimed that Gloria Steinem opposes Gov. Sarah Palin because Palin "refused the sacrificial right of passage, better known as the Eucharist of the feminist church: abortion. That's right. She declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism, even after doctors told her that he was one of those Down syndrome 'throw-aways.' "

Quinn: To feminists, even "a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag" can be a "real woman"

On the September 15 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn stated: "If you don't agree with the feminist scolds, then you're not a real woman -- even if you are a very feminine working mom. But even if you're an actual man, never mind a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag, you're a real woman solely because you nod your head like a windup clapping monkey every time you read the latest editorial from Ms. Magazine." Quinn made these remarks while discussing, among other things, prominent feminists' opposition to Palin.

Quinn introduced segment about Hillary Clinton by playing Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back"

On the August 27 edition of the syndicated radio program The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn introduced a segment on Sen. Hillary Clinton by saying, "By the way, that brings us to our Hillary Heads-Up," and then playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back." Quinn then said, "I was going to play 'Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead.' But you know what, I -- you never know with the Clintons."

Lee Rodgers
KSFO's Rodgers said many "professed leaders of the feminist movement" are "hags" who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"

On the October 17 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, Rodgers said: "[Y]ou look at many -- perhaps most -- but many of the women who are professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country, and they're a bunch of hags." He added: "They couldn't get laid in a men's prison, let's be honest about it." Rodgers made these remarks while discussing, among other things, feminists' disapproval of Palin.

KSFO's Rodgers: "[P]uckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin ... because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion"

Returning to a previous claim he has made, Rodgers asserted on September 23: "I believe that the reason a bunch of puckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin is because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion." Guest Steven Hayward of the American Enterprise Institute responded in part by saying: "[T]here is that very vocal segment of feminist opinion that celebrates abortion as a positive good in the same way that, you know, Southern slaveholders 150 years ago celebrated slavery as a positive good."

KSFO's Rodgers: "[F]emale leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking"

On the September 17 broadcast of his KSFO radio show, Rodgers said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks." He also stated: "Sarah Palin's good-looking and they hate that." He also declared: "I think we have to ask: Would you like Sarah Palin better if she got pregnant again and did have an abortion, because it's obvious, with a lot of liberal women, killing babies is the main priority they have."

KSFO's Rodgers: "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech"

On the August 27 broadcast of his radio show, Rodgers said of Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention, "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech." Rodgers later said that Bill and Hillary Clinton are hoping Obama "falls flat on his face so the Hilldebeest can have another run in four years, and Billy Bentpecker can hide behind the curtain in the Oval Office telling Hillary what he wants her to do as president of the United States."

KSFO's Rodgers on voting gender gap: For "a lot of women in this country who get knocked up ... the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills"

On the June 11 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Program, host Lee Rodgers said: "[T]he historical voting records show that Democrats have, historically, enjoyed a huge advantage in women voters. Why is that?" Rodgers continued: "Well, some women may be offended by this, but here's another dose of reality. We have a lot of women in this country who get knocked up and they don't have a husband. In effect, the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills. And that accounts -- that's not all of it, but that accounts for a large part of that vote."

LGBT-related smears

Media Matters has identified numerous examples of smears pertaining to sexual orientation or targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans that are routine among conservative talk-radio hosts. As Media Matters noted, legal rulings and ballot propositions regarding same-sex marriage prompted several radio hosts to target the LGBT community, in some cases suggesting that same-sex marriage will "lead to legal human-animal marriage."

Jon Caldara
On Caldara program, Coulter called John Edwards "the very definition of faggy"

Referring to a National Enquirer report alleging that former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has an illegitimate child with "his mistress," a "blonde divorcée," Coulter told Caldara during his July 23 broadcast, "I just think John Edwards is an incredibly creepy individual and the very definition of faggy." Coulter's remark echoed her reference to Edwards as a "faggot" during a 2007 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Dan Caplis
KHOW's Caplis again asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral"

During a discussion about same-sex adoption on his June 17 630 KHOW-AM broadcast, co-host Dan Caplis repeated his contention that gay "conduct is not natural," adding that "that conduct is immoral."

"Gunny" Bob Newman
KOA's "Gunny" Bob repeated concern that "crushing tyranny of the left" could "lead to legal human-animal marriage"

Discussing the California Supreme Court's decision invalidating a state statute banning same-sex marriage, Newsradio 850 KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman on May 15 asserted that "under the crushing tyranny of the left, America will legalize gay marriage at the federal level -- or at a minimum recognize gay marriage in states with such laws." and that "[s]ome Americans fear that this will lead to legal human-animal marriage." Newman similarly warned of "[l]egal polygamy" and "[l]egal marriages between [parents] and their offspring."

Michael Savage
Savage: "If you're insane, hate the family ... hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue," you oppose CA gay marriage ban

On the October 29 broadcast of his radio show, Savage said of a California ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, "[T]here's a ballot initiative on homosexual marriage that is more important than you could imagine. It's called Proposition 8, and you must vote 'yes' if you're sane. If you're insane, hate the family, hate man and woman, hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue, of course you're in favor of 'no' on Proposition 8." The next day on his program, Savage stated: "[T]he people who don't have families don't understand that, as difficult as family life is, life is impossible without it. They don't understand that. They don't understand what the family unit is. It's the strongest bond on Earth, which is why homosexual marriage is such a threat to civilization itself."

After railing against gay marriage, Savage said "the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street was directly related to the moral downturn"

On the October 1 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage said: "[Y]ou may say, 'Why should we care about homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage that they perform in order to mock God, the church, the family, children, the fetus, the DNA of the human species? Why should we care about it while we have a financial meltdown?' Because the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street is directly related to the moral downturn in the United States of America." Savage later said of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom: "Today it's the gays, tomorrow it'll be a man marrying a horse."

Savage linked San Francisco event to the "artistes" and "leather fetishists" of Weimar-era Germany, whom he blamed for Hitler's rise

Discussing the Folsom Street Fair, a leather-themed adult-entertainment event in San Francisco, Savage declared on the September 29 broadcast of his radio show: "This country today is far beyond the excesses of the Weimar Republic that led to Adolf Hitler. God forbid that should ever happen here. But the German people, who were not all Nazis prior to Hitler's arrival on the scene, were shocked by the degenerates of Berlin. They were sickened by the perverts, sickened by the artistes, they were sickened by the leather fetishists, they were sickened by the degeneracy, and they couldn't handle it."

Savage: "The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia"

Responding to a caller who said, "I had to explain to my young son why these two men were holding hands the other day," Savage stated on the June 16 broadcast of his radio show: "You've got to explain to the children ... why God told people this was wrong." He went on to say, "You have to explain this to them in this time of mental rape that's going on. The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia, that's my position. They're raping our children's minds."

Brian Sussman
KSFO's Sussman invited guest to talk about his claim that "gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media"

On the June 16 broadcast of San Francisco radio station KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, guest host Brian Sussman hosted theologian Charlie Self, whom Sussman called "Dr. History," to discuss the California Supreme Court's May 15 ruling overturning the state's ban on same-sex marriages. In the course of the discussion, Sussman referenced a post on Self's blog and said to Self: "On your website -- it's interesting you're addressing this very topic, Dr. Self, and you talk about how gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media in order to swell their ranks. Talk to us about that for a moment." After asserting, "It is amazing how little the traditional family is pictured in either drama or comedy on TV anymore," Self said that "[t]he only way that you are going to grow the ranks of this kind of movement is this kind of onslaught because it is simply not part of the nature of things as designed or as evolved or as historically recorded for thousands of years." During the interview, Sussman also claimed that "Darwinism just doesn't jibe with gay marriage" and asserted: "[I]n our society we say, here are the rules: man and a woman, you can't marry anyone under this particular age, you can't marry a family member. So, the rules are the same for all of us, Dr. History. But, for some reason, the gays want to change those rules. I just don't understand it."

Quinn & Rose
Quinn: "Gay sex produces AIDS"; "They should charge homosexuals more for their ... health insurance"

On the November 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn said: "The only thing that -- the only thing that gay marriage produce -- well, gay marriage doesn't produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state doesn't have -- or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals more for their -- for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us." Quinn made the comment while discussing the passage of a California ballot initiative to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

Race and ethnicity

Several right-wing radio hosts have promoted insulting stereotypes regarding African-Americans, Mexicans, and other groups.

Neal Boortz
Boortz: "Muslims, making tortillas? ... [W]ith all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?"

On the May 29 broadcast of his radio show, while discussing reports that six Muslim women were fired from a Minnesota tortilla factory because of dress code violations, Boortz asked: "Muslims, making tortillas? You know, this world is really screwed up when Muslims are making our tortillas, folks." He added: "I mean, with all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?"

Boortz's commentary on his inability to use a floor buffer: "I would make a lousy Mexican"

On the April 10 edition of his radio show, Boortz asserted, "I would make a lousy Mexican." Engineer and "sidekick" Royal Marshall asked Boortz: "Why is that?" Boortz responded, "Well, because I wanted to scrub the hangar floor the other day, so I went and rented one of these big buffers," later adding: "I turned on that buffer, and it damn near killed me! It was dragging me across the hangar floor, throwing me around like I -- it was like a dog shaking a cat or something like that. You know, that's skilled labor."

Bill Cunningham
Cunningham on Obama Sr.: "That's what black fathers do. They simply leave"

On the October 28 broadcast of his radio show, Cunningham stated of Obama's childhood: "[I]magine at the age of 1 or 2 seeing your father for the last time. See, his father was a typical black father who, right after the birth, left the baby. That's what black fathers do. They simply leave."

Cunningham guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson: "[M]ost black people today are racist"

On the October 20 edition of Clear Channel's The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said of former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama: "[H]e's clearly for the color of the man and not the character." Cunningham replied, "Great comments, and if Obama was white as chalk, do you think that Powell would be endorsing the Democrat? He didn't endorse [Al] Gore, he didn't endorse [Sen. John] Kerry. I think color trumps everything in his mind." Peterson responded: "That's right, because if it was about what Barack Obama stood for, then he would have endorsed Gore and all those guys, but he did not. You know, it's so sad, my friend, that most black people today are racist. Not all, not all -- but most of them are racist."

Cunningham: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says"

During the October 10 broadcast of The Big Show with Bill Cunningham, Cunningham stated: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says." Cunningham also asserted that "Flavor Flav, 50 Cent, and Diddy" are "really in charge of the [Obama] Inaugural [Ball]."

G. Gordon Liddy
In sketch on Corsi's detention in Kenya, Liddy played audio of "jungle telegraph drums"

On the October 7 edition of his radio program, Liddy discussed the detention of Jerome Corsi in Kenya and aired a sketch in which he said: "We've used the satellite connection to Kenya, and we are now focusing in on the trial of Dr. Jerome Corsi. ... [H]e's being accused of impersonating a human being. My Zulu's not -- not as good as Obama's, but -- yeah, they're really upset with him. You can probably tell." Liddy then aired a clip apparently from the 1950 movie King Solomon's Mines, which featured characters speaking in Kinyarwanda (not Zulu), one of the official languages of Rwanda, and playing music on drums.

Quinn & Rose
Quinn and Tennent: Powell endorsed Obama because "he's tired of being called an Oreo," "an Uncle Tom"

On the October 20 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host Rose Tennent asserted that former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Obama "because he doesn't want to be known as an Uncle Tom anymore. He wants to be black again." Co-host Jim Quinn later said of Powell, "He's tired of being called an Oreo."

Lee Rodgers
Rodgers suggested that just as the O.J. Simpson verdict "was a racial vote," African-Americans support Obama because of "racial brotherhood"

During the October 3 broadcast of KSFO's The Lee Rodgers Show, arguing that "some things never change," Rodgers claimed O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder because of a "racial vote" by the jury and said of polls that show "98 percent of black voters voting for" Obama: "[A]re we to assume they all agree with him on all his principles? Or could there be a hint of racial brotherhood in that vote? Come on, we know the answer to that." Rodgers also declared, "If any white person, for whatever reason -- because they think he consorts with terrorists or communists, or believes in all the things that black racist preacher said for 20 years votes against him for that reason -- no, no, no, no. If you're a white person voting against Obama, you are a racist."

Michael Savage
Savage on Obama: "America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president"

During the October 27 broadcast of his radio show, Savage said: "Obama and I are on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, as you can well imagine. While he benefited from affirmative action, stepping over more qualified white men, I actually lost as a result of affirmative action, many times in my life. Although I'd get near 100s on certain exams, they put me at the back of the bus because they said -- the ACLU said -- certain people will have to put their futures on hold in order to let others advance, and take a look at where we are today -- we have America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president."

Savage: "Kenya is going to move to America if Barack Hussein Obama wins"

During the October 10 broadcast of his radio show, Savage baselessly accused Obama of running a "corrupt campaign," suggested that white liberals "hate white people," repeated the discredited charge that Obama "won't produce his birth certificate," and asserted "Kenya is going to move to America" if Obama wins the election.

Attacks on the poor

Several talk-radio hosts have attacked low-income and homeless Americans over the past year, characterizing them as "welfare broodmares" and "lack[ing] values, morals, and ethics." Some have advocated that the poor be disenfranchised, or even that the homeless be sent to "work camps."

Chris Baker
Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"

On the October 2 broadcast of show, Baker said: "I don't think homeless people should vote. Frankly. In fact, I have to be very honest. I'm not that excited about women voting, to be honest." Baker subsequently added: "But that's just me. I'm a pig, and that's fine. All right? And we'll see that, I'm sure, on a lame-ass website very soon. But I don't think hobos ought to vote at all. They're nuts. And I think that there needs to be a little more care in who votes."

Neal Boortz
Boortz: "Single mothers receiving public assistance" are "welfare broodmares"

On his August 19 program, Boortz described "single mothers receiving public assistance" as "welfare broodmares." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a "broodmare" as "a mare [a female horse] kept for breeding." Boortz made the comment while discussing a report that women in Georgia who received public assistance gave birth at more than three times the rate of women who did not receive public assistance, according to 2006 U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Boortz again referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "parasite[s]"

On the June 19 edition of Cox Radio Syndication's The Neal Boortz Show, host Neal Boortz asserted that "the real question" concerning the difference between the current floods in the Midwest and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is as follows: "[W]hy is it that the people who are being affected by the floods in Iowa and the upper Midwest, why is it that they seem to be so much more capable of taking care of themselves and handling this disaster than were the people of Katrina in New Orleans?" Boortz continued, "I think the answer's pretty clear, is that up there in that part of the country, you find a great deal of self-sufficiency. Down there in New Orleans, it was basically a parasite class totally dependent on government for their existence." Boortz described this as being a "cultural issue, not a racial issue."

Boortz: "[P]rimary blame" for Katrina goes to "worthless parasites who lived in New Orleans"

Boortz asserted during the January 30 edition of his radio show: "I am fed up with this conventional wisdom that Katrina and the disaster that followed was George Bush's fault. It was not. The primary blame goes on the worthless parasites who lived in New Orleans who you -- couldn't even wipe themselves, let alone get out of the way of the water when that levee broke."

Bill Cunningham
Cunningham: "[P]eople are poor in America ... because they lack values, morals, and ethics"

On the October 28 broadcast of his radio show, Cunningham asserted that "people are poor in America ... not because they lack money," but "because they lack values, morals, and ethics." He also said that "unlike many countries in the world ... we have fat poor people. We don't have skinny poor people. Ours are fat and flatulent." Cunningham made similar remarks on the October 23 broadcast of his radio show, asserting that "[t]he reason people are poor in America is not because they lack money, it's because poor people in America lack values, character, and the ability to work hard."

Cunningham: America's "so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government"

After declaring on October 27 that "most responsible couples engage in birth control so they don't bring children into the world they cannot afford," Cunningham claimed that "[a]mong the so-called noble poor in America, just the opposite is true. Birth control is not used so illegitimate children can be brought into the world, so the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government." Cunningham then added: "And then once the child is born, that is the key to financial riches in the poor communities -- white and black -- in America. And that key is Section 8 housing and vouchers; the key is food stamps, no work -- if you work you're punished."

G. Gordon Liddy
Liddy: Obama is relying, in part, on "the welfare class" to win Pennsylvania

On his October 30 program, Liddy said of Obama's electoral prospects in Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with Alabama in the middle. Obama is counting on the urban elites and the welfare class to win the state for him. But he's putting on a show for the rest of Pennsylvania."

Quinn & Rose
Quinn stated that unlike welfare recipients, slaves "had to work" for food, housing

On the November 6 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, Quinn compared "slave[s] in the Old South" to welfare recipients today, stating that the "difference" is that "[t]he slave had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received. Quinn said: "You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow's slave. So, you got a free house, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children. Can I ask a question? How's that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it." The show then aired an audio clip of a buzzer sounding and a voice repeating, "Insensitivity!" Quinn then stated: "Ah, the truth stings, does it not?"

Responding to Media Matters item, Quinn defended comparison of welfare recipients to slaves

On the November 7 broadcast of The War Room, Quinn addressed comments he made on the previous day's broadcast comparing "slave[s] in the old South" to welfare recipients today, the "difference" being that "[t]he slave had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received. Quinn said: "Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point." He later added: "[W]hen you think about it, the slave had more personal nobility than the welfare recipient, because he or she had no say in their station in life. The welfare recipient actually volunteers for it. It is the liberal plantation."

Rose Tennent on Obama ad: "[D]on't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting"

On the October 30 broadcast of The War Room, Tennent said of the families featured in Obama's 30-minute ad: "Well, OK. They were sad stories, but I'm looking at the background. I'm not looking at the person talking in their home, I'm looking at what they have in their home. They have color television sets; they have everything that I have in my house. I'll bet you they have an iPod, I bet you they have, you know -- I'll bet they have a lot of luxuries in that home. They are not poor." Tennent later said: "So don't put -- don't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting. All they need to do is make some cuts and figure out a way to do this."

Quinn: "Originally, if you didn't have land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"

On the October 21 broadcast of The War Room, while reading from an opinion column by conservative blogger Scott Johnson that discussed the history of taxation and property rights in the United States, Quinn declared: "Originally, if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it: because those without property will always vote away the property of other people unto themselves, and that's the beginning of the end." Quinn added: "But, oh no, that was -- that was just too mean-spirited." Moments earlier, Quinn said, "Now -- I mean, I can hear the appeal to the masses: 'It's not fair, it's not the American way that you don't get to vote,' but let me ask you a question: If I don't own anything, what kind of a problem do I have with voting for a measure -- a tax, a law -- that takes somebody else's property and gives it to me? I have no stake in personal property ownership 'cause I don't have any. Now, back in the day, when this was the law of the land, anybody who wanted to vote needed to step up to the plate, achieve, get a stake in America, and then vote."

Michael Savage
Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise"

On his October 22 show, Savage asked: "Do you think a person on welfare has the right to vote? I don't. Why should a person who is on public assistance maintain the right to vote? Tell me why. Where is it written that they should have the right to vote?" He added: "I support them, and they should have the same vote I do? That would be like saying an infant has the right to vote or an insane person has the right to vote. Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise."

Savage's answer to homelessness: "Why not put them in work camps?"

On the June 6 broadcast of The Savage Nation, Savage responded to a caller's question about how Savage would address the "problem with the homelessness in this country" by asking, "Why not put them in work camps? Most of them are able-bodied." He went on to say that "since they're already receiving public assistance, I'd pay them nothing." He later asked: "Why do you have to pay a man who's right now living off the fat of the land?"

Other attacks

Beyond smears of Obama, his supporters, racial and ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and the poor, talk-radio hosts often directed their ire toward a broad range of other groups of people: those with HIV/AIDS, people with autism, teachers, other radio hosts, comedians perceived as progressive, Democrats in the House and Senate, and the organizations that document their attacks.

Chris Baker
Minneapolis radio hosts Baker and Perry are "convinced" that Magic Johnson "faked AIDS"

On the October 8 broadcast of The Chris Baker Show, Minneapolis radio host Langdon Perry stated, "I'm convinced that Magic [Johnson] faked AIDS," to which Baker replied, "Yeah, me too." Perry then called Johnson "the only cured AIDS guy ever."

Baker: Media Matters "can kiss my supple buttocks"

Responding to a Media Matters item documenting previous remarks he made about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Baker said on the September 19 broadcast of his show: "Media Matters people can kiss my supple buttocks. What I say is what I say, and if they don't like it, instead of hiding like a bunch of commie girls, they can challenge me if they like."

Mark Belling
Belling smeared "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]" who talk about global warming

On the August 12 broadcast of his show, Belling referred to schoolteachers who talk to their students about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]."

Neal Boortz
Boortz: Teachers unions "do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together"

While discussing the issue of public education with a caller on the April 16 broadcast of his radio show, Boortz stated: "I think the most dangerous -- the single most dangerous entity, group of people in this country right now are the teachers unions." He continued: "I think teachers unions do more damage to this country than the Los Angeles Lakers. They do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together. ... If I had a button right now, two buttons -- push this button and it gets rid of all the drug dealers; push this button, it gets rid of the teachers unions -- I'm getting rid of the teachers unions."

Mark Levin
Levin attacks "Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a Jon Stewart": "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals ... arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces"

On the July 16 broadcast of his radio show, Levin said, "As you know, from time to time, we monitor Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a. Jon Stewart, as well as some of the other nudniks out there." While discussing remarks Stewart made on his Comedy Central show, Levin stated, "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals -- and that's what they are, phony -- arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces."

"Gunny" Bob Newman
"Gunny" Bob's suggestions for replacing Air America's Rhodes included Obama, Stalin, bin Laden, Charles Manson

Commenting on Air America Radio's April 10 announcement that host Randi Rhodes would be leaving the progressive network following her April 3 suspension for using vulgar language to insult Sen. Hillary Clinton at an off-air event, Newman on his April 10 broadcast suggested possible replacements for Rhodes, to "stay true over at Air America to their programming ideology." In addition to Clinton, Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and former President Jimmy Carter, Newman's suggestions included "Osama bin Laden. [bin Laden collaborator] Ayman al-Zawahiri. Robert Mugabe, the dictator down in Zimbabwe ... [former Ugandan dictator] Idi Amin," and "[a]dmitted terrorist Nelson Mandela." Newman also stated that former cult leader "Charles Manson would be a fantastic Air America host" and included Joseph Stalin among "those characters [who] would fit right in at Air America."

Lee Rodgers
KSFO's "gentleman" Rodgers lashes out at Media Matters

On the September 18 broadcast of his KSFO radio show, responding to a Media Matters item documenting his comments that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking," Rodgers stated that "one of the little left-wing websites" "inferred that I had said that these women, prominent women in the liberal movement, are prostitutes. And of course I didn't say any such thing as that because I am a gentleman." Rodgers also said that "left-wing bloggers ... are men in their 30s and 40s who are single and likely to stay that way" and are "[s]till living at home with one or both parents." He added: "And, of course, handwriting analysis has revealed that ... they have to use tweezers to masturbate."

Michael Savage
Discussing economic crisis and bailout plan, Savage said Rep. Frank "should be in the gallows for this"

On the September 29 broadcast of his show, Savage said of Rep. Frank's role in proposed federal financial bailout legislation: "Barney Frank should be in the gallows for this. Barney Frank should be in jail for doing this."

Savage: Democratic Party's "membership is made up largely of minority blocs ... that are all against the white person"

On his August 25 radio show, Savage said, "The Democrat [sic] Party is the minority party. ... Obama is a minority, a half minority at least. The membership is made up largely of minority blocs, the Hispanic caucus and the gay caucus -- caucuses that are all against the white person." Savage also claimed: "Now, the white women generally are not as hard-nosed about things as the white male, and so many white women don't even understand that they're being duped, and they vote for a Democrat, not knowing that they're digging their own grave."

Savage reportedly likened Media Matters to HIV

A July 22 WorldNetDaily.com article reporting on the controversy over Savage's July 16 remarks about autism stated that Savage "told WND that Media Matters itself is as much a part of the story as autism," adding: "Acting like the HIV virus, he said, 'they invade the body politic and mimic the defense cells until they poison the entire organism.' "

Savage on Media Matters: "They have no place in America"

On the July 21 broadcast of his radio show, Savage repeatedly attacked Media Matters, calling the group a "Stalinist," "anti-family," "illegitimate, dangerous fascist group[]," and asserted that Media Matters "ha[s] no place in America." His comments came after Media Matters documented, with transcript and audio, his July 16 remarks describing autism as "[a] fraud, a racket." Those comments have sparked protests and generated widespread media attention.

Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ...In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out"

On his July 16 program, Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket," and went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage concluded: "[I]f I behaved like a fool, my father called me a fool. And he said to me, 'Don't behave like a fool.' The worst thing he said -- 'Don't behave like a fool. Don't be anybody's dummy. Don't sound like an idiot. Don't act like a girl. Don't cry.' That's what I was raised with. That's what you should raise your children with. Stop with the sensitivity training. You're turning your son into a girl, and you're turning your nation into a nation of losers and beaten men. That's why we have the politicians we have."

Savage referred to Pelosi as "Nancy Mussolini"

On his July 15 show, Savage referred to Pelosi as "Nancy Mussolini." As Media Matters noted, during the June 27 broadcast of his program, Savage similarly referred to Pelosi as "the Mussolini in a skirt," "Nancy Pelosi Mussolini," and the "Mussolini-like woman of the day." During his June 27 show, Savage also said of Obama: "We don't know whether he'd be more like Mussolini or Stalin, but one of the two would work."

Savage plays Dead Kennedys song again after asserting he "is now being persecuted for refusing to take the party line" on Sen. Kennedy's illness

On his May 21 show, Savage stated of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), "His poor health does not excuse him from what he has done to our nation, and so, now, the Soros-run media sets on Michael Savage for daring to disclose the truth about Ted Kennedy's legacy." Savage added: "Just as in a Soviet show trial, Michael Savage is now being persecuted for refusing to take the party line that the great lion of the left must be praised -- all praise, all praise." On May 20, Savage aired the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles" while discussing Kennedy's diagnosis with a malignant brain tumor. Savage again aired the song during his May 21 broadcast.

Savage: "I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away"

On the March 31 broadcast of his radio show, Savage stated: "Cops are getting knocked off all over the country because of the rules of engagement, written primarily by the scummiest class in America, the vermin of vermin, which are the left-wing lawyers who should be put in Abu Ghraib with hoods over their head, as far as I'm concerned." He then stated: "If I had the power by executive order, I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild, and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away."

Savage claimed Lantos used the Holocaust as "a weapon the rest of his life"

Discussing the death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Savage stated on February 11, "You're not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn't do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I'll make an exception. I think he was one of the most -- he was a scoundrel. And I'll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life."

THE SHOWS

The Chris Baker Show is a Minneapolis-based talk-radio show that airs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. CT on KTLK-FM. Baker previously hosted two different Houston-based radio programs before reportedly being dismissed in November 2007. Baker joined KTLK in February and was nominated to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in June. Since moving to KTLK, Baker discussed with a co-host being "convinced that Magic [Johnson] faked AIDS"; claimed that "it's very rare to find a woman worthy of serving in political office"; said that Gov. Sarah Palin "shoulda had a little cleavage going" during the vice-presidential debate; and declared "I don't think homeless people should vote."

The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show is carried on News/Talk 1130 WISN-AM in Milwaukee, which is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Talkers Magazine includes Belling in its "Heavy Hundred," which it describes as "the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America." According to 1130 WISN-AM, The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show "is regularly rated number one in its time slot in the Milwaukee radio market and is the highest rated afternoon drive talk show host in the country." In 2001, Belling was awarded National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for medium-market "Personality of the Year." Belling has said "[w]hen you think of Hillary Clinton" the word "bitches" comes to mind; has called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," an "old witch," and an "embittered old has-been"; and has smeared teachers who have talked about global warming as "idiot union teacher[s]," "liberal unionized hack[s]," "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]," and "fruitcake[s]."

The Neal Boortz Show is an Atlanta-based program that airs weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. The program is nationally syndicated by Cox Radio Syndication, which says that it "partners with the Jones Radio Network to service more than 200 affiliate stations with programming listened to by several million people each week." According to Talkers Magazine, the show is the seventh-rated talk-radio program and averages at least 4.25 million listeners a week. Boortz has repeatedly referred to Hurricane Katrina victims as "parasites"; commented that he would "make a lousy Mexican" because of his inability to use a floor buffer; and described "single mothers receiving public assistance" as "welfare broodmares."

The Jon Caldara Show airs on Denver's 850 KOA-AM on weeknights from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. MT. Caldara is president of the "free market" Independence Institute and has had a public role in numerous anti-tax and anti-government spending campaigns. Caldara also hosts a "current affairs" television program, Independent Thinking, on Denver's KBDI-TV. Caldara has asked a guest if it was "fair to say" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) "got bitch-slapped" during a primary debate; and he described Colorado Media Matters as a "hate group" for highlighting his remarks.

The Caplis & Silverman Show airs weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. MT on Denver's 630 KHOW-AM. Co-host Dan Caplis, an attorney who in 2007 publicly discussed running for U.S. Senate as a Republican, has also made occasional appearances on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Caplis has asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral." While discussing a photograph of Obama wearing Somali clothing, Caplis questioned why Obama would "put on similar clothing to the outfit worn by the man [Osama bin Laden] who personally ordered thousands of Americans, including women and kids, to be burned to death."

The Big Show with Bill Cunningham is a weekday Cincinnati-based radio program that airs from 12:25 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET on Ohio's WLW-AM. The program is also simulcast on XM Radio Channel 173. Cunningham, a former Ohio assistant attorney general, also hosts a nationally syndicated Sunday-night talk program titled Live on Sunday Night, It's Bill Cunningham, which is broadcast live on 325 affiliates, according to its syndicator, Premiere Radio Networks. In 2001, Cunningham received the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Award for large-market "Personality of the Year." Cunningham has alleged that "Obama wants to gas the Jews;" compared Obama to Hitler; has repeatedly suggested that if Obama lost the election "there will be 100 cities burning;" has invoked "six-six-six" and "the beast" while discussing Obama; has asserted that "a typical black father... simply leave"; has repeatedly claimed that poor people "lack values"; and has claimed that "the so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government."

The Mark Levin Show is a nationally syndicated program hosted by Landmark Legal Foundation president Mark Levin. Based in New York City, The Mark Levin Show broadcasts from WABC-AM Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and is syndicated by ABC Radio Networks. According to Talkers Magazine, The Mark Levin Show reaches a weekly average audience of at least 5.5 million listeners and is tied for the ranking of fifth among talk-radio programs nationwide. Levin has compared Obama to Hitler; has referred to the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization of Ugly Women" and "the National Organization of Really Ugly Women"; and while discussing Comedy Central host Jon Stewart complained of "phony intellectuals" who are "arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces."

The G. Gordon Liddy Show is hosted by convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, who often refers to himself as "the G-Man," and is nationally syndicated through Radio America. Talkers Magazine lists Liddy in its "Heavy Hundred 2008." Liddy has advanced claims that Obama was not a U.S. citizen; has said that undocumented Mexican immigrants "want to speak Spanish, you know, and other varieties of illegal alien" and "want to reconquer America, they say"; and claimed that Obama was relying, in part, on "the welfare class to win" Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, Liddy reportedly advised his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents.

The Gunny Bob Show, hosted by "Gunny" Bob Newman, airs weeknights on Denver's 850 KOA-AM from 7 to 10 p.m. MT. Newman is the author of Minefields to Microphones: Global Asymmetric Warfare, the Radical Left, and Winning the War on Terror (Paladin Press, September 2006), which, according to its publisher, "exposes the treason and treachery of America's maniacal liberal machine while laying out a roadmap to victory in the war on terror that will stun the enemy and infuriate America's wild-eyed left." Newman has described Obama as "just another blowhard, make-believe thug" and "a far-left, terrorist-hugging politician"; has asserted that "there will be an invasion of Muslim terrorists" if Obama is elected; posted doctored photos of Obama on his website depicting Obama as meeting with Osama bin Laden and dressed as "Che Obama"; has suggested that legalizing gay marriage could "lead to legal human-animal marriage"; and declared that "every Muslim immigrant to America" should be "required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times."

The War Room with Quinn & Rose is a syndicated radio program based in Pittsburgh on Clear Channel's 104.7 WPGB-FM. Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose on its "Heavy Hundred." According to the show's website, it airs on 18 radio stations and XM Satellite Radio Channel 158. Jim Quinn, who co-hosts the show with Rose Tennent, has repeatedly described the National Organization for Women as the "National Organization for Whores"; told columnist Fatimah Ali to "get an American name"; has said that, in the past, "if you didn't own land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"; and often introduces segments on Hillary Clinton by playing audio of the Elton John song "The Bitch Is Back."

The Lee Rodgers Show is the morning drive-time talk program for San Francisco's 560 KSFO-AM and airs Monday through Friday from 5 to 9 a.m. PT and from 5 to 7 a.m. PT on Saturdays. The show features co-hosts Lee Rodgers and Tom Benner, known on-air as "Officer Vic," and is listed as one of Talkers Magazine's "Heavy Hundred." The program is sometimes guest-hosted by KSFO's Brian Sussman. Rodgers has described many "professed leaders of the feminist movement in this country" as "a bunch of hags," who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"; has said that "the female leadership of the Democratic Party" is made up of "ugly skanks"; and has referred to Hillary Clinton as "the Hilldebeest" who has a "screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice."

The Savage Nation is a top-rated nationally syndicated radio program hosted by Michael Savage. The program, which airs from 4 to 7 p.m. PT, is based in San Francisco and is syndicated through Talk Radio Network. Talk Radio Network claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations, and, according to Talkers Magazine, The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, making it one of the most listened-to talk shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show. Savage has attacked everyone from politicians to children with autism. He has insisted that Obama was a Muslim; has described Obama as an "unknown stealth candidate who went to a madrassas in Indonesia and, in fact, was a Muslim"; has referred to Obama as an "affirmative action" candidate and complained that "affirmative action" stole his "birthright"; has claimed that "illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty; has linked "homosexuals trying to destroy families through the mock marriage" to "the downturn on Wall Street"; has claimed that "[t]he children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia"; has asserted that "welfare recipient[s]" should not "have the right to vote;" and has described autism as a "fraud, a racket," and said, "In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

Posted to the web on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 09:40 AM ET