CONGRESSWOMAN FOXX TRYS TO PLAY THE SYMPATHY CARD

Caught in her own web of lies, Republican Congresswoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina is now trying to portray herself as a "victim" by claiming that she's receiving death threats because of the disgusting Matthew Shepard murder comments she made in front of congress, the world and Matthew's own mother.

Her comments were so off-base and reprehensible that it prompted Keith Olbermann to label her the "World's Worst Person" during his Wednesday broadcast. That video is at the end of yesterday's posting and can be found at the link above.

The problem with Foxx's death threat claims is that they're apparently another total lie. According to a Washington Post story by Mary Ann Akers (aka the Sleuth) that was published yesterday;

The Capitol Police are unaware of any death threats against the congresswoman. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, tells the Sleuth there is "no ongoing investigation" of the matter, which means the police have received no information about death threats from Foxx's office.

Foxx somewhat retracted her comments about Shepard later yesterday, after gay-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers denounced her revisionist history. (The two men who killed Shepard were convicted after multiple witnesses testified the killers were motivated by anti-gay bias.)

This is apparently the tactic du jour for corrupt politicians. Remember Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern who said that homosexuality is a bigger threat to this country than terrorists? In the maelstrom that ensued, she too tried to claim death threats to gain public sympathy.

Here in Arizona, we're all too familiar with this kind of sympathy play. Every time the corrupt and moralless Sheriff Joe Arpaio is caught in a lie, his first line of defense is to claim "death threats."

In case you don't know who Arpaio is (referred to by many here as "Joke Arpaio"), consider that his modus operandi has been repeatedly challenged by no less than Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

He is also currently under federal investigation for racial profiling in connection with a series of headline grabbing and questionably legal/illegal raids and community "sweeps" supposedly looking for criminals but targeting hispanic communities and businesses that employ hispanics. These operations usually resulted in hundreds of blanket arrests of almost exclusively hispanic individuals who were deemed "illegal immigrants" on the spot and taken to jail even though many were able to prove citizenship or legal status.

In Arizona, illegal immigration is, as I'm sure you can imagine, a very divisive and heated issue that Arpaio has been able to use to his advantage over and over again. Hopefully, this time the feds investigation will be able to come up with enough evidence to not only put a stop to these shameless practices but put an end to Arpaio's career as well.

Why these people keep getting reelected when they're so obviously corrupt and completely devoid of any kind of compassion or morality is a very disturbing reality of politics.

I'm hoping that the new direction and new sense of positive community activism that's taking hold in this country continues to grow. It's really the only thing that can stop the downward spiral we find ourselves in now.

I personally think it will.

US HOUSE PASSES MATTHEW SHEPARD HATE CRIMES BILL

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, better known as the Matthew Shepard Act, passed the US House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 249-175.

The Senate will now have to vote on their version of the bill which was introduced by Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and sponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and the now Democratic Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

President Barack Obama has vowed to sign the bill once it reaches his desk. Standing behind his campaign promise to do everything he can to get this bill passed, Obama released the following statement on Tuesday (the day before the House vote was taken):

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON H.R. 1913, THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 2009
This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance – legislation that will enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my Administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action.

There was one very unfortunate and astoundingly insensitive speech delivered on the floor of the House in opposition to HR1913 before the vote was taken.

Republican representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina claimed that Matthew Shepard's murder was a hoax. She said that it was a simple robbery and not a hate crime and that the incident shouldn't be used as a reason to pass the Hate Crimes bill. She gave this speech while Matthew's mother was sitting in the gallery.

Below is Keith Olbermann's brilliant response to Foxx's pathetic and shameful speech. He named her as his "Worst Person In The World."

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Once again....THANK YOU KEITH OLBERMANN!

People like Foxx are disgusting, pathetic and shameful human being wanna-bes who need to be confronted and exposed at every possible opportunity. They are the epitome of wolves-in-sheep's-clothing.

SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER SWITCHES TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced today that he is switching his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.

This move will give the Democrats a filibuster proof majority once Al Franken is finally sworn in. Franken's opponent, former senator Norm Coleman, has made his last-ditch effort by appealing the vote results to the Minnesota state Supreme Court. They're now just waiting for the final decision. Franken's lead has increased with each successive recount and challenge and it is expected that the Supreme Court will find in his favor as well.

In a statement published in today's Washington Post, Specter said:

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary. I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

Just minutes after the Senator's announcement, President Obama called and told him that he has his full support and that the Democrats were thrilled to have him in their party.

The Senator has served in the Senate since 1980 and has a reputation for being a moderate with conservative views on crime, national security, and 2nd Amendment Rights, and liberal views on abortion, illegal immigration and the environment.

His record on GLBT issues reflects his moderate, political duality. He voted to prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation but then voted against including sexual orientation in the definition of hate crimes. He is opposed to same-sex marriages but, like Obama, supports Civil Unions.

Given what's been happening around the country lately and given the Senator's demonstrated ability to change his mind on issues, I do expect him to eventually reconsider his more negative GLBT positions. As more and more polls continue to show steadily increasing support for gay marriage, ENDA, the hate crimes bill, repealing DOMA and DADT and the GLBT community in general, the Senator's positions will probably start changing sooner rather than later. He's NOT one of the fanatics. That's why he left the Republican Party.

IOWANS START GAY MARRIAGES

This morning Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe became the first legally married gay couple in the state of Iowa.

Although the new marriage law requires a 3 day waiting period after being granted a marriage license, Melisa and Shelley were able to successfully appeal that requirement earlier this morning and obtained a waiver from a local judge. The nuptials were performed by pastor Pat Esperanaza in a ceremony in front of the Polk County administrative offices in Des Moines.

Iowa also has no prohibition against out of state residents obtaining marriage licenses and getting married there. So, early this morning two Nebraskan women, Sarah Fentress and Bambi Smith, crossed into Iowa and were the first people in line at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse. They arrived around 6:15 a.m. and waited almost two hours for the Recorder Department to open for business.

“We’re very excited to be here,” Fentress said. “It means a lot to us, our children, our family as a whole.”

According to the Lincoln Journal Star:

The people waiting in line cheered at 8 a.m., when George Farrage, first deputy recorder, came out of the office with the signed Iowa Supreme Court order that states the Iowa statute limiting civil marriage to a union between a man and a woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.

“Let’s go,” Smith said eagerly.

Fentress said she and Smith realized they were not Iowans, and their marriage would not be valid back in Nebraska.

“Maybe one day we’ll get sick of it and move to Iowa,” she said.

An AP story posted at Yahoo News reported that:

The Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous and emphatic decision on April 3 made Iowa the third state to allow same-sex marriage, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut. Vermont passed a law that will take effect in September.

...The court issued an order Monday [today] confirming that the appeals process in the case has officially concluded.

Gay marriage opponents have no other legal options to appeal the case to the state or federal level because they were not parties to the lawsuit, and there is no federal issue raised in the case.

Their only recourse appears to be a constitutional amendment, which couldn't get on the ballot until 2012 at the earliest. A constitutional convention could be called earlier, but is unlikely.

CONGRATULATIONS to all of the Iowan newlyweds and to Iowa itself for showing such a strong and unequivocal commitment to justice and equality.

Oh, BTW - despite the strong-arm tactics of religious right-wingnuts who tried pressuring county recorders to join them and refuse to issue the new marriage licenses, there were no reports of even a single recorder refusing to issue the applications. Gay marriages - 1, wingnuts - 0!