[Vision2020] It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True
Phil Nisbet
pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com
Thu Feb 9 09:55:27 PST 2006
As an addemdum to my last post;
Washington Post, 13 July 1994
Job Protection For Gays
By Barry Goldwater
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last year, many who opposed lifting the ban on gays in the military gave lip
service to the American ideal that employment opportunities should be based
on skill and performance. It’s just that the military is different, they
said. In civilian life, they’d never condone discrimination.
Well, now’s their chance to put up or shut up.
A bipartisan coalition in Congress has proposed legislation to protect gays
against job discrimination. Congress is waking up to a reality already
recognized by a host of Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Marriott and
General Motors. These businesses have adopted policies prohibiting
discrimination based on sexual orientation because they realize that their
employees are their most important asset.
America is now engaged in a battle to reduce the deficit and to compete in a
global economy. Job discrimination excludes qualified individuals, lowers
workforce productivity and eventually hurts us all. Topping the new world
order means attracting the best and creating a workplace environment where
everyone can excel. Anything less makes us a second rate nation. It’s not
just bad—it’s bad business.
But job discrimination against gays and lesbians is real, and it happens
every day. Cracker Barrel, a national restaurant chain, adopted a policy of
blatant discrimination against employees suspected of being gay. Would
anyone tolerate policies prohibiting the hiring of African Americans,
Hispanics or women?
Today, in corporate suites and factory warehouses, qualified people live in
fear of losing their livelihood for reasons that have nothing to do with
ability. In urban and rural communities, hatred and fear force good people
from productive employment to the public dole—wasting their talents and the
taxpayers’ money.
Gays and lesbians are a part of every American family. They should not be
shortchanged in their efforts to better their lives and serve their
communities. As President Clinton likes to say, “if you work hard and play
by the rules, you’ll be rewarded” and not with a pink slip just for being
gay.
It’s time America realized that there was no gay exemption in the right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of
Independence. Job discrimination against gays—or anybody else—is contrary to
each of these founding principles.
Some will try to paint this as a liberal or religious issue. I am a
conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of
church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet
that people have the right to live life as they please, as long as they
don’t hurt anyone else in the process. No one has ever shown me how being
gay or lesbian harms anyone else. Even the 1992 Republican platform affirms
the principle that “bigotry has no place in our society.”
I am proud that the Republican Party has always stood for individual rights
and liberties. The positive role of limited government has always been the
defense of these fundamental principles. Our party has led the way in the
fight for freedom and a free market economy, a society where competition and
the Constitution matter—and sexual orientation shouldn’t.
Now some in our ranks want to extinguish this torch. The radical right has
nearly ruined our party. Its members do not care enough about the
Constitution, and they are the ones making all the noise. The party faithful
must not let it happen. Anybody who cares about real moral values
understands that this isn’t about granting special rights—it’s about
protecting basic rights.
It is for this reason that more than 100 mayors and governors, Republicans
and Democrats, have signed laws and issued orders protecting gays and
lesbians. In fact, nearly half the states have provided some form of
protection to gays in employment. But of course many others have not,
including my own state of Arizona.
It’s not going to be easy getting Congress to provide job protection for
gays. I know that firsthand. The right wing will rant and rave that the sky
is falling. They’ve said that before—and we’re still here. Constitutional
conservatives know that doing the right thing takes guts and foresight, but
that’s why we’re elected, to make tough decisions that stand the test of
time.
My former colleagues have a chance to stand with civil rights leaders, the
business community and the 74 percent of Americans who polls show favor
protecting gays and lesbians from job discrimination. With their vote they
can help strengthen the American work ethic and support the principles of
the Constitution.
>From: "Phil Nisbet" <pcnisbet1 at hotmail.com>
>To: thansen at moscow.com
>CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True
>Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 07:28:43 -0800
>
>Hansen
>
>The trouble with an article like this one is that it makes the same sorts
>of assumptions about 'conservatives' as the Group it condemns makes about
>gays and lesbians.
>
>Barry Goldwater, the Grandfather of the American Conservative movement, was
>not anti-Gay. You should read some of the things that he wrote about the
>drift toward gay bashing prior to his death.
>
>There are many conservative Gays and Lesbians.
>
>The reality is that there are as many gay bashers in the ranks of the
>Democratic Party as in the GOP. Social Conservatives, those whose ideas
>fit into the anti-Gay mold, are pretty evenly distributed between the
>economic and foreign policy conservatives and liberals.
>
>Look at the votes in Oregon. They have a fairly liberal state, yet reject
>any and all forms of Gay marriage by wide margins.
>
>Blacks are not exactly the most conservative friendly group in America,
>voting overwhelmingly for Democrats and liberals, yet the same people are
>more likely to oppose gay marriage than members of the GOP.
>
>Yet using the terms 'conservative' when Social Conservative is what is
>actually being stated is just as much an official sounding pronouncement.
>The real politics of this issue are simply not that easy.
>
>Phil Nisbet
>
>
>
>>From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
>>To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>>Subject: [Vision2020] It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True
>>Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 14:51:29 -0800
>>
>> >From today's (February 8, 2006) Lewiston Tribune with a special thanks
>>to
>>Tom Henderson.
>>
>>It is almost humorous, and definitely sad, how low some people (or blogs)
>>will go merely to exhibit a false sense of authenticity.
>>
>>I am certainly glad that nobody I know would cite such an unethical
>>source.
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>"It Sounds Official, So It Must Be True"
>>
>>By Tom Henderson
>>Lewiston Tribune
>>February 8, 2006
>>
>>This just in: Homosexual parents are evil -- evil!
>>
>>Don't take my word for it. The American College of Pediatricians reached
>>this conclusion after an in-depth analysis of its own beliefs.
>>
>>Forget what you read in books like "Heather Has Two Mommies." That
>>nice-looking lesbian in the anti-nuke T-shirt? She probably watches
>>Heather
>>take showers.
>>
>>God only knows what happens to Heather's little dog.
>>
>>It gets worse. The study noted a higher rate of domestic abuse among
>>homosexual partners. (But you know gays. It probably just involves
>>slapping
>>each other and making cruel remarks about the drapes.)
>>
>>Homosexuals are also shamelessly frisky. Unwilling to control themselves,
>>the study concluded, they will parade armies of lovers into the home and
>>perform wanton acts of carnality.
>>
>>"Given the current body of research, the American College of Pediatricians
>>believes it is inappropriate, potentially hazardous to children and
>>dangerously irresponsible to change the age-old prohibition on homosexual
>>parenting, whether by adoption, foster care or by reproductive
>>manipulation," the study insists.
>>
>>"This position is rooted in the best available science."
>>
>>Leapin' lizards!
>>
>>These are shocking revelations from an official-sounding group with a
>>crest
>>and everything. And words like "science" and "research" are used several
>>times.
>>
>>Many a social conservative is naturally flopping about the floor in a
>>convulsive fit. But just as naturally, the mainstream liberal press has
>>virtually ignored this story.
>>
>>Why? Glad you asked. It's five pounds of B.S. in a four-pound bag.
>>
>>The American College of Pediatricians was founded just three years ago.
>>Its
>>dinky membership got bent out of shape after the American Academy of
>>Pediatrics -- with 60,000 members, many of them leaders in the field --
>>found no difference between children raised by gay and straight parents.
>>
>>In reality, the so-called college is as much a professional organization
>>as
>>the Partridge Family is a rock band. Its staff consists of one person to
>>answer the phone.
>>
>>But it gets a lot of attention from conservatives desperate for something
>>--
>>anything -- with an official-sounding name to back up their prejudices.
>>
>>The American College of Pediatrics gets a lot of its manure from teeny
>>tiny
>>think tanks like the Family Research Institute and its founder, Paul
>>Cameron.
>>
>>Cameron prides himself on getting articles like "Gay Foster Parents More
>>Apt
>>to Molest" published in academic journals. There are a lot of misnomers
>>flying around at this point.
>>
>>First of all, take Cameron's think tank. In terms of size and depth, it's
>>more like a birdbath than a tank.
>>
>>Then there are these academic journals that print Cameron's work.
>>
>>Psychological Reports, a small journal based in Montana, says its studies
>>are peer-reviewed. However, editor Doug Ammons says no reviewer has veto
>>power.
>>
>>Ammons calls this a "scientific manifestation of free speech." Well, it's
>>not quite free. The journal typically charges $27.50 per page to print an
>>article.
>>
>>At real academic journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, any
>>article is rejected if a reviewer raises serious objections.
>>
>>The American Psychological Association dropped Cameron as a member in 1983
>>after he refused to cooperate with an investigation of his methodology.
>>
>>"We are concerned about Dr. Cameron because we do believe that his
>>methodology is weak," Rhea Faberman, a spokeswoman for the association,
>>told
>>the Boston Globe.
>>
>>And the American Sociological Association issued a resolution saying:
>>"Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological
>>research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism."
>>
>>People like to have their prejudices confirmed. So when people or
>>organizations come along with a cool-sounding titles, the gullible snap at
>>the bait.
>>
>>Thank goodness for the Internet. Anyone who spends more than 30 seconds
>>with
>>Google would know not to take horror stories about gay parents at face
>>value.
>>
>>What kind of rube could possibly be taken in by this hokum?
>>
>>"Studies have shown that the ideal is where a child is raised in a married
>>family with a man and a woman" -- President Bush, Jan. 27, 2005
>>
>>Yikes.
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Take care, Moscow.
>>
>>Tom Hansen
>>Moscow, Idaho
>>
>>****************************************************
>>"People call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that distinguish
>>me
>>from a doormat."
>>
>>- Rebecca West (1913)
>>****************************************************
>>
>>
>>_____________________________________________________
>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>> http://www.fsr.net
>> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search!
>http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/
>
>_____________________________________________________
>List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the
>communities of the Palouse since 1994. http://www.fsr.net
> mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
More information about the Vision2020
mailing list