Right Wing Watch

One of the things I tried to do regularly back when we were following the debate over the expansion of hate crimes protections to cover things like sexual orientation was to point out the fundamental incoherence of the Religious Right's claims that such an expansion would gives gays "special protections" since, in reality, it was just granting equal protections by adding "sexual orientation" to the list of things like race and religion, which had already been protected by hate crimes legislation for more than a decade.   In essence, it was Christians who had, for years, been protected by ...

There have been several articles recently on the tension between the traditional Religious Right social conservatives and the ascendent Tea Party activists, due primarily to the fact that the lattter has not made the former's anti-gay, anti-choice concerns a part of the agenda.  And while the Religious Right groups have been working hard to shoe-horn their agenda into the Tea Party movement and claim the mantle, nothing better represents their growing nervousness that they are being left on the sidelines by the GOP than this Washington Post op-ed by the Susan B. Anthony List's Marjorie ...

Steve Benen: Looking Longingly At Joseph McCarthy. Media Matters: Right-wing media eagerly spread absurd claim that Obama plans to "ban sport fishing". Think Progress: Conservative Catholic League President Bill Donohue Defends Beck: Many Of His Critics Are ‘Phonies’. Wonk Room: Girl Suing High School Over Canceled Prom: School Is Saying ‘You Can Be Gay, Just Don’t Be Openly Gay’. Alan Colmes: Neal Horsley Arrested For Terrorist Threat Against Elton John.

The AP reports that "a jury has convicted "Harlan Drake of first-degree murder Thursday in the September 2009 shootings of abortion protester James Pouillon and businessman Mike Fuoss in Owosso, rejecting claims that the gunman was mentally ill at the time." Joel Hunter reports that he has left the GOP. The Family Policy Network is attacking VA Gov. Bob McDonnell and warning that he has "made an enemy of the grassroots" by being insufficiently committed to discriminating against gays. Pamela Geller claims that the goal of Rifqa Bary's parent's attorney is to run out the clock until she ...

Several Religious Right activists and California state legislators have unveiled a new effort to take control of the court system "across San Diego County and eventually America" via elections through a new organization called "Better Courts Now", arguing that Proposition 8 would not have even been necessary if the state had the proper judges: Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa, and one of his predecessors from the 77th Assembly District are among those appearing in videos for a new Chula Vista-based group that is urging conservatives to elect local judges who value "life and ...

Ever since Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll, traditional Religious Right activists have been arguing that the event was overtaken by Libertarians and therefore did not represent "true" conservatives ... a belief that was only reinforced by the fact that Young Americans for Freedom's Ryan Sorba was booed by the audience for his attack from the stage on the conservative gay group GOProud. For decades, CPAC has been the conservative gathering in Washington, but this year a man who for years had been relegated to the sidelines of the movement suddenly won the event's straw poll thanks largely ...

Regarding this TPM piece on James Dobson being forced out of Focus on the Family, all I have to say is that people probably shouldn't be putting too much faith in anything Ken Hutcherson says, since he has almost no influence or knowledge of events. David Weigel reads Karl Rove so you don't have to. The Orly Taitz insanity continues. The Archbishop of Denver tries to explain why a student with two mommies cannot attend their pre-school. For some reason, CWA thinks its signing of the Manhattan Declaration is news. Why are gay couples being excluded from Iowa's domestic abuse ...

Rather than allow a lesbian student to attend prom with her girlfriend, a Mississippi school has decided to cancel the prom entirely.  Pathetic. Apparently, Chief Justice John Roberts thinks it is "very troubling" for the President to criticize his rulings. Boo hoo. "Founder of Christian Apparel Maker 1M4JC (1 Million for Jesus Christ) to Run for US Congress." Awesome. The Family Research Council is calling for an investigation into the Eric Massa scandal. Finally, the AFA's Bryan Fischer goes after VA Gov. Bob McDonnell: "Bob McDonnell won the governorship of Virginia last November ...

The Oklahoma Senate has exempted the state from federal hate crimes laws, mandating that files of potential hate crimes be withheld or destroyed so that they cannot be used to assist in any federal hate crimes investigation: Under the new provisions of Senate Bill 1965, reports that were collected during investigations of possible hate crime that did not end in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. [Sen. Steve] Russell said the bill is meant to prevent the federal law enforcement officials from taking over a case and applying different ...

While reading through the most recent "Washington Update" from the Family Research Council, I had to stop and wonder if the organzation had perhaps hired Peter LaBarbera or Matt Barber and put them in charge of drafting the daily email. But no, this language can be attributed to FRC president Tony Perkins himself, who responds to this Washington Post article claiming that Washington DC's recognition of marriage equality will be a boon to the District's economy by claiming that it'll actually damage the economy due to the "massive health care expenses incurred by taxpayers every year to ...