Someone plugged this guy's brain into a "wrong outlet." Sweet Jesus someone please save us from these so-called "Christian" bigots. From our friends over at Right Wing Watch, it seems these televangelists just can't quit carrying on about sex in general and especially those "evil" homosexuals who are doing things that remind them of something blowing up.

Jeffress: Homosexuality Like Plugging a TV into the Wrong Outlet and Blowing It to Smithereens:

Jeffress, who has a history of using virulently anti-gay rhetoric, argued that homosexuality violates God’s design for sex.

“Think about this one time in heaven God was sitting up there with his sketch pad and he said, ‘you know I’m going to design human beings and would it be fun of they started doing this together with one another,’” Jeffress explained. “God dreamed up sex, He thought it up for our enjoyment, He gave us the equipment to enjoy it with.”

He went on to claim that homosexuality is like plugging a TV into a 220-volt power outlet rather than the recommended 120 outlet “because those are antiquated instructions” and “it’s my TV and I can do whatever I want to with it.”

“Well it is my TV to do what I want to with it but I’m going to blow that TV into smithereens if I put it in a 220 outlet,” Jeffress said.

Put me on the list of people who will not be surprised or shocked one iota if we would find out later that Robert Jeffress is taking a page out of George Rekers' playbook and caught with some escort from Rentboy.com.

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Here we go again with Pastor Rick Warren making idiotic remarks about gay people. Rick Warren: Same sex marriage like punching a guy in the nose:

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren on Tuesday night said that same sex relationships would still be sinful even if they were natural.

“It wouldn’t bother me if there was a ‘gay gene’ found,” he told CNN host Piers Morgan.

“Here’s what we know about life,” Warren continued. “I have all kinds of natural feelings in my life and it doesn’t necessarily mean that I should act on every feeling. Sometimes I get angry and feel like punching a guy in the nose. That doesn’t mean I act on it. Sometimes I feel attracted to women who are not my wife. I don’t act on it. Just because I have a feeling doesn’t make it right. Not everything natural is good for me. Arsenic is natural.”

Here's more from Think Progress:

On CBS This Morning this week, Warren similarly defended his anti-gay positions by claiming that he can be “tolerant” and “accepting” without being “approving.” Though he may not act on his attractions to women who are not his wife, he seems to gloss over the fact that he did have the opportunity to act on his attractions to her by marrying her. By advocating against same-sex marriage, he works to prevent gays and lesbians from having the same security of a lasting partnership.

Warren has a long history of opposing marriage equality. Four years ago, he defended his support of California’s Proposition 8 by claiming that same-sex marriage is “equivalent” to incest, pedophilia, and polygamy. He also claimed that gays are “evil” and have “Christ-o-phobia.” Warren tries to offset his anti-gay beliefs by boasting his anti-AIDS work in Africa, but he has ties to conservative anti-gay leaders in Uganda who oppose using condoms to prevent transmission of HIV. The results of his particular efforts are unclear, but studies have shown that abstinence-only efforts have failed to lower HIV rates in Africa, and anti-gay stigma also contributes to the epidemic.

Full transcript below the fold.

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As Nicole wrote earlier today, Dana Milbank took his turn this month helping to mainstream the type of hatred and bile spread by the likes of the FRC's Tony Perkins. This Thursday it was Mrs. Greenspan allowing him air time to defend Todd Akin after the Republican establishment threw him under the bus and to pretend that Joe Biden has ever said anything nearly as offensive as what came out of Akin's mouth.

Naturally we could count on Andrea Mitchell to allow Perkins' lies and obfuscation to go unchallenged, but the bigger problem is that she's allowing him to go on the air at all if she's not going to all and treating him as though he's some respectable member of the beltway establishment. As Nicole explained though, that's exactly the problem because in Mitchell's mind, that's exactly what he is. Just another lobbyist out there running the cocktail circuit with the rest of them.

Tony Perkins downplays ‘legitimate rape’ as a ‘Biden-ism’:

Family Research Council President Tony Perkin on Thursday defended Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), saying that his assertion that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape” was the type of innocent gaffe that Vice President Joe Biden might make.

Perkins told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he met with Akin in private “to encourage him and the stand that he’s taken.”

“This is a challenge for him,” the evangelical leader explained. “It was a Biden-ism that he made. It was inexcusable, it was inappropriate, he has acknowledged as such and he’s moving on. Now, there are some in the Republican Party that want him to get out, he has made his decision that he’s going to stay in.

He continued: “And from my perspective as our organization endorsed him in the primary, we endorsed him based upon the totality of his record. He has been a strong advocate for national defense, a strong advocate for life, for family and for all Americans. And so our position on him and his candidacy has not changed.”

Mitchell wondered how widespread was the view in the anti-abortion movement that women who were “legitimately raped” could not get pregnant.

“I’ve never had a discussion about that,” Perkins insisted. “It’s not something that’s discussed. Look, I see that every human life is sacred, it should be welcomed into our world and protected by our laws …. Todd [Akin] said he misspoke, he apologized for it. Now, I think it’s time to move on.” Read on...

"Biden-ism" huh? Yeah, good luck with that Tony. I think that's going to stick about as well as "Obamaloney" did for Mittens.

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Houston police are investigating claims that a conservative radio host fled the scene after hitting a parked car at a popular local gay bar.

Although police initially declined to press charges against Michael Berry, at least two witnesses have come forward and video evidence places him at the club around the time of the accident.

"Videos don't lie," T.C.'s Show Bar bouncer Tuderia Bennett, the victim of the hit and run, told KPRC. "They don't paint pictures that don't exist."

The video shows a man who looks like Berry entering the bar while men in drag performed nearby. He ordered a beer and went to the bathroom on at least two occasions.

After leaving the bar at around 11 p.m. on Jan. 31, Berry allegedly backed his black Chevrolet Tahoe up 70 feet before smashing into Bennett’s Volkswagen Passat.

Bennett told police that he clearly saw Berry behind the wheel, but they refused to file charges.

"I'd say that's the government at work," he said. "I mean that's corruption at its best."

"You know, a hit and run is a criminal, whether or not you're an average individual or somebody who has his political pull that he does," Bennett added in an interview with KHOU.

Berry, a former Republican city councilman, suggested on his radio show on Thursday that he had been framed by his "enemies."

"I've always said when you do what I do, the way I do it, you make enemies," he said. "When you poke your finger in as many people's eye as I do every day, you make enemies," adding that they will "will accuse you of most anything."

"You have to trust that in the end, the system works itself out, that there are checks and balances, there are people who will verify. But you also recognize that there are some people who want you to be crushed. There's some people who hate you. There are some people who privately would benefit from you not being on the air."

But Bennett believes that Berry is behind a cover up.

"If you're going to stand up and say anti-gay things and be conservative and be Mr. Good Guy, and then when something happens that points you out and puts you in a place with the exact business that you aim to shut down, it kind of makes it seem like I need this to go away and I need it to go away quickly," he said.

In his role as a conservative radio host and activist, Berry has been no stranger to controversy.

Clear Channel, which owns KPRC-AM, had to apologize in 2010 after he suggested that someone should bomb the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" if it were ever built.

"I'll tell you this — if you do build a mosque, I hope somebody blows it up," he said. "I hope the mosque isn't built, and if it is, I hope it's blown up, and I mean that."

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Looks like some more bad news for the Bachmann presidential campaign -- Bachmann's husband got $137,000 in Medicaid funds:

While Rep. Michele Bachmann has forcefully denounced the Medicaid program for swelling the "welfare rolls," the mental health clinic run by her husband has been collecting annual Medicaid payments totaling over $137,000 for the treatment of patients since 2005, according to new figures obtained by NBC News.

The previously unreported payments are on top of the $24,000 in federal and state funds that Bachmann & Associates, the clinic founded by Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist, received in recent years under a state grant to train its employees, state records show. The figures were provided to NBC News in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The clinic, based in Lake Elmo, Minn., describes itself on its website as offering "quality Christian counseling" for a large number of mental health problems ranging from "anger management" to addictions and eating disorders.

The $161,000 in payments from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to her husband's clinic appear to contradict some of Michelle Bachmann's public accounts this week when she was first asked about the extent to which her family has benefited from government aid. Contacted this afternoon, Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Bachmann, said the congresswoman was doing campaign events and was not immediately available for comment.

Questions about the Bachmann family's receipt of government funds arose this week after a Los Angeles Times story reported that a family farm in which Michelle Bachmann is a partner had received nearly $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.

When asked by anchor Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" about the story's assertion that her husband's counseling clinic had also gotten federal and state funds, Bachmann replied that it was "one-time training money that came from the federal government. And it certainly didn't help our clinic."

At another point, she said, "My husband and I did not get the money," adding that it was "mental health training money that went to the employees."

But state records show that Bachmann & Associates has been collecting payments under the Minnesota's Medicaid program every year for the past six years. Karen Smigielski, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said the state's Medicaid program is funded "about 50-50" with federal and state monies. The funds to Bachmann & Associates are for the treatment of low-income mentally ill patients and are based on a "fee for service" basis, meaning the clinic was reimbursed by Medicaid for the services it provided. Read on...

And keep in mind that this clinic of his is reportedly one where they "pray away the gay" as TPM wrote about back in '06 -- MN-06: Does GOPer Bachmann's Husband "Ungay" Homosexuals?:

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Chris Matthews talked to the SPLC's Mark Potok and The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins about the recent designation of Perkin's FRC as a hate group for their anti-gay rhetoric.

From the SPLC's web site -- Active U.S. Hate Groups:

The Southern Poverty Law Center counted 932 active hate groups in the United States in 2009. Only organizations and their chapters known to be active during 2009 are included.

All hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics.

This list was compiled using hate group publications and websites, citizen and law enforcement reports, field sources and news reports.

Hate group activities can include criminal acts, marches, rallies, speeches, meetings, leafleting or publishing. Websites appearing to be merely the work of a single individual, rather than the publication of a group, are not included in this list. Listing here does not imply a group advocates or engages in violence or other criminal activity.

Here's more from TPM -- Family Research Council Labeled 'Hate Group' By SPLC Over Anti-Gay Rhetoric:

The Family Research Council is perhaps the most prominent voice in conservative social politics and the hosts of an annual rite of passage for many Republicans who hope to run for president. And now, FRC is on the same Southern Poverty Law Center list of hate groups as the Ku Klux Klan.

The SPLC gave the Family Research Council the designation due to anti-gay speech from its leaders, which the SPLC says includes calls for gay men and lesbians to be imprisoned. Read on...

Perkins needless to say isn't happy about it. I say good for Mark Potok and the SPLC for putting these hate mongers in the type of company where they belong.

Carl Paladino speaking Sunday at Borough Park at the Karlsberg Synagogue on 53rd Street and later at Kohel Adas Kasho On Ross Street in Williamsburg. From the Ny Daily News:

Speaking to a group of Orthodox Jewish leaders in Borough Park, Paladino noted how he boycotted the Gay Pride parade Democratic foe Andrew Cuomo marched in, along with his daughters, this summer.

"There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homoxsexual," he said. "That's not how G-d created us, and that's not the example that we should be showing our children -- and certainly not in our schools."

Not suprisingly, Paladino said he would veto any legislation that seeks to legalize gay marriage in New York.

"I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don't want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option," he said. "It isn't."

Calling himself the "religious values candidate," he said "I will not support immoral legislation."

The Cuomo campaign released a statement on Paladino's obvious homophobia:

Mr. Paladino's statement displays a stunning homophobia and a glaring disregard for basic equality. These comments along with other views he has espoused make it clear that he is way out of the mainstream and is unfit to represent New York.

Edit: There's been some walkback by Paladino that he didn't ever say "dysfunctional homosexuals", as he left that out of his prepared remarks. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo tries to make sense of it all, which is probably an impossible task with the crazy campaign of Carl Paladino.

To a significant degree, this does back up Paladino's claim. It was a 'version' of the speech prepared by the rabbis. But if I'm reading this right, that's the version Paladino was reading from. Otherwise that 'winced' reference makes no sense. And that makes the whole story even weirder then version one in my book.

So Paladino was reading from a speech that was prepared for him by his hosts? Not that pols don't often solicit and accept quite a bit of input from potential supporters about what they want to hear. But this would seem to take things to a new level entirely.

Bill Maher whacked Senator Jim DeMint for his gay-bashing views which aren’t that far off from those of fellow wingnut Fred Phelps during his "New Rules" segment.

MAHER: He feels education should be left to the people that we know our children are safe with, like priests. Jim DeMint has voted against gay marriage, against gay adoption and against the pending reform to allow gays to serve openly in the military. I don’t know if god hates fags, but Jim DeMint sure does.

Bill’s exactly right about the difference between these two. One is more than willing to go out there and just show how straight up crazy they are and the other hides behind the veil of being for “family values."

I'm just wondering how many centuries it is going to take for the Democrats to try to field someone to run against a Republican in a place like South Carolina that isn't either a joke like Alvin Greene who somehow got past their other joke of a candidate Vic Rawl, who they didn't care if he won anyway before the Greene debacle, and decide to try the Bernie Sanders model, where if you're an actual liberal or progressive and aren't full of sh*t you might actually win elections on your principles even in "conservative" states. Bernie stands up against things like outsourcing and not taking care of American workers. I refuse to believe a decent candidate in DeMint's state would not be able to do the same thing if the Democrats would be willing to put one up instead of deciding you need to be GOP lite in red states or no one will support you.

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Digby summed this story up pretty nicely in one sentence. "Where do they find these people?" The wingnuts and gay bashers are coming out of the woodwork in droves these days. Apparently it's alright for a state government official to cyber-stalk a student because he doesn't like the fact that he's gay.

Assistant attorney general blogs against gay student body president:

For nearly six months, Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, has waged an internet campaign against college student Chris Armstrong, the openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Using the online moniker "Concerned Michigan Alumnus," Shirvell launched his blog in late April.

"Welcome to 'Chris Armstrong Watch,'" Shirvell wrote in his inaugural blog post. "This is a site for concerned University of Michigan alumni, students, and others who oppose the recent election of Chris Armstrong -- a RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVIST, RACIST, ELITIST, & LIAR -- as the new head of student government."

Among other things, Shirvell has published blog posts that accuse Armstrong of going back on a campaign promise he made to minority students; engaging in "flagrant sexual promiscuity" with another male member of the student government; sexually seducing and influencing "a previously conservative [male] student" so much so that the student, according to Shirvell, "morphed into a proponent of the radical homosexual agenda;" hosting a gay orgy in his dorm room in October 2009; and trying to recruit incoming first year students "to join the homosexual 'lifestyle.' "

Of course he told CNN's Anderson Cooper that he's not a bigot.

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Rachel Maddow talks to Jeff Sharlet who has a new book out titled C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy.

Here's a description of the book from the Amazon page.

Jeff Sharlet is the only journalist to have reported from inside the C Street House, the Fellowship residence known simply by its Washington, DC address. The house has lately been the scene of notorious political scandal, but more crucially it is home to efforts to transform the very fabric of American democracy. And now, after laying bare its tenants' past in The Family, Sharlet reports from deep within fundamentalism in today's world, revealing that the previous efforts of religious fundamentalists in America pale in comparison with their long-term ambitions.

When Barack Obama entered the White House, headlines declared the age of culture wars over. In C Street, Sharlet shows why these conflicts endure and why they matter now - from the sensationalism of Washington sex scandals to fundamentalism's long shadow in Africa, where Ugandan culture warriors determined to eradicate homosexuality have set genocide on simmer.

We've reached a point where piety and corruption are not at odds but one and the same. Reporting with exclusive sources and explosive documents from C Street, the war on gays in Uganda, and the battle for the soul of America's armed forces - waged by a 15,000-strong movement of officers intent on "reclaiming territory for Christ in the military" - Sharlet reveals not the last gasp of old-time religion but the new front lines of fundamentalism.

It's nice to see these C Street wingnuts getting some more light shined on their creepy cult. Good on Rachel Maddow for having Jeff Sharlet back on her show. His book is available at Amazon now if you'd like to pick up a copy.

C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy
	Author: Jeff Sharlet