Republican Gomorrah

by Max Blumenthal

  164 Stockman and militias: Nina Burleigh, Hilary Hylton, and Richard Woodbury, “The Movement’s Sympathetic Ears on Capitol Hill,” Time, May 8, 1995, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,982917,00.html.

  164 Stockman, a former drifter: “Wacko, Texas,” Mother Jones, September/October 1996, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/09/wacko-texas.

  164 H.R. 2749: Judith Reisman, sponsored by Steve Stockman, “Child Protection and Ethics I Education Act of 1995,” introduced July 12, 2009, posted to Library of Congress website, http://rs9.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d104:HR 02749:@@@L&summ2=m&.

  164 over seven hundred obscenity cases: Taylor, Frontline interview transcript, PBS.org, June 2001, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/porn/interviews/taylor.html.

  164 serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin: Donald Altschiller, “Hate Crimes,” ABC-CLIO, p. 69.

  164 jailing pornographers such as Paul Little: Ben Montgomery, “Pornographer Sentenced to Nearly 4 Years in Prison,” St. Petersburg Times, October 4, 2008, www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article838305.ece.

  164 “We should probably call her Detective Reisman”: Bruce Taylor, “Comments on Dr. Reisman and Her Work,” DrJudithReisman.com, April 2000, http://www.drjudithreisman.com/about_dr_reisman.html.

  164 Reisman testified: Max Blumenthal, “Her Kinsey Obsession.”

  165 Camp American: Ibid.

  165 Larry Pratt and militias: Southern Poverty Law Center, “False Patriots,” Intelligence Report (Summer 2001): 9, http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=365. Also see original source: Larry Pratt, Armed People Victorious (Springfield, VA: Gun Owners Foundation, 1990).

  165 Camp American statement of purpose: http://www.campamerica.org/.

  165 “Pornography is training all your sex educators”: Max Blumenthal, “Her Kinsey Obsession.”

  165 Goeglein resigned his White House post: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Bush Aide Resigns After Admitting Plagiarism,” New York Times, March 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/us/01aide.html?em&ex=1204520400&en=43c14d789352578f&ei=5087.

  166 Unruh and allies form lobbying front: Kevin Freking, “Abstinence Groups Try to Maintain Funds,” Associated Press, April 10, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-10-abstinence-funding_N.htm.

  166 easier for states to opt out: “States Opt Out of Millions in Federal Abstinence Education Grants,” FoxNews.com, June 24, 2008, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/06/24/states-opt-millions-federal-abstinence-education-grants/.

  166 Vitter finally exposed: “New Orleans Madam Says Sen. David Vitter Used Her Brothel,” Associated Press, July 11, 2007, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288868,00.html.

  CHAPTER 17: HUMAN TOOLS

  167 2004 marriage bans: Sarah Kershaw, “Gay Marriage Bans Gain Wide Support in 10 States,” New York Times, November 3, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/03gay.html?scp=3&sq=same-sex%20marriage%202004%20election&st=cse.

  167 “marriage between a man and his donkey”: “Dobson: Same-sex marriage would lead to ‘marriage between daddies and little girls . . . between a man and his donkey’,” Media Matters, October 7, 2005, http://mediamatters.org/items/200510070004.

  167 No homosexual teachers or single female teachers: DeMint, Tim Russert interview, Meet the Press, NBC, October 17, 2004, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6267835/.

  167 another gay-baiting Senate hopeful: Robert Schlesinger, “Medicine Man,” Salon, September 13, 2004, http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/09/13/coburn/index.html.

  167 his declaration that “abortionists” should be executed: Jenkins, “Coburn Different Kind of Political Cat.”

  167 a “servant leader” for Jesus: Maureen Dowd, “The Red Zone,” New York Times, November 4, 2004, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EFD9173CF937A35752C1A9629C8B63 .

  168 Vitter’s gubernatorial withdrawal: Glenn Greenwald, “Sen. David Vitter, a Leading Christian Social Conservative,” Salon, July 10, 2007, http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/10/vitter/.

  168 “There are no skeletons in my closet”: http://righthandthief.blogspot.com/2007/07/senator-vitter-lied-to-christian.html.

  168 Barna survey: Christine Wicker, “Survey Inspires Debate over Why Faith Isn’t a Bigger Factor in Marriage,” Dallas Morning News, undated, http://www.adherents.com/largecom/baptist_divorce.html.

  169 Louisiana marriage law: Kevin Sack, “Louisiana Approves Measure to Tighten Marriage Bonds, New York Times, June 24, 1007, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E2DF1631F937A15755C0A961958260&n=Top/ Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/L/Law%20and%20Legislation. Also see Tony Perkins and Elizabeth Farnsworth The NewsHour interview, “Bound by Love?” PBS.org, August 20, 1997, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec97/marriage_8-20.html.

  169 converted their own marriage to covenant status: Michelle Goldberg, “A Dispatch from the Culture War,” Salon, February 15, 2005, http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/02/15/covenant/index.html.

  169 Ryan Dobson’s website: http://www.korministries.com.

  169 his ghostwritten book: Ryan Dobson: Be Intolerant: Because Some Things Are Just Stupid (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press/Multnomah, 2003).

  170 Ryan Dobson on Terri Schiavo: “The Plight of Terri Schiavo,” Kor podcast, March 28, 2005, http://www.korministries.com/podcast.html.

  170 the “Be There” talk: Buss, Family Man, pp. 23, 186.

  170 Ryan struggled in school: Ibid., p. 258.

  171 “I just didn’t care if I got another one”: Ibid., p. 259.

  171 Ryan divorced Cezanne: Dobson v. Dobson, #00D010621, Superior Court of the State of Orange County, September 11, 2001. Also see Stipulated Judgment on Reserved Issues in re marriage of James Ryan Dobson and Cezanne Dobson, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Orange, October 2, 2001.

  171 he was ordered to pay Cezanne $80,000: Buss, Family Man, p. 324.

  171 “a disaster for the family”: James Dobson, “Handling Stress Is All About Attitude,” Focus on the Family, August 5, 2001, http://www.uexpress.com/focusonthefamily/?uc_full_date=20010805.

  171 Dobson fired his radio sidekick, Mike Trout: “Focus on the Family Official Resigned Over Affair,” Associated Press, October 17, 2000, http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Protestant/Evangelical/Focus-On-The-Family-Official-Resigned-Over-Affair.aspx.

  172 a newfound sense of direction: Buss, Family Man, p. 259.

  172 “our enemy is deadly”: Ryan Dobson, 2Die4: The Dangerous Truth About Following Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press/Multnomah, 2004).

  172 “pay a price in four years”: David Kirkpatrick, “Some Bush Supporters Say They Anticipate a ‘Revolution,’” New York Times, November 4, 2004, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/politics/campaign/04conserve.html?pagewanted=all&position.

  172 Dobsons at National Religious Broadcasters convention: Max Blumenthal, “Air Jesus: With the Evangelical Air Force,” Media Matters, February 27, 2005, http://www.mediatransparency.org/storyprinterfriendly.php?storyID=16.

  174 “as advertised as a husband and father”: Buss, Family Man, p. 251.

  174 “St. Jim Dobson”: Albert Tremaine, personal e-mail, March 17, 2006, http://maxblumenthal.com/2006_03_01_maxblumenthal_archive.html.

  174 “a giant influx in gay marriage”: Ryan Dobson interview, Pulling Weeds out of Potholes blog, June 21, 2004, http://regansravings.blogspot.com/2004/06/interview-with-ryan-dobson.html.

  175 Vitter’s culture war rant: Vitter Statement on Protecting the Sanctity of Marriage, Vitter2004.com, undated, http://www.vitter2004.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=20.

  175 New Orleans newspapers reported allegations: Cain Burdeau, “Vitter Latest of Louisiana’s Bad Boys,” Associated Press, July 10, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-10-1608672327_x.htm.

  175 the city’s notorious Canal Street: Chuck Hustmyre, “The Story of a Canal Street Brothel,” TruTV, undated, http://www.tru
tv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/fbi_brothel/4.html.

  175 a call from David Bellinger: David Vitter, “Ringside,” July 25, 2002, aired on MSNBC, September 11, 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxlqiDn2zM8.

  176 pledged total loyalty to his host: Bill Walsh, “Vitter Earmarks Funds for Religious Groups,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 3, 2007, 176 a bill to ban gay marriage: “Senate Set to Reject Gay Marriage Ban,” CNN.com, June 06, 2006, http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/06/same.sex.marriage/index.html.

  177 Tobias resigned his position: “Senior Official Linked to Escort Service Resigns,” ABC News, April 27, 2007, http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/senior_official.html.

  177 an anti-prostitution “loyalty oath”: Nico Pitney, “Official Caught Using Escort Service Demanded Anti-Prostitution ‘Loyalty Oaths,’” Think Progress, April 28, 2007, http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/28/tobias-prostitution/.

  177 a call from David Vitter: ‘Hustler’ Call May Have Prompted Vitter Admission,” ABC News, July 10, 2007, http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/hustler-call-pr.html.

  177 Hustler’s Vitter story: Interview with Wendy Cortez, Hustler, January 2008.

  178 When Vitter made his grand confession: Shailagh Murray, “Senator’s Number on ‘Madam’ Phone List,” Washington Post, July 10, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070902030.html.

  178 “this ‘modern day lynching’”: “‘D.C. Madam’s Suicide Notes Released,” CBS News, May 05, 2008, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/05/national/main4071471.shtml.

  178 Vitter’s predecessor Bob Livingston: Edward Walsh and Eric Pianin, “Now Livingston’s Past Becomes an Issue,” Washington Post, December 18, 1998, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/livingston121898.htm.

  179 Perkins rushed to Vitter’s defense: Statement on Sen. David Vitter, Family Research Council, July 11, 2007, http://www.frcblog.com/2007/07/statement_on_sen_david_vitter.html.

  179 a defender in Gene Mills: Bill Walsh, “Vitter Earmarks Funds.”

  179 McCormack, Duke and Mein Kampf: William Moore, Elizabeth Rickey, and Lance Hill, The Emergence of David Duke and the Politics of Race, ed. Douglas Rose (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992), pp. 44-95.

  179 “I will continue to support him fervently”: Andrew Purcell, “A Right Madam,” Sunday Herald, undated, http://www.sundayherald.com/international/shinternational/display.var.1546321.0.0.php.

  179 HETERPOPHOBIA!: Mac Johnson, “Sen. Vitter Outed As Heterosexual: Heterophobia Feared,” Human Events, July 13, 2007, http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21505&page=3&viewID=811984.

  180 federal money to the Louisiana Family Forum: Bill Walsh, “Vitter Shifts $100,000 from Religious Group,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, October 10, 2007, 180 a supposed expert, Kent E. Hovind: Kent Hovind, “A Battle Plan Practical Steps to Fight Evolution,” Creation Science Evangelism blog, undated, http://www.drdino.com/read-article.php?id=52.

  180 “the governments of the world”: Kent Hovind, “Man-Made Plagues,” Informed Christians, undated. http://www.informedchristians.com/articles/ART-man-made-plauges.htm.

  180 Hovind was sentenced to ten years: Michael Stewart, “Kent Hovind—Dr. Dino—Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison,” Pensacola News Journal, January 19, 2007, http://www.religionnewsblog.com/16426/kent-and-jo-hovind-deny-having-income.

  181 banned federal grants to women’s health centers: Bruce Alpert, “Abortion Plan Is Defeated in Senate,” New Orleans Times-Picayune, October 19, 2007, 181 Thus they become “human tools”: Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind (New York: Vintage, 1953), p. 75.

  183 the link between homophobia and repressed homosexuality: Henry Adams, Lester Wright Jr., and Bethany Lohr, “Is Homophobia Associated with Homosexual Arousal?” Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105, 3 (1996): 440-445.

  183 “the shriller you are”: Glenn Feldman, Politics and Religion in the White South, ed. Glen Feldman (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2005), p. 303.

  184 “like a Jew in Germany in 1934”: Marvin Liebman, Coming Out Conservative: An Autobiography (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992). Also see David Brock, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative (New York: Crown Publishers, 2002), p. 162.

  184 Liebman renounced the conservative movement: Marvin Liebman, “Independently Speaking,” The Advocate, February 7, 1995, http://www.cs.cmu.edu/ afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/scotts/bulgarians/marvin-liebman.txt.

  184 “A little bit nutty and a little bit slutty”: David Brock, “The Real Anita Hill,” The American Spectator, March 1992. See also David Brock, The Real Anita Hill (New York: The Free Press, 1993).

  184 “I knew I didn’t belong behind that podium”: David Brock, Blinded by the Right, p. 162.

  185 an anonymous letter: Ibid., p. 163.

  185 “deflect legitimate criticism that it was anti-gay”: David Brock, Ibid., p. 174.

  185 promoting “ex-gay” therapy: Andrew Sullivan, “Going Down Screaming,” New York Times Magazine, October 11, 1999, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E2DD163BF932A25753C1A96E958260&n=Top/Reference/ Times%20Topics/People/C/Clinton,%20Bill.

  185 Brock’s final rift with the movement: David Brock, The Seduction of Hillary Clinton (New York: The Free Press, 1993).

  185 “the Road Warrior of the Right”: David Brock, “Confessions of a Right-Wing Hit Man,” Esquire, July 1997.

  185 his “spiritual and moral conversion”: Howard Kurtz, “David Brock: The Genuine Article?” Washington Post, March 10, 1998, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/brock031098.htm.

  185 letters of apology: David Brock, Open letter, Esquire, April 1998.

  185 vowed to “firebomb” his house: Howard Kurtz, “Author Who Trashed Anita Hill Now Confesses to Lies,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2001, http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jul/03/news/cl-18003?s=o&n=o&rd=www.google.com&sessid=90d6f54d6d8def54aa279ef208ad18141732dbe0&pg=2&pgtp= article&eagi=&page_type=article&exci=2001_07_03_news_cl-18003.

  185 doubted the sincerity of his conversion: Kerry Lauerman, “The Apostate,” Salon, March 8, 2002, http://dir.Salon.com/story/books/feature/2002/03/08/brock/index.html. In reviewing Blinded by the Right, Lauerman warned readers to “take Brock’s insinuations with a grain of salt.”

  186 the Media Matters Don Imus report: “Imus Called Women’s Basketball Team ‘Nappy-Headed Ho’s,’” Media Matters, April 4, 2007, http://mediamatters.org/items/200704040011.

  186 “the most vicious element in our society”: “O’Reilly on ‘Assassins Who Work for Media Matters and Move On,’” Media Matters, Sept 6, 2007, http://mediamatters.org/items/200709060006.

  186 “I want Media Matters deported”: “Bill O’Reilly on Media Matters: ‘Any of the presidential candidates who can deport those swine—I’m voting for them,’” Media Matters, March 20, 2008, http://mediamatters.org/items/200803200008.

  187 bureau chief for Talon News: “Lights Out for Talon News,” Chris Hawke, CBS/ Associated Press, Feb 25, 2005, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/25/politics/main676503.shtml.

  187 breezed through a White House security check: Frank Lautenberg press release, Lautenberg Requests All Documents from White House Relating to Discredited “Journalist” James D. Guckert, A.K.A. Jeff Gannon, February 10, 2005, http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=254468.

  187 Gannon delighted the embattled president: “Talon News ‘Reporter’ Lobs Bush Another Softball; Is Talon a News Organization or an Arm of the Republican Party?” Media Matters, January 26, 2005, http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015.

  187 “so divorced from reality”: transcript, “President Bush’s News Conference,” New York Times, January 26, 2005, p. 8, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/politics/26TEXT-BUSH.html?pagewanted=8.

  187 he had literally cut and pasted: “Talon News ‘Reporter’ Lifts from GOP Documents Verbatim for ‘News Reports,’” Media Ma
tters, January 27, 2005, http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015.

  188 a high-priced male prostitute: David Margolick and Richard Gooding, “Jeff Gannon: Wrong Man, Wrong Place,” Vanity Fair, June 2005, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2005/06/gannongate200506?currentPage=2.

  188 access to highly sensitive CIA documents: Mike Allen and Dana Milbank, “Leaks Probe Is Gathering Momentum,” Washington Post, December 26, 2003, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A30842-2003Dec25.

  188 an October 2003 interview with Joseph Wilson: Jeff Gannon, “Wilson Talks About Niger Mission; Blasts Bush Foreign Policy,” Talon News, October 28, 2003, http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/nw03/talonnews/1003/102803-wilson.htm.

  188 Slaughter and Conyers wrote to Fitzgerald: FoxNews.com, February 24, 2005, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,148588,00.html.

  188 conviction of Libby for perjury: Neil Lewis, “Libby Guilty of Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case,” New York Times, March 06, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/washington/06cnd-libby.html?pagewanted=1.

  189 “more macho than their straights”: Ann Coulter, “Republicans, Bloggers and Gays, Oh My!” Coulter’s blog, February 23, 2005, http://www.anncoulter.com/cgi-local/printer_friendly.cgi?article=43.

  189 “the guy at the end of ‘American Beauty’”: Margolick and Gooding, “Jeff Gannon.”

  189 filled his blog posts with anti-gay vitriol: Jeff Gannon, “Gay Marriage Is a Lost Cause,” Washington Blade, September 1, 2006, http://www.washblade.com/2006/9-1/view/columns/gannon.cfm.

  190 “There is somebody who’s living my life”: Luigi Pirandello, quoted in Gwyneth Cravens, “Past Present,” The Nation, June 24, 1991.

  190 “a bit like a religious experience”: Matt Sanchez, Randy Thomas interview, Randy Thomas’s blog, April 9, 2007, http://www.kimtragedy.info/OT18/.

  190 a “baby-killer” and “stupid minority”: “A Firm Stance: CU Marine Reservist Targetedin Angry Confrontation; No Disciplinary Action Taken,” Columbia Daily Spectator, April 4, 2007.

  190 Sanchez was shuttled to the Fox News: Matt Sanchez, Hannity and Colmes interview, posted on YouTube, January 4, 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jy6CJvEmCs, and O’Reilly interview, posted on YouTube, Jan 04, 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFYSmjIUrY0.