Julaine Is Buying Everyone Pizza!

By Jeff Simpson

Live in Appleton?   Free next Thursday?  Like Pizza?  Hungry?  Know someone who is Hungry?  Come one, come all to Pizza Ranch for free pizza for all!  

You know the Wisconsin Family Council wants nothing more than to feed the homeless and hungry of Appleton!   Show them the way.  

Thursday May 25 from 6-8 pm, at Pizza Ranch.


Come hear Julaine Appling, President of Wisconsin Family Council, as she looks forward with optimism to the makeup of our newly elected state legislature and:

Discusses its agenda for the 2017-2018 session;
Delves into some very important gambling issues—especially internet gambling—that could put a virtual casino in every home—and on every smart phone—in Wisconsin;
Discusses our legislative agenda related to marriage, family, life and religious freedom; and,
Supper is included! There is no charge for the event or the food—however, we will be taking a freewill offering at the end of the evening. 

That’s “What Now?” an event about you and your involvement in your Wisconsin government and culture on Thursday, May 25, from 6-8 p.m. at Pizza Ranch, N139 Eisenhower Dr Appleton WI 54915.

Special guest: 
Lorri Pickens, Exec. Director
Wisconsin Citizens Against Expanded Gambling

Tell Them CogDis Sent you!  

Why I Hate Local News

By Jeff Simpson 

The Fetal Tissue research bill(AB30%) will be brought up in Committee on Wednesday.  Our friends at MALcontent blog had a great summary of this bill.

  The fetal tissue and stell cell issue epitomizes the phenomenon of know-nothing state legislators, like State Representative André Jacque (R-De Pere, Wisconsin), assuring the Wisconsin people their religious-inspired expertise in biomedical research surpasses that of Dr. James Thomson and young scientists' for the moment drawn to an innovative and thriving Madison-based research community with the promise of verdant interdisciplinary and innovative lines of stem cell investigation that one day might rival the magnitude of Dr. Salk and the polio virus vaccine.
By the way, Salk and his colleagues (oh, conspirators) relied on cells derived from fetal tissue in developing the polio vaccine.

Can you imagine if Salk had to contend with the laws now being contemplated by Jacque and his band of know-nothings who want to make Dr. James Thomson and his colleagues criminals, felons?
Dr. Jonas Salk a felon? He would be if Republicans' proposed legislation were in effect in the early 1950s and Salk worked in Wisconsin instead of Pittsburgh and New York.

Then, the Madison CBS affiliate - WIFR-TV covered the story also:

The organization Wisconsin Family Action has lobbied in support of the bill in the past several months and says it’s an ethical issue.
“[Lawmakers] want to make sure… that the most vulnerable and innocent of us are at least respected as human beings, and their body parts aren’t sold or used for experimentation,” says President Julaine Appling.
Researchers disagree. More than 700 University of Wisconsin professors have signed a letter against the legislation, offering up their own ethical argument.
“The bill will do nothing to reduce the number of abortions going on,” said UW Biochemistry Professor Michael Sussman, one of the co-authors of the letter. “The bill, though, will make it illegal for anyone in Wisconsin to utilize the tissue that is available.
“We believe it would be perhaps very unethical not to allow fetal tissue that is available legally and ethically… to be available to help people with very serious diseases.”

Does anyone see the problem there?  What does not quite fit?

To get "both"sides of an important bill(that with nuanes has about 500 different sides, they discuss it with Bob Jones graduate  Julainne Appling - head of a very extremist right wing organization Wisconsin Family Action. gave her uneducated, unqualified view of this bill.  

This was then followed up as "the other side" with decorated UW Biochenistry Professor Dr. Michael Sussman, who just happens to also be director of UW Biotechnology Center for his incredibly qualified and competent stance on this bill(who has the backing of 700 other professors),

Now the story is balanced and its time to run it?   One crazy lady from a joke of a university V a well decorated, renowned expert in the actual field of the bill?  

What is next?  calling up Fred Phelps for comment, next time you have a story on the pope?  

Is this the best you can do?  

Republican Dinosaurs

By Jeff Simpson 

Oregon became the 13th state in a row to overturn their gay marriage ban.  

A federal judge threw out Oregon's same-sex marriage ban Monday, marking the 13th legal victory for gay marriage advocates since the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned part of a federal ban.

State officials earlier refused to defend Oregon's voter-approved ban and said they wouldn't appeal.

They knew it was coming and that the ban was Constitutionally and morally wrong so they refused to waste money and resources defending it and they are not alone.

IS OREGON'S ATTORNEY GENERAL THE ONLY ONE NOT DEFENDING A STATE BAN?

No. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is one of seven top state prosecutors who have refused to defend same-sex marriage bans in court. Attorney generals in Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Nevada and Kentucky, all Democrats, have made the same decision. Virginia and Kentucky still appealed rulings. A county clerk who was sued in Virginia is fighting that ban, and Kentucky hired outside attorneys.

Hmmmm, Democrats, doing the right and fiscally responsible thing.  Let's look at where we are in WI, with a republican AG.

 In yet another sign that Republicans foresee defeat in the battle over gay marriage, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen conceded in a recent interview that the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex unions may soon be overturned in court.

 JB Van Hollen knows that it is just a matter of time before our gay hate amendment gets overturned but JB is not one to give up.    Taxpayer money or time is of no obecj to JB, not when he can do something to appease Julaine Appling.

Despite emphasizing in a weekend TV interview that he would aggressively defend challenges to the ban, Van Hollen, who will leave office after two terms in January, said that in light of court decisions overturning similar bans across the country, it was likely that the federal and state judges addressing the two different suits against Wisconsin’s law would not side with him.

“I certainly won’t be at all surprised if we lose in our court here as well,” he told WISN anchor Mike Gousha.

JB Van Hollen has failed on internet sex predator cases but still would rather waste his time defending a discriminatory ban whose time has long passed.    

If that doesn't define the Wisconsin republican party, I do not know what does. 

 

At least Julaine has her license plates to comfort her(and fill her bank account).  

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Effort to Fund Misleading, Anti-Choice “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”

From the inbox:

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, expressed serious concern regarding legislative efforts to fund so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs).

A bill sponsored by Rep. Andrea Jacque and Sen. Mary Lazich would provide funds for CPCs by funneling the specialty license plate revenue to “Choose Life Wisconsin”, which would then allegedly give to crisis pregnancy centers.  However, research done by NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation has clearly shown that crisis pregnancy centers are providing inaccurate, biased, and medically disproven information to women at an alarming rate. In the investigation, 100% of CPCs visited provided false and inaccurate information to women regarding abortion or emergency contraception.

Dye said, “State involvement in funneling money to anti-choice groups and so-called crisis pregnancy centers is completely inappropriate. Once again, we see legislators like Rep. Jacque and Sen. Lazich focusing on their extreme agenda on social issues instead of the pressing need to spur job growth in Wisconsin. Further, if the Legislature is going to take action regarding crisis pregnancy centers, they should be taking steps to prevent CPCs from misleading women instead of trying to find ways to fund them.”

“This bill is particularly misguided in its stated intent to fund crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) through Choose Life Wisconsin. Choose Life Wisconsin is a new organization with no track record of accountability, but with ties to individuals with an extreme agenda on reproductive healthcare, like Julaine Appling, who is clearly out of touch with Wisconsinites on issues from LGBT equality to keeping abortion safe and legal.”

“Regardless of our views on the issue of legal abortion, we should all be able to agree that Wisconsin women deserve the facts and the chance to make an informed decision about what is best for them and their families. Our state certainly shouldn’t be trying to find ways to channel funds to spread more falsehoods.”

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation’s full report can be found at http://www.prochoicewisconsin.org/in-our-state/wicpcs.shtml.

Will You Marry Me!

By Jeff Simpson 


We just came out of what Scott Walker officially recognized as "National Marriage Week".   This made Wisconsin Family Council Giddy with excitement.    Fresh off their (not)surprising endorsement of election loser, Roger "some girls rape so easy" Rivard, the organization  "advancing Judeo-Christian principles and values" jumped all in on National Marriage week.  

Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Council says, “Governor Walker’s proclamation rightly identifies the benefits of marriage and the costs of marital breakdown, not only for the men, women and children directly involved, but also for the entire state.” The proclamation reads in part, “Marriage breakdown takes a toll on the emotional, physical and financial well-being of the entire family, and increases the public cost for human service programs.”  

So says the unwed, living with her female friend Julaine Appling, who has spurned numerous offers to help her find true love!  

I wonder if she discussed this at a forum featuring Glenn Grothman, Robin Vos, Michelle Litjens, Jeanne Tarantino and Charlie Sykes?   

Domestic Partner Registry Upheld, With A Twist Of Walkergate

In 2006, Wisconsin brought shame to itself by allowing bigotry to become a constitutional right when they passed the ban on gay marriage.

In 2009, Governor Jim Doyle passed a law establishing a domestic partner registry, giving the LGBT community at least a modicum of human dignity if not quite equal status as the rest of the citizenry.

This made the conservatives apoplectic at the thought that someone different from them might be treated the same.

So a right wing front group improperly named Wisconsin Family Action (WFA) filed a lawsuit, claiming that the registry allowed gays to be treated with too much respect.

The court ruled against their complaint, so WFA appealed. Their appeal was also denied:

In affirming a lower court decision that the law does not violate the state's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, the court stated: "...it would 'take pages' to list the rights and obligations that go with marriages but not domestic partnerships...It is not necessary to list that many here to demonstrate that...the rights and obligations of marriage are not substantially similar to the rights and obligations of domestic partnerships."

In June 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed domestic partnerships into law, granting limited but important legal protections to same-sex couples, including hospital visitation and the ability to take a family medical leave to care for a sick or injured partner. Wisconsin Family Action brought a lawsuit in Dane County Circuit Court arguing that the domestic partnership law is a violation of Wisconsin's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality. Shortly thereafter, Lambda Legal successfully moved to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of Fair Wisconsin and five same-sex couples.

"The court has affirmed what we have maintained all along - it is ridiculous to suggest that a domestic partnership law could be considered anything closely resembling a marriage for purposes of state law," said Christopher Clark, senior staff attorney in Lambda Legal's Midwest Regional Office. "In fact, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected the plaintiffs' arguments as 'nonsense.' We fought off this ugly attack against the rights and protections currently available to same-sex couples and their families in Wisconsin - a sweet holiday present to loving couples and families."

WFA is promising to take it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which at the moment has a majority of justices which believe that the Constitution and the law are merely advisory things that can be dismissed when it so suits them.

Obviously, the ruling is a good thing, but not good enough. The amendment which legalizes bigotry must be appealed before their is any justice.

But as with all things in Fitzwalkerstan, there is more. There is always more.

WFA's rationale for their lawsuit is utter hogwash. As the impeccable Emily Mills pointed out at the time (which was also supported in the appellate ruling), there is very little resemblance between the rights allowed in the registry and those given by law to a married couple. WFA is complaining that the apples are too much like oranges.

It should also be noted that when the lawsuit was originally filed, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to do his job in defending the registry. This forced Doyle to spend taxpayer money to do what Van Hollen was charged with doing.

Within months of taking office, Scott Walker fired the private attorneys.

In return, WFA was able to provide Walker and his allies with an inordinate amount of help during the recalls, as reported by the Wisconsin Gazette:

Wisconsin Family Action has spent at least $304,000 in recent weeks on broadcast ads smearing the Democratic opponents of two right-wing state senators. That’s a remarkable level of spending for the small evangelical group, according to political observers.

Although WFA is not required by law to disclose individual donors, contributors are likely to be some of the same out-of-state groups that are shoveling cash into Wisconsin senate races at levels never before seen in the state. WFA executive director Julaine Appling refuses to discuss the source of the group’s sudden windfall.

The Gazette goes on to also show another peculiarity about this group:

In a story that’s notable for its layers of oddity, Appling is a never-married single woman who’s lived for many years with Diane Westphall, another never-married single woman. The two currently share a home they own together in Watertown, and they also work side by side at WFA.

Now, while that might be a bit peculiar, there is something that the Gazette missed which I believe should send off a lot of red flags and Walkergate alerts.

(This is where the "always more" part comes in. Cue dramatic music!)

Also on the board of WFA, and who is named in the lawsuit to prevent gay people from being treated semi-equally is a gentleman named Jaren E. Hiller.

A quick Google shows that Mr. Hiller is a real estate broker with an agency called Hiller Realty Inc.

Now, as it just so happens to be, Hiller Realty Inc is owned and operated by Jaren's brother, John Hiller.

And, as the gentle reader might remember, John Hiller was Walker's campaign treasurer for 18 years, until he was suddenly dismissed right after Walkergate exploded. Hiller was also on Walker's transition team after being elected.

It would not be a stretch to think he was distancing himself from Walker and his campaign, especially considering Hiller might have had a hand in some of the pay for play and bid rigging going on while Walker was running for governor.

So let's recap this.

While Walker was running for governor, the brother of Walker's campaign treasurer (who has a sordid history himself), who was part of a right wing front group as well as worked with his brother in their realty agency, filed a lawsuit in order to make Doyle look bad (this was before Doyle chose not to run).

Gee, do you think that there just might have been some collusion between WFA and Walker's campaign?  Just a little, maybe?

Perhaps we need to put John Hiller on the list of names to watch in 2013 as the next wave of Walkergate sweeps the state.

And can't the right wing do anything openly and honestly? Do they have a code against that or something?

This IS What Hypocrisy Looks Like.....

My old friend Julaine Appling was profiled in the Capital Times today.  The UNMARRIED and childless Julaine Appling is ahead of the anti-gay group Wisconsin Family Action,and also has "lived" with a female colleague for "many years".  There is obviously nothing wrong with that, unless of course you ask the Wisconsin Family Action hate group.  

In lieu of President Obama's recent announcement of support for gay marriage, the anti gay rhetoric has been ramped up, so the CT thought they would give Ms. Appling a forum to do so.  She did not disappoint!

I would submit that (Obama’s announcement) was the culmination of decades of the media and education sending a message that “marriage is whatever I want it to be, marriage is about my personal happiness, it’s about me!”

It’s not about me. It’s about children. Now, there are couples who choose not to have children and that’s their right, but the bulk of them do have children. What we know (is) the way we prepare the next generation to become the workforce, the taxpayers, the geniuses, the entrepreneurs … is for them to be brought up by a married mom and dad.

Then she talked about where her views come from:

CT: A poll recently showed that the vast majority of people — even those born during the 1940s — have had pre-marital sex.
Appling: No polls and no societal drift will ever make right wrong and wrong right. I come at life from a core set of beliefs. My worldview is fixed firmly in one source, and that is Scripture. That is my external, objective, forever-settled truth.

Unfortunately, they did not ask her what Scripture she is referring too.   But wait there's more.

CT: What do you say to somebody who says he or she wants to follow Christian guidelines but is attracted to members of the same sex?
Appling: I can understand that. You have to make a decision and you may need help to make this decision. People have left gay lifestyles by the droves successfully. I believe they need to talk to people, maybe they need to speak to both sides but they at least need to speak to the side that says you can go in another direction.
Same-sex attraction is real. The question is do you have to act on it? I would submit you don’t have to act on it.

I wonder how exactly people have left the "gay lifestyle" in "droves", any documented cases?   Finally the kicker.  The one where she shows exactly who she is and why her opinion means nothing.

CT: And what if Walker wins and the GOP keeps its majorities? What’s the next step for your movement?
Appling: We’ll pick up where we left off to make sure that we get language to protect religious freedom. We’ll be working on divorce modification as it relates to couples with minor children. Things like changing the waiting period (required before a divorce is finalized).

I am sure she will have no problem working with multiply divorced Robin Vos to make sure divorce is harder to get.  She can always enlist the help of  Luther Olsen, Steve nASS, Scott Suder, Scott Krug, or Dan Knodl.  

She can also count on the help of two of her most important allies.    Her wonder twin, the unmarried childless Glenn Grothman, and also Rep. Don Pridemore who also thinks that women should stop complaining about their husbands and remember the time:

 By now, most people have heard of the Wisconsin GOP’s efforts to label single parenthood as a form of child abuse. There’s no basis in the claim, of course, and is simply another way to shame women (who comprise the majority of single parents) for not existing within a narrow and rigid social structure. A new wrinkle has surfaced as the bills’ co-sponsor, Representative Don Pridemore (R-Heartless Scumbag) has gone on the record as opposing divorce even in the event of a abusive spouse.
So if you are a woman regularly being beaten by your husband, you are a bad mother if you seek a divorce.
“If they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help,” said Representative Don Pridemore.

LGBT in NC

A couple major events happened in the LGBT community this week.   The first we already covered.  President Obama came out publicly in favor of gay marriage. Which as I worte was a BFD.   On the absolute flip side of this coin was the tremendous hatred that the state of North Caroline showed on Tuesday   by passing a same sex marriage ban.  Of  course same sex marriage was already illegal but thats beside the point, when you hate so much why not just add a little more? 

(CNN) -- North Carolina voters have passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, CNN projects, putting a ban that already existed in state law into the state's charter.

With more than 1.5 million votes counted from Tuesday's referendum, supporters of the ban led opponents by a margin of 61% to 39%, according to figures from the State Board of Elections. Its backers prepared to celebrate by serving wedding cake to their supporters in a Raleigh ballroom.

Tami Fitzgerald, the head of Vote for Marriage NC, said she had been confident that "the people of North Carolina would rise up and vote to keep the opposition from redefining traditional marriage.

"We are not anti-gay, we are pro-marriage," she said. "And the point -- the whole point -- is simply that you don't rewrite the nature of God's design for marriage based on the demands of a group of adults."

These pro marriage North Carolinians received their message straight from God, to protect marriage.   Heck is God says it, it has to be true.  Right?   

I wonder if Julaine Appling is looking at housing in NC? 

On a much more sane side, my friend Steven Reynolds out up a great post @ BB on this subject! 

Also if you are LGBT, dont give up there are many of us out there fighting for equal rights for all, and as they say  It Gets Better!

Which Side Are You On?

Another Defender Of The Sanctity Of Marriage

Just after I posted about the so-called defenders of marriage, comes another striking example of such bravery:

Asking for the forgiveness of his constituents and his wife, and a week to the hour after news first broke of his affair with a young legislative intern, state Sen. Paul Stanley announced Tuesday evening that he is resigning from the legislature on Aug. 10.

"I hope people will forgive me for what I have done. I want them to stay engaged in the process because I feel it's important. To Kristi: Honey, I apologize. I have asked for her forgiveness and she has forgiven me," Stanley told listeners of Ben Ferguson's evening news-talk show on Memphis' WREC-AM 600.

"It's difficult for us," he said. "My marriage may be a consequence of this, but I have got to use this in my life as something to move forward with and to create a better life."

This keeps happening, but Appling and her cohorts say we can't let homosexual couples get married because they're a threat to marriages somehow.

Yeah, I don't get it either.

I Like Your Christ

From Pundit Kitchen:



I found it timely that Pundit Kitchen would have this appear on the same day that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a story about Doyle's proposal to allow domestic partner registration. His argument is that, besides just being the proper thing to do, the state could benefit economically by keeping good people here, as well as drawing more people to the state.

Meanwhile, Julaine Appling, Wisconsin's own version of Shirley Phelps-Roper, and her cohorts, have taken the Westboro approach of opposing it:

Appling said the proposal so resembles marriage that she believes it would be challenged in court if it were to become law, and would likely not pass constitutional muster. Her group has already contacted attorneys to evaluate the proposal.

"He's purporting to create a legal status that is similar to marriage," said Austin R. Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., that says it promotes religious freedom. "The bill does violate and run afoul of the Wisconsin marriage amendment."

This is even though Doyle's proposal would only allow "43 of the more than 200 rights and benefits given to married couples under the law."

I reckon the anti-proposal folks are figuring that they can't allow gays to have that sort of thing, or they might start feeling like they are an equal part of the community.