What Would Joseph Smith Do?

Yes, what would he do, especially if his younger sister published an open letter that, essentially, called him an asshole?

That is condundrum facing the would-be savior of the Dying Elephant Party, Newt Gingrich, after his sister, Candice, called him out over Prop. 8.

A Letter to My Brother Newt Gingrich

Dear Newt,

I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protesters of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again."

You see, last week, the guy that put a Contract On America, figures, he can't concede the race for 2012 this early, to Mommy Moose, so he threw a big, meat-laden bone out to the dregs of base (where else, on Faux News, with The Loofah Man);

Gingrich: "[T]here is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us"

Summary: Discussing actions by individual protesters of Proposition 8, Newt Gingrich stated: "I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion."

Back to Candice;

The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as -- and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past.

Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country.

Oh, you can almost hear the 2012 DEP right now, speaker-after-speaker banging the podium, red-in-the-face, tossing off "Family Values" and "God's will" every other sentence.

Especially, now, with the California Supreme Court is slated to rehear the case, after voters in the state narrowly won the ballot initiative earlier this month.

The state Supreme Court plunged back into the same-sex marriage wars Wednesday, agreeing to decide the legality of a ballot measure that repealed the right of gay and lesbian couples to wed in California.

Six months after its momentous ruling that struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage, the court granted requests by both sponsors and opponents of Proposition 8 to review lawsuits challenging the Nov. 4 initiative.

The vote was 6-1, Justice Joyce Kennard dissenting.

However, the court refused, 6-1, to let same-sex marriages resume while it considers Prop. 8's constitutionality. Justice Carlos Moreno cast the dissenting vote.

Approved by 52 percent of voters, Prop. 8 restored the definition of marriage - a union of a man and a woman - that the court had overturned May 15. Kennard and Moreno voted with the majority in that 4-3 ruling.

And, do you know what was a major factor behind the pro-Prop. 8 neanderthals?

Ironically, old Joe Smith's Mormons!

How the Mormons Overcame Voter Apathy on Prop 8

The New York Times, in an article the Mormon Church leadership won't like one single bit, describes the final furious weeks of fundraising and volunteer activism, almost all of it coordinated through the Church itself.

The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president of the Mormon Church. The money allowed the drive to intensify a sharp-elbowed advertising campaign, and support for the measure was catapulted ahead; it ultimately won with 52 percent of the vote.
[snip]
The California measure, Proposition 8, was to many Mormons a kind of firewall to be held at all costs.

“California is a huge state, often seen as a bellwether — this was seen as a very, very important test,” Mr. Otterson said.

San Francisco Roman Catholic Archbishop George Niederauer has a featured role in The Times' story as well, although the article neglects to mention his previous role as Archbishop of Salt Lake City for eleven years

I guess, being persecuted for being different doesn't carry the same cache these days, as it did when ol' Joe Smith was getting chased away, half way across the country.

What's also interesting, the pro-Prop. 8 crowd doesn't like it that the LGBT community is continuing the fight for their basic civil rights, publishing the names of donors that supported suppressing them, and organizing boycotts, to which Tbogg sums it up, rather nicely;

The kind of person who contributes money to deny their fellow citizens their civil rights are not someday magically going to be part of the solution: they're the problem. These are not people to be reasoned with; they're ignorant, they're haters and they're bigots and the only thing people like that understand is power.

Hmmm ... I don't think Ol' Joe Smith would be hip to giving away millions of his money ... I mean, how was he going to fund, and support that convenient revelation of "The more wives, the merrier!"?

Ahh, but the noise volume, is, in all likelihood, going to go way beyond a deafening crescendo.

If the California Supreme Court strikes down Prop. 8, you can expect that to go to the Nine-In-Black, and couple that with the pressure on the Obama Administration, to work with the Dem-Majority Congress to sweep out the 'Defense of Marriage Act', there's the Dying Elephants 2012 platform right there.

Perkins and Dobson, as well as the deadwood, but powerless, Republicans in Congress will go full-bore Elmer Gantry in stoking the base that the End of Days is coming.

Obama can stand on the South Lawn, over a bonfire of burning dollar bills and that won't register a hoot with these people.

They will become rabid and tunnel-visioned, continuing the Bush Grindhouse legacy of Us vs.Them.

So, we'll go with the final word here, used by Candice to her big Bro, to sum things up;

What really worries me is that you are always willing to use LGBT Americans as political weapons to further your ambitions. That's really so '90s, Newt. In this day and age, it's embarrassing to watch you talk like that. You should be more afraid of the new political climate in America, because, there is no place for you in it.

In other words, stop being a hater, big bro.

Me thinks that Newt The Savior, for his 2012 run, will have taken his clue from Robert Mitchum, in 'Night of the Hunter', excepting, he'll have "Hate" tattooed on both hands.




Bonus Nothing Proper About Prop. 8 Riffs

Pam Spaulding: How the well-oiled Mormon machine helped pass Prop 8

Prairie Weather: It's not about "gay"

Dan Morain: James Dobson's Focus on the Family praises Prop. 8 and passes the collection plate

Mike Tidmus: God smites the gays with wildfires

Balloon Juice: You Should Love Ashton Kutcher

AntiGayBlacklist.com