Now, The Latest SFMM Numbers- With A Check For $1.1 MILLION From NOM!

i wonder..

..if 'regular' catholics that give to the church know their money is going to this 'cause'.  have all the pedophile victims been paid yet?  bet they'd love this info.

robin

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by: swabby @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:51:05 PM CDT

No they have not.....

.....in fact, another Diocese has recently filed bankruptcy to delay the inevitable payout!

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." ~~~ Thomas Jefferson

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by: SD_Dave @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:19:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

And Bernard Law still walks free

Let us never forget that not one of the men responsible for the true abuse scandal - the cover-up and criminal conspiracy that aided and abetted known rapists, defrauded Roman Catholic parishioners and obstructed justice through witness intimidation and payments of hush money - has ever been brought to justice. Not one of the Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Auxiliary Bishops or parish Pastors has ever even been arrested for his crimes. And this is the (my former) church that dares to lecture us about morality.  

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by: CPT_Doom @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:46:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Not Lame

Dangerous.

THis is what they knew would happen, and they did it on purpose, in order to let the "success" of the good guys make everyone relax a little and focus funding elsewhere.

That money will go almost entirely towards the promotion of the lies, which they know are lies, and the paying of staff.

You might think they would have a problem telling lies -- thinking that, by itself, is an indication of how powerful they are.  If people think they wouldn't lie, by nature, it gives them all they need to get the fer into one, and that, in the end is the goal -- to create a fearful state and then capitalize on it, turning it into action on their behalf, because people will always vote against what they are afraid of.

And it does not matter how they got to be afraid of it. Lies, Truth -- in this realm, it all the same thing, and the only counter to fear is hope.

This means the available tactics are either lie about them, demonize them, or try and inspire hope in an onslaught of "positive" outcome possibilities that counter each negative one they promote.

That means thinking outside the LGB box, and, indeed, thinking outside the LGBT box. It means thinking about how a straight person's life is affected by their attacks, and then still showing the joys of LGBT folks lives.

Not an easy task.

http://www.dyssonance.com  Breaking all the rules...

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by: dyssonance @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:13:02 PM CDT

Well I am a very happy person.

  But that doesn't mean I don't get pissed off at the lies the religious right tell about the LGBT community.  

 If we lose in Maine, we know it will be the lies spread by the religious right, as well as our failure to be on offense.  I am of the belief we need to be attacking the religious right and calling them the liars that they are.  There is plenty of proof from the prop H8 campaign they pulled off.

 We all know NOM is completely full of SHIT.  Every time Ms. Maggie and Brian open their mouth they are telling lies.  Prop 8, The Musical needs more airtime across the Nation.  The controversy it raised was brilliant but short lived.

 The other state where LGBT right are in danger, Washington State, where Domestic Partnerships are at risk, we should be using the words of NOM against the religious right.  We all know Maggie has said she is in favor of DPs and CUs, just not Marriage.  We need to make her eat those words.  We need to pit religious so-called christian groups against each other.

 But, if we do lose, we (Those who support equality) will have to attack and call out these liars knowing they will claim to be the victim.  They need to be put in their place and defined as the liars they truly are and put them on the defensive.

 We also need to keep living our lives and being as happy and successful as we can be.  And as people who don't know us get to, we show that we are not the evil people the liars have said we are.

If I make sense? it was quite by accident.

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by: HappyCat @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 23:04:08 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I guess SFMM will have to pay

for Maggie Gallagher's first class plane tickets now...

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by: bkmn @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:29:51 PM CDT

I self editted a comment about Maggie but it wouldn't take a Rhode's Scholar to figure where it headed

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 22:03:13 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Please see my comment on No on 1's filing in the diary below.

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/...

Remember what FDR said, "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it." Have you written/called a congress-critter today? 8.25, 6.21

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by: Jacques @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 20:02:35 PM CDT

NOM hiding Mormon money...

and suing Maine to put off revealing the donors.  Maine will learn after the election that the unpopular LDS are funding the Yes on 1 campaign in large part.

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by: Bruno @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 20:22:01 PM CDT

I Think That the Episcopalians...

...should take a page out of the RC's book and "reach out" to disaffected Catholics who are outraged at the Catholic Church's blatant misappropriation of their donations.  Then watch Maine's Catholics jump ship!

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by: TomTallis @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 20:27:49 PM CDT

I'd run a few seconds of their noxious ad, then play CHILDREN WILL LISTEN

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 21:33:11 PM CDT

Bernadette Peter's and Streisand's versions

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

"race, taste. and History finally overcome....and you ain't there"
by Tony Kushner

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by: peteyPornpig @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 21:36:39 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Good grief, Angela.

Well, it's official.  Beetle Blogger is certifiable.  She also leads the Mormon Digital Network Army, which is behind many of our opponent's astroturfing and website monitoring efforts:

ANGELA ROCKWOOD
Occupation: Mother
Employer: God

You've been duped by the lunatic fringe of your church, Angela.  It's one big evil team building exercise.  As Paul Graham would say:

"You can't distinguish your group by doing things that are rational, and believing things that are true."

twitter.com/ChinoBlanco | youtube.com/ChinoBlanco

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by: Chino Blanco @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 21:51:42 PM CDT

Add to that $1.1 million the $520,000 NOM gave previously -

That is $1,620,000 of NOM money out of total SFMM contributions of $2.5 million.  Given this, it is beyond audacious that NOM contends that it shouldn't be subject to campaign finance disclosure.

Betweeen NOM's $1.6 million and the diocese's $550,000 and have 84% of SFMM's money.  Much of the rest is from FOF and Knights of Columbus (who were noticeably absent from this latest disclosure).  

For all the dire threats of homosexual indoctrination that they claim to fear, there aren't many Mainers who want to pony up for SFMM.

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by: Daniel2009 @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 23:01:15 PM CDT

Where is the money coming from?

A friend of mine pointed this out-- research in a previous PHB post shows from 2005 to 2007 NOM took in only $1,025,894 total, and $350k of that went straight to Gallagher's salary.

So to go from having $750,000ish for their entire spending budget for 2005-2007, to be able to dump $1.6 million for just 2009 into Maine... I could imagine a group like NOM legitimately getting more donations after being involved in proposition 8, but that much? Does that sound right?

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by: mcc @ Sat Oct 24, 2009 at 02:04:31 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I'm nearly certain that Brian Brown lied in his sworn statement to Maine officials

NOM had $78K going into 2009.

They subsequently spent $90K in Iowa.

Their other NY PAC has a paltry $35K on hand.

And now we learn they've spent $1,600K in Maine.

And yet Brian swore to the Maine ethics commission that their spending in Maine did not represent a substantial portion of their overall budget.

Which is why I suspect that one of the first things the Maine investigators are going to discover is that Brian's 2009 budget forecast was a calculated lie.

Why lie about their 2009 budget? Here's why: NOM needed to swear to an inflated $7 million budget figure in order to make their Maine expenditures look small by comparison. Otherwise, Maine law is clear: if NOM are allocating a substantial portion of their budget to a Maine ballot question, they absolutely must register as a Maine PAC.

It is now October 2009. If Brian was telling the truth in his September 2009 sworn affidavit to the Maine commission, he can prove it by confirming his year-to-date fundraising total. Considering that he began the year with $78K, Brian should by now have raised nearly $6.9 million. Has he?

It's a simple question and one that any executive director worth $130K/year ought to be able to answer off the top of his head.

http://www.chinoblanco.com/200...

twitter.com/ChinoBlanco | youtube.com/ChinoBlanco

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by: Chino Blanco @ Sat Oct 24, 2009 at 07:44:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Letters to Editors

I realize this might be a rifle shot in an artillery exchange, but I would encourage Maine residents who are fluent in this hide-the-dollar conversation to write letters to editors in Maine. Reasonable doubt exists- plant that seed in the court of public opinion as NOM moves forward in sueing Maine for the legal right to continue to launder money.

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by: veendam @ Sat Oct 24, 2009 at 07:47:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]