"They won't know what hit them" - Article

[mainegreen]

Hi. I thought I'd post this here. It's a very interesting article I read in the Atlantic this month about Tim Gill and his unusual political funding organization.

They Won’t Know What Hit Them
by Joshua Green
The Atlantic Feb '07

A tough loss can be hard to swallow, and plenty of defeated politicians have been known to grumble about sinister conspiracies. When they are rising stars like Danny Carroll, the Republican speaker pro tempore of Iowa’s House of Representatives, and the loss is unexpected, the urge to blame unseen forces can be even stronger—and in Carroll’s case, it would have the additional distinction of being justified. Carroll was among the dozens of targets of a group of rich gay philanthropists who quietly joined forces last year, under the leadership of a reclusive Colorado technology mogul, to counter the tide of antigay politics in America that has generated, among other things, a succession of state ballot initiatives banning gay marriage. Carroll had sponsored such a bill in Iowa and guided it to passage in the state House of Representatives, the first step toward getting it on the ballot.

Like many other state legislatures last year, Iowa’s was narrowly divided. So all it would take to break the momentum toward a constitutional marriage ban was to tip a few close races. If Democrats took control of the House and Senate, however narrowly, the initiative would die, and with it the likelihood of further legislation limiting civil rights for gays and lesbians. And, fortuitously, Carroll’s own reelection race looked to be one of the closest. He represented the liberal college town of Grinnell and had won the last time around by just a handful of votes.

Over the summer, Carroll’s opponent started receiving checks from across the country—significant sums for a statehouse race, though none so large as to arouse suspicion (the gifts topped out at $1,000). Because they came from individuals and not from organizations, nothing identified the money as being “gay,” or even coordinated. Only a very astute political operative would have spotted the unusual number of out-of-state donors and pondered their interest in an obscure midwestern race. And only someone truly versed in the world of gay causes would have noticed a $1,000 contribution from Denver, Colorado, and been aware that its source, Tim Gill, is the country’s biggest gay donor, and the nexus of an aggressive new force in national politics.

continued...

Very interesting article. I was especially amused by the temporary alliance formed with Ted Haggard to block the banning of domestic partnerships in Colorado.

I hope some people enjoy this article. I know I found it informative.

:hi:

[Peace Patriot]

1. I would rather see an expose on Wally O'Dell, until recently CEO of Diebold,

and a Bush/Cheney 2004 campaign chair and major Bush/Cheney fundraiser (Bush "Pioneer" right up there with Ken Lay), and an expose of rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson, initial funder of Diebold's brethren corporation, ES&S, who also gave a million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals (among other things).

These are the people who "counted" 80% of the nation's votes in 2004--thanks to a very corrupt bill in the Anthrax Congress --the "Help America Vote for Bush Act" of 2002--that fast-tracked insecure and extremely insider hackable electronic voting machines all over the country--voting machines that run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by the above rightwing Republicans, with virtually no audit/recount controls.

It's interesting to see gays exercise their rights in exactly the same way others do--by contributing money to political campaigns. Why is this "news"--when the HUMONGOUS SCANDAL OF ELECTRONIC VOTING receives almost no coverage anywhere? Where is the Atlantic's article on the outright theft of our election system by rightwing corporations? Where is their expose on American voters having to outvote the machines, in order to get a half-decent Congress? (--and I mean HALF decent). What kind of "thumb on the scales" are these rightwing corporations putting on our elections, to favor Bushites, warmongers and corporatists?

Why is there an "Iron Curtain" over the FAR MORE IMPORTANT STORY OF OUR HIJACKED ELECTION SYSTEM? What do the war profiteering corporate news monopolies have to hide, on the critically important matter of transparent vote counting? WHO is responsible for the biggest scandal in our political history--the corporate takeover of our elections with SECRET code?

[mainegreen]

2. It's not breaking news. It's an analytical article.

And one analytical article is not an automatic rebuttal of the importance of other issues.

If you have a problem with the Atlantic, I suggest you take it up with them. Personally I have found it to be one of the most interesting publications in America, as a forum for both conservatives, centrists, and liberals to voice their opinions in a thoughtful manner. I don't agree with all the op/ed pieces in the magazine, but if you read it with any regularity, I think you'll find they do not engage in censorship.

Of course, as you may or may not have noticed *which forum I chose to post this in*, I think you'll see that this article is appropriate, while an article on the stolen election might be better served by being posted in another forum, eh?

[NashVegas]

3. Haggard

Equally interesting was the info that Haggard and Dobson are adversaries. Great article, thanks for posting.

[bluedawg12]

4. Good article. Political activism

by influential gays is important in the so called war for the heart and soul of America.

It takes money and organization to fight hate and bigotry.