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03/23/2009
Yea, 'Wash Times'? It's only his donation that bears mentioning?
Wanna see more examples of far-right shadiness? Well here, check out this little snippet, the intro of a new article from the ultra conservative Washington Times, and then we'll get back to you:
After giving $10,000 to California's Proposition 8 campaign last year, Charles LiMandri began receiving some unexpected correspondence.
"I got about two dozen e-mails and hate phone calls," said Mr. LiMandri, who lives in San Diego. "They were calling me Nazi, homophobe, bigot. I tried to engage people once or twice - I said that Proposition 8 had nothing to do with being bigoted, it was about preserving marriage - but people don't want to engage on the issue."
As a lawyer, however, Mr. LiMandri knew what to do with the e-mails.
"I collected them and turned them in to the lawsuit," he said.
Those e-mails are now among hundreds of exhibits in a landmark case challenging California's campaign-finance reporting rules, which require the release of the names, addresses and employers of those who contribute $100 or more to ballot-measure committees.
Pestered Prop 8 donors file suit [Wash Times]
Okay, so they totally make Mr. LiMandri sound like a mere citizen who happens to be a lawyer, right? Well here's the thing: Mr. LiMandri is a far-right player who serves as the general counsel for Maggie Gallagher's National Organization for Marriage group, an outfit that was crucial in passing Prop 8. During the run up to the election, Mr. LiMandri publicly spoke out against all the supposed ills that unchecked gay marriage would bring to the Golden State. He pulled out all of the fearful stops in an editorial that he was able to place in The San Diego Union Tribune. And here, look at this pre-election article from the Catholic Legatus magazine, in which LiMandri shows that he was placing the "persecution" card well before this new lawsuit:
Marriage and Religious Freedom in America Legatus 11 08
It should be noted that the above article is proudly linked to on the website of Mr. Limandri's law firm -- a website where one can find a whole history of "pro-family" activity, as well as links to some of the nation's most anti-gay groups (including resoundingly discredited researcher Paul Cameron).
So what we have here is a man who, if he even has received negative emails, has earned this response because of his huge breadth of anti-gay work. It's not his one donation has earned ire. It's not that his personal testimony should lead to a change in public donor rolls. He has put himself out there as a public figure, and public figures get positive and negative feedback. And trust us when we say that those of us on the pro-gay side know the negative feedback all too well!
Now, are we saying that anyone deserves that which could literally be constituted as harassment, regardless of how reprehensible we view their positions? No, of course not. We're just saying that (a) far-right harassment claims are most always overblown, and (b) the supposed victims are rarely as innocent as they like to make themselves sound, and (c) The Washington Times owes it to its readers to paint them the full picture. In this case, Mr. LiMandri has CLEARLY fired verbal shot after verbal shot at millions upon millions of gay lives and loves (*update: see the below implication that we gays are going to destroy the world). With that kind of public track record, a handful of nasty emails are to be expected.
**MORE, MORE, SO MUCH MORE: Check out this snippet from a 6/19/08 Catholic Exchange piece:
Can we stop this societal suicide - possibly, but not if we can't stop same-sex "marriage" in California in November 2008, and not without supernatural help. Without the foundation of Religion and Morality that George Washington and the other founding fathers provided for us, there is simply no real hope for the future of this country.
Finally, since it is only in our maleness and femaleness that we are made in the image and likeness of God, the destruction of the concept of gender is perhaps Satan's greatest accomplishment. Moreover, since the sacramental marriage of a husband and wife is used to image the relationship of Christ and His Church, even the idea of same-sex "marriage" is a sacrilege. Therefore, separate and apart from the seemingly accurate prognastications of Professor Unwin, I just don't see how a God of Justice can tolerate such a diabolical mockery of His divinely ordained institution of marriage for very long. Indeed, the same man to whom our Lord entrusted the Keys to the Kingdom warned us that: "...in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts... " (2 Peter 3:3). In conclusion, I informed my friend that although we have had the privilege of living in the greatest nation in the history of the world, based on the foregoing, we may very well be seeing it in its waning years. May the God of our fathers have mercy on us and our beloved country.
*UPDATE: Focus on the Family is clearly cribbing from Wash Times, running their own piece in which LiMandri is made sound like an innocent who is being harassed simply for his choice to donate:
Attorney Charles LiMandri has received hateful phone calls and about two dozen hateful e-mails since donating in support of Prop. 8. “If anything, it’s hardened my resolve because it shows how very important this issue is,” he said.
Marriage Advocates in California Sue over Unending Harassment [CitizenLink]
Your thoughts
Oh right, he's just an innocent, average citizen who just happened to donate, to support prop 8, more money than the truly average citizen could ever hope to muster to support a political cause. Give me a break.
Posted by: VeliciaL | Mar 23, 2009 7:14:50 PM
LiMandri is well known in San Diego as a strong opponent of anything Gay rights related. He recently won the firefighter gay pride discrimination lawsuit.
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 23, 2009 7:53:22 PM
"I tried to engage people once or twice - I said that Proposition 8 had nothing to do with being bigoted, it was about preserving marriage"
Riiiiiiight. And segregation had nothing to do with bigotry either, it was about preserving white superiority.
Posted by: Jon | Mar 23, 2009 8:08:03 PM
Yea, Jeff, the more I look around, the more stuff that comes out. Making it all the more egregious for Wash Times (and others like Focus on the Family) to paint him as a mere donor.
Posted by: G-A-Y | Mar 23, 2009 8:12:36 PM
Plus, Jon, the claim is completely belied by his other words and actions. Even the mainstream "pro-fam" groups won't link to the ultra-extremist Paul Cameron. Yet he has, on his law firm's official website.
And that's just one example. His thoughts about gay marriage leading to the world's destruction are also quite novel, even for the anti-equality movement.
Posted by: G-A-Y | Mar 23, 2009 8:17:54 PM
They lie, inveigle and obfuscate as a matter of routine. But eventually it's going to be their undoing.
Posted by: Buffy | Mar 23, 2009 10:34:15 PM
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