First, sign this PFAW petition to CBS and NBC regarding the United Church of Christ ad debacle.

Second, I've been having loads of fun on the Message Board at http://www.recallmontgomeryschoolboard.com/, and I encourage everyone (especially those of you from the D.C. metro area) to go have at some of the lusciously soft targets. [Note: the targets may be soft, but this beast has teeth. I realize there are billions of wingnut sites around the Web, and it's obviously a waste of time to get mired in them--but this--this is my own goddamn backyard, and I don't suffer these fools gladly.]

A few of the exchanges from today:

Blicero writes:

Why Not Take Up a Hobby?

Clearly you folks are suffering from the sense of a lack of meaning in your lives. I can sympathize with that. Life can be thankless and monotonous, people and things that once gave us pleasure can, over time, cease to do so. We get lonely. Depression and other illnesses set in. It's part of the ageing process, at least in our society.

But why this crusade? Why do the most cliched thing in the book--act like a bunch of yokels, get yourselves all riled up about that bad old elitist school board tryin' to learn yer kids about all them sinful modern ways, start organizing meetings...it's all been done a million times. You can't stop modernity, and you can't stop our progress toward becoming a society that doesn't single out groups of people for persecution, ostracism, ridicule. I can see from the good sense of the teenagers who have posted on this message board that they are already a lot more enlightened than you--and I'm sure it scares you that your children will inevitably grow up with a set of values different from your own.

For that I say: Thank God! Thank God for children! Thank God that all the worst evils and prejudices of a generation don't automatically get passed on to its progeny! Thank God that, even if people can't change, their children can.

So just please, take a step back from this silliness and look at yourselves. I know you're very busy, busy as bees, trying to distract yourselves from your REAL fears and anxieties--but still, take a quiet minute and try to reflect on what it is you're really after here.

And then...get a hobby! Go traveling! Learn to paint, or play tennis, or rock climb! Move to Virginia, or Alabama, or Afghanistan! Take a lover if you're the adventurous type. Or--seriously--channel your activist spirit into activities that really help people who need it--the elderly, the mentally ill, the learning-disabled, the poor. Volunteer. Think about What Jesus Would Do. Would Jesus mount a crusade against the school board? No way! He would go out and help people! Would Jesus fetishize his hatred, nurture his greivance? No way! He'd turn that cheek, set off and get to work!

Retta responds:

Children are our hobby

If you don't have children you can't understand the strong bond and love. Parents will always shield their children from dangers and that is their job. Parents love their children no matter what.

Blicero responds:

Define "Danger"

Retta, I couldn't agree with you more that a parent's primary two duties are unconditional love and protection. But in order to protect you first have to understand what the danger is. And if your idea of "danger" is learning about homosexuality and learning what condoms are, then you are a negligent parent--acting not out of love and a wish to protect, but out of selfishness, fear, and a futile desire to control. You are behaving like a misguided child, not like a wise parent.

.............

Elmer Blankenship writes:

Fairness for board members

The decision by the schoosboard members is so irresponsible, and inconsiderate of parents, that they should be dismissed without opportunity to explain their actions.

Blicero responds:

That's the Spirit, Elmer!

Why not just execute them on the spot?

.............

Blicero writes:

Unfair Moderation

The moderator of this site has been deleting my posts, which have contained no obscene or 4-letter words, and have been no more or less "civil" in tone than other posts on this board.

In my first [deleted] post, I expressed an opinion that the Recall community may find life more amenable to their "beliefs" in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state which boasts many fine educational facilities, including the Reverend Falwell's Liberty University.

In my second [deleted] post I simply expressed my opinion that people who take up causes like this one are actually afraid of their own deaths (as we all are) and afraid of losing their children to adulthood (as we all are)--but instead of facing those fears and trying to cope with them, they invent an imaginary enemy (brainwashing, "pro-gay" teachers and administrators) and go on the attack. All I said was that you folks aren't even really scared of gay people--you're scared of yourselves, and you're scared of (and for) your children.

ADMINISTRATOR responds:

Response

Your message emphasized that particicpants in this fourm were going to die. It was threatning at a minimum. Secondly, this board is open to all participants, but the subject matter is the Board of Education of Montgomery County Maryland. Someone with an email address of [redacted] ranting on either side of the issues raised by this web site is not particularly helpful. I will not repost your original message for the reasons outlined above.

Blicero responds:

Interesting Logic

Administrator: don't assume you can identify my location based on an email address. Anyone who has graduated from college in the last ten years knows university addresses can be retained, often for several years. More importantly, as I have stated, I attended public school from K-12 in Bethesda, and that makes my input in this forum eminently relevant. No, you needn't look to NYC to find opponents--you have all you'll need right here at home.

Secondly, anyone who read my initial post would read "you are going to die" IN THE CONTEXT OF my other statements of fact, such as "You are going to grow old" and "Your children are going to go away." My point is obvious--that, threatened by forces over which they have no control (time, age) the Recall people have displaced their anger onto a scapegoat, in this case gays (or their proxies in the schools, teachers). A few decades ago it would have been blacks in the schools, or Jews. Teachers teaching that interracial marriage is "normal" would have been targeted. The fear and anger and motive never change; only the status of the chosen enemy.

So, thank you for responding--I will never again mention death, which is BAD and should not be mentioned and WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME OR ANYONE I KNOW.

By the way, here is the deleted post:

You're going to grow old, grow sick, and die.

Your children are going to grow up, becomes adults, move away, and grow apart from you.

There will be a lot of sadness, a lot of loneliness, a lot of regret in your future.

Your future is short. Death is coming.

The gays are not responsible for the tragic shape of your lives. There is no one to blame for your own misery but yourselves and/or God. Your little crusade won't change any of this. Any of it. Think about that for a minute.

"Threatning [sic] at a minimum"? You decide.