Meme Of The Day
Fox News Legal Panel: Kim Davis’ Lawyer Mat Staver Is “Ridiculously Stupid”
Now, when even Fox News’ legal analysts say anti-gay County Clerk Kim Davis has no leg to stand on, you know you’re in trouble.
Unless you’re Davis and her equally anti-gay lawyer Mat Staver.
Via Raw Story:
“She can still practice her faith,” Fox News host Gregg Jarrett noted. “Just not on the job in a way that interferes with the legal rights of the citizens she serves. And in fact, the U.S. Supreme Court said so nine years ago.”
“She’s a hypocrite,” criminal defense attorney Sharon Liko agreed. “She’s applying for the job of a martyr. She wants to practice her faith by not issuing marriage licenses. Yet, she will not agree to let the deputy county clerks issue marriage licenses even if it’s okay with their faith.”
“When she took the job she swore to uphold the law,” Jarrett explained. “We rely on government officials to do that. They can’t just pick and choose what laws they like, which ones they don’t. If they were allowed to do that, wouldn’t that lead to chaos, anarchy and so forth?”
Jarrett also called out Davis’s attorney, who said it was “questionable” if the Supreme Court had the “constitutional authority” to rule on same-sex marriage.
“Whether the Supreme Court has constitutional authority?” the Fox News host said. “Article III Section 2 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court constitutional authority to decide constitutional issues!”
Jarrett added that Staver’s statement appeared to be “stunningly obtuse.”
“That’s a very polite way of putting it,” Liko replied. “I would say it’s just a ridiculously stupid statement. The Supreme Court does just that, and they determine constitutionality issues, they resolve these kinds of disputes.”
“This woman has a choice, she can either follow the law — she can do her job — or she can get out.”
Jarrett also pointed out during the segment that Davis is still free to exercise her freedom of religion, just not in a way that interferes in the legal rights of others.
To underline the point, Jarrett quoted the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Garcetti v. Ceballos: “When a citizen enters government service, the citizen by necessity must accept certain limitations on his or her freedom.”
Dan Savage Q&As With Kim Davis Twitter Imposter
Earlier this week, folks took note of a Twitter account that purported to be Kim Davis, the beleaguered county clerk in Kentucky who refuses to follow the law and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It seemed to be posts from her husband on her behalf.
The account seemed on the up and up: saying all the crap that Davis’ followers say, retweeting folks like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, etc…
And then last night the account posted a handwritten “letter” that was allegedly from Davis, comparing herself to civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
Suddenly, through some fierce internet sleuthing, the jig was up, and it was clear the account was an imposter.
Having fooled the world, the haters, even the New York Times, the imposter responded to gay activist Dan Savage to answer some questions about the endeavor and the point of it all.
Here’s just some of the Q&A:
So you’re the person who tricked New York Times reporters, Mother Jones, MSNBC hosts, and a certain sex-advice columnist this weekend, huh? First question: Are you Kim Davis?
I am not Kim Davis! Though having lived as Kim for a week, I was starting to question where Kim ended and I began.
If you’re not Kim Davis, who are you?
I’m someone who sees right-wing Christians as one of our society’s biggest threats to progress. What ever happened to “love thy neighbor”? I wish we lived in a world that put its faith in science and technology, but instead we are fighting wars over Jesus and Muhammad. Many of the right-wing Christian believers are no different than ISIS. They wish to hold us back, and just because they aren’t cutting people’s heads off doesn’t mean they are any better.
Would you call what you did trolling? I mean, trolls are mean-spirited and say terrible things. Were you trolling? Or just fooling? Just having fun?
This was absolutely about shining a spotlight on the beliefs of Kim and her supporters. Trolling is 100% mean-spirited. You can’t be mean-spirited if you are against something that is already mean-spirited. And what I do has an element of art to it.
How long ago did you launch @KimDavis917 and when did realize the jig was up?
I launched Kim on Tuesday night. I spent the week reading the horrible things her supporters would say, stoking the fires with replies to people on both sides of the issue. The best comments were chains of people debating whether the account was real or not. They always landed with, “Well, it’s not funny, it’s very sincere, and it sounds authentic, so…”
I knew the jig was up once the letter picked up steam. There are a few easter eggs in the letter that I intentionally put there so that people would know it wasn’t true. I told friends late Saturday night that I felt like she peaked with the letter. I wasn’t going to top it. Sarah Jessica Parker once said, “I don’t think you want to be the last one to leave the party.” And that’s very true. If Kim went on, she’d be just another parody account.
You got busted because you cited a bible quote—a little something from Luke—but the citation (Luke 16:18) wasn’t a passage about “various trials,” as claimed in the letter, but a passage that condemns adultery and remarriage, which happen to be the actual Kim Davis’s superpowers: “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” That unmasked you as a “troll.” Do you regret including it? Everyone was fooled and would’ve stayed fooled if it weren’t for that one detail—and for those meddling kids @SMLXist and @NobleSasquatch.
I intentionally misquoted that passage. That was the point! I put in the adultery bible passage because it pointed out how these right-wing Christians cherry pick from the bible. I knew people would be immediately outraged over “Rose Parks” having it easy, so I knew it would take a second pass for someone to go in and look up her references to actually have that “wait a minute” moment. Did you catch that “Kim” misquoted Jesus with The Phantom Of The Opera?
Most of your 1,100 followers were self-described “followers of Christ”—actual supporters of Kim Davis, people who actually think Christians are being persecuted, and who believed like Kim should have a right to discriminate against other Americans. A million little Huckabees. So who did you enjoy fooling more: reporters from the NYT and MSNBC and sex-advice columnists? Or all the rightwing haters following you who actually thought you were Kim Davis?
The right-wingers!!!! It’s delicious, it really is. I knew halfway through the week I was going to flip the account to supporting gay rights and equality, so I wanted to amass as many sincere followers as possible. But getting support for Kim Davis was very hard. Even a lot of people with Jesus in their bio were telling Kim & Joe that they were wrong. I’m not surprised the NYT bit into it, these are the same people who literally published an entirely false story about Hillary Clinton just a month ago—how have they, and others, not learned their lessons to fact check a story? No reporter ever Tweeted the account asking for verification before they posted about it.
No sex-advice columnist either. Okay, so have you been involved in any other campaigns like this? Is this your first hoax? Are you impersonating anyone else online right now?
It’s my first time. Beginner’s luck?
If people go to @KimDavis917 now… what will they find?
It’s pro Hillary. (You go, girl!) The account’s supporters are Huckabee/Cruz loons, so I hope they get a dose of reality in their timelines. Surprisingly a number of the account’s followers think it was hacked!
Wait a minute… are you Hillary Clinton?
That’s one secret I’ll never tell — Sent from my BlackBerry
Some people on Twitter have accused me of being the person behind @KimDavis917. Is that true? Are you me?
The mirror has two faces, Dan.
Make sure you go read Dan’s full Q&A with the imposter here.
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich: Kim Davis Should Follow The Law
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (easily one of the more moderate, sane voices in the current group of Republican White House hopefuls) spoke to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, and said that he disagreed with Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis and her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples:
“The court has spoken, the court has ruled as everyone knows. I believe in traditional marriage but the court has ruled.
“When we see these kind of battles going on I get a little bit afraid that it turns people off to the idea of faith in God, what it means to be a Christian. For me, it’s given me a solid foundation to deal with the strong winds in life, to be a better person, a better guy.
“Now I respect the fact that the lady doesn’t agree, but she’s also a government employee. She’s not running a church. I wouldn’t force this on a church but in terms of her responsibility I think she has to comply. I don’t like the fact that she’s sitting in a jail—that’s absurd as well—but I think she should follow the law.”
Parody: “Clerks And Recreation”
So, I guess it’s just a “Funny Sunday” kind of day.
A second video skewering Ms. Kim Davis of Kentucky demands to be posted.
This one from Funny Or Die, which splices scenes from NBC’s Parks and Recreation with actual footage of the Kentucky County bigot clerk refusing to issue a same-sex couple their marriage license.
Here I give you Clerks and Recreation.
As Nick Offerman’s “Ron Swanson” ruminates, “She’s a grade A bitch. Every time she laughs, an angel dies.”
Funny.
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Clerks And Recreation with Kim Davis
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis refuses to issue same-sex marriage licenses. She’s just lucky she doesn’t have to answer to Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope.
Posted by Funny Or Die on Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Parody: “The Homophobe Tango”
Lauren Mayer, aka PsychoSuperMom, brings us her version of “The Cellblock Tango” from CHICAGO – “The Homophobe Tango” wherein she skewers the current crop of big time bigots, including Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis.
According to Mayer, she’s “a good Jewish mother who secretly yearns for a gay son, so he’ll never leave me for another woman, (cue rimshot).”
Chris Hayes Slaps Down Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver
I always find it interesting when someone not only refuses to answer a direct question in a TV interview, but also can only keep repeating the same, single talking point.
Liberty Counsel director Mat Staver, who is representing Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis, is like a dog with a bone here repeating and repeating his own issue while completely ignoring the questions being asked by MSNBC host Chris Hayes.
Best line is when Hayes ask Staver point blank how his fundraising is going in light of the press his firm is getting by being in the thick of things with Davis.
With No County Clerk’s Name On Rowan County Marriage Licenses, Are They Valid?
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There may be a complication with the marriage licenses being issued to same-sex couples today in Rowan County as the licenses have no County Clerk’s name on them.
Rather than be filled in with the name of an authorized deputy Clerk, the blank usually reserved for the County Clerk merely says “Rowan County.”
Via Buzzfeed:
Brian Mason, the deputy clerk who issued the license to the couple minutes before, told BuzzFeed News that Davis’s name had appeared in that field in all 99 licenses issued before the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision in June. “Her name goes there, yeah,” Mason said. “But she is not here. I don’t have her permission. I don’t have her consent.” He would not comment on who instructed him to replace her name with the words “Rowan County.”
However, Chief Deputy Roberta Eaerly told BuzzFeed News, “As a group we decided to issue [the licenses] from Rowan County.”
Asked what gave staff the authority to omit Davis’s name, Earley said, “I have no other comment.”
Mason told BuzzFeed News that in Thursday’s contempt-of-court hearing, Judge Bunning acknowledged it was unclear if licenses issued without Davis’s authority were valid. “That is why the judge said marriage licenses may not be valid,” Mason said. “We don’t know. No one could give us an answer.”
UPDATE: According to Yahoo News, Kim Davis asserts that the marriage licenses issued today are “not worth the paper they are written on” because she didn’t authorize them, her attorney said.
The Rowan County attorney and lawyers for today’s couples say Davis’ claims are incorrect.
Matt Baume On Kentucky’s Rogue County Clerk
Smart guy Matt Baume asks (and answers) the questions: “What happens if a clerk doesn’t approve of a couple that wants to get married? Can a clerk keep their job AND follow their conscience?”
Donald Trump On Rogue Clerk Kim Davis: “The Decision Has Been Made, And That Is The Law Of The Land”
Speaking with the crew of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Donald Trump said while he saw both sides to the issue of Kim Davis’ refusal to issue marriage licenses (landing her in jail at the present), ultimately the SCOTUS decision legalizing marriage equality is the law of the land and “you have to go with it.”
“Well, look, the decision came down from the Supreme Court, Gene, so I’m a believer on both sides of the picture. I would say the simple answer is let her clerks do it. Now from what I understand, she’s not letting her clerks do it either. The other simple answer is rather than going through this because it’s really a very, very sticky situation, a terrible situation, 30 miles away they have other places. They have many other places where you get licensed. and you have them actually quite nearby. That’s another alternative. I hate to see her being put in jail. I understand what they’re doing. It would be certainly nice if she didn’t do it but other people in her office do it. But from what I understand, she won’t allow other people in her office to do it. You have to go with it. I mean you have to go with it. The decision has been made, and that is the law of the land.”