Category Archives: Right Wingers

I’ll Get You…and your little veep, too!

Muthee_2 Vice Presidential pretendee/nominee Sarah Palin credits and praises a Kenyan Minister named Thomas Muthee with helping her to achieve the Alaskan governorship through prayer. It turns out the Muthee also hunts down witches and makes Rev. John Hagee, to say nothing of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., look positively normal. At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Palin described how Muthee had laid his hands on her:

As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he’s so bold. And he was praying “Lord make a way, Lord make a way. And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not “oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor,” no, he just prayed for it. He said “Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened.”

She might also have enlisted him in some good old witchhunting. After founding the Prayer Cave in 1989 in Kiambu, Kenya, Muthee reportedly says that he spoke with God and was called to the United States where he would be embraced by Palin and her church. While in Kenya, he says that he discovered that the community was inundated by witchcraft: “We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place.”

He even identified one witch known as Mama Jane, who ran a competing “divination” center called the Emmanuel Clinic. He declared that she was responsible for a rash of car accidents and led a crusade against her — a movement that would trigger calls for her to be stoned to death. She was eventually arrested and then fled the area.

It is certainly an example of “small town values” but perhaps not the quite type that the campaign is Aaa_wickedwitch looking for. On the other hand, something like 80% of U.S. voters say they believe in Angels. So it’s only a quick hop, skip and a jump to witches, I suppose. Halloween is right around the corner…and let’s not forget that “witches” and “witchcraft” was an early way of the monotheists to crack down on…and mass murder, the Old Folk Ways, and that many of these were strong women, and faeries…

What’s’up with this?

Gay_rings_wedding Ellen married Portia, but neither of them have donated to the California Marriage Ballot measure.

Also missing (as of Sept. 10) from the rolls were: Rosie O’Donnell, whose Feb. 27, 2004, marriage to Kelli Carpenter was nullified; Sir Elton John, who tied the civil partnership knot with partner David Furnish in England; rock star Melissa Etheridge, whose domestic partnership/wedding to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels Sept. 22, 2003, was celebrated in In Style magazine.

Other producers and directors not on the list include Paul Colichman (here!TV) Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Bryan Singer (Superman Returns), Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin), and Gus Van Sant, though Bruce Cohen, who produced Milk, directed by Van Sant, was recently married and did contribute.

A Jihad For Love

Jihad_opening_banner_horiz_2 A Jihad for Love opens in San Francisco and Berkeley on August 22nd at the Landmark Lumiere and Shattuck Theaters! Producer Sandi DuBowski (Director of the award-winning, Trembling Before G-d) and Director/Producer Parvez Sharma will lead Q & A after screenings from Friday, August 22nd – Monday, August 25th.

Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre
1572 California St., San Francisco
(415) 267-4893
Fri-Sun at 2:15, 4:45, 7:00, 9:30;
Mon-Thu at 4:45, 7:00, 9:30
Director/Producer Parvez Sharma
& Producer Sandi DuBowski in person
4:45 & 7:00, Fri 8/22, Sun 8/24, & Mon 8/25
Buy Tickets Online

Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas
2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 464-5980
Daily at 3:05, 5:15, 7:20, 9:35 (valid 8/22-28)
Director/Producer Parvez Sharma & Producer Sandi DuBowski
in person 5:15 & 7:20, Sat 8/23 at Shattuck-Berk
Buy Tickets Online

After Premieres at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals and in over 20 countries, A Jihad for Love has won five international awards and has inspired a media blitz across the world. Tens of thousands of people have participated in a thought-provoking dialogue about Islam that the film has catalyzed.

Producer, Sandi Dubowski, is a member of the Advisory Board of The White Crane Institute

Compare and Contrast

John McCain’s record on GLBT issues: Johnmccain10_2

  • Against ENDA
  • Against ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
  • Against the Matthew Shepard Act Hate Crimes Act
  • Against partnership recognition of any kind
  • Against partner immigration rights
  • Against any repeal of DOMA
  • For anti-Gay state constitutional amendments such as those in California, Florida and Arizona
  • Will appoint anti-LGBT judges like Justice Scalia and Alito

Barack_obama Barack Obama’s record on GLBT issues :

Supports ENDA (including protection based on gender identity)

Supports ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Supports the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act

Supports equal benefits for same-sex couples

Supports partner immigration rights

Supports full repeal of DOMA

Against anti-Gay state constitutional amendments such as those in California, Florida and Arizona

Will appoint pro-LGBT judges like Justice Stevens and Ginsburg

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…explain to me again why this is hard?

Flights of Angels: A Hatchet Job

This review of Flights of Angels has been censored at the Amazon.com website, now, five times. What is Adrian Brooks/Craig Makler afraid of?

Kreemah_scrumbly_and_hibiscus_lumin The good news is that "Adrian Brooks," formerly Craig Makler of Philadelphia (perhaps one of the more telling aspects of this book is Brooks’ obsession with revealing everyone else’s mundane and assumed names but not his own) had some good edítors, which made Flights of Angels more or less readable. So at least I could get through it. The bad news is that it’s not a very good book.  [And yes…I know the foto the left is of the Cockettes and not the Angels.]


In the final analysis, though, the portrayal of the Angels is at best superficial and somehow (despite the fact that Brooks was in less than half of the 20 shows the troupe produced) all the stories seem to center on Brooks and his "unappreciated brilliance" and supposed centrality to the troupe. As Brooks himself used to say in an aristocratic Russian character he would regularly affect, "It’s so hard to maintain one’s public image when there is no public." Despite his very high opinion of himself and his florid poetry, Brooks lives in literary obscurity in San Francisco. Bitterness and grasping self-promotion has that affect. OK…it’s a memoir. But one is reminded of the "you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts." Brooks continues to grab for credit where none is due (he recently claimed authorial credit for Paris Sites Under the Bourgeois Sea), and responds with vitriol and personal attacks when it is denied him.

It is in no small way revealing that his Tennessee Williams epigram telegraphs that what follows will have anything to do with reality and reflects nothing more than the author’s own "magical" thinking. It is a further, no doubt unintended, self-exposure that his very first sentence, "It’s impossible to encapsulate the truth about the Angels of Light" is true only insofar as Craig Makler/Adrian Brooks is concerned. Truth does seem to elude him; Flights of Angels has only a passing acquaintance with it.


It is clear that, along with any sense of decency, Adrian Brooks missed the magic. A self-serving opportunist, he missed the glue that kept this seminal troupe of artists together, many of whom are friends to this day. He missed their deep commitment to art and community while affecting his own. One gets no sense of that commitment…it seems to be so much about their selfishness, but really is more about his own.

And that’s really the point: this is a book that is much more about Adrian Brooks than it is about the Angels, who only appear as supporting players in Brooks’ self-absorbed life. One might legitimately suggest that Mr. Brooks is indulging in not a little projection when he accuses others of the sins he finds so distasteful, and is so quick to excuse in himself. In his bitterness about the missed attention of an adoring public he so richly believes he deserved (and would have you believe was denied him by the Angels) he reveals more about himself than anyone or anything else. His attacks on Beaver Bauer are shameful.


Sadly, other people who have true standing are used to lend credibility to this twisted record. Danny Nicoletta’s beautiful photos give a gloss of legitimacy to the book. It’s tempting to understand that Nicoletta wanted a place to show his work, but by now he must know it was a mistake. He isn’t the only one who should question his or her judgment. Everyone who was interviewed by Adrian Brooks had to know that Adrian Brooks was never going to give the Angels their due or be fair. Some people had grievances. Who didn’t? It’s unfortunate anyone chose to air them with him.

So much has happened to the Angels these past years, it is sad that this book is the only chronicle currently available about what was a truly amazing group and time. The Angels were recently properly feted in New York in a series of events tied to the donation of Martin Worman’s archives to the New York Public Library. The celebration at the Theater for the New City, a panel at the LGBT Community Center and other wonderful celebrations shows that this troupe’s influence and importance deserves better. Adrian Brooks’ name never came up.

UPDATE: I’m not alone in my distaste for this book. John Karr in the Bay Area Reporter weighed in this week with "The fact that it’s just about the trashiest read ever, with drugs, sex, promiscuity and dire betrayals riddling nearly every page makes it fun to read — for a short while. Then one becomes aware of the author’s imbalance. Reading this book was not enjoyable. I felt sullied. …irresponsible, distorted, slanderous, and just plain badly written are the first descriptives that come to mind concerning the book[s]…venomous, inaccurate, ludicrous text."

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Mcclellan So…in Scott McClellan’s new book (which is a travesty in every other way), McClellan pretty clearly states that Karl Rove lied to him prior to his (McClellan’s) testimony before a grand jury. And he’s pretty clear that Vice President Cheney lied to him, as well. (Somehow Dubyah gets exonerated). Whatever.

Bush_leagueNot too long ago, one of the Articles of Impeachment against William Jefferson Clinton was "lying to a grand jury witness"…considered a high crime and misdemeanor.

So when will Karl Rove be indicted? What are the chances  President McClain will direct his Attorney General to pursue a further investigation? And why is the Democratic Congress not pursuing Articles of Impeachment against this administration?

Gays In The Military

Gay_soldier20040421Lemme see if I have this…you’ll pardon the expression….straight:

Gay people in the military: Bad for unit cohesion.

Convicted felons…you know, manslaughter, sex crimes, that sort of thing: No problem.

The military and the Bush administration, lecturing us on morality: Priceless.

And…could someone explain to me why we’re so damn eager to join up and kill and contribute to a war of aggression?

Are we that desperate? And what is it, precisely, we’re trying to prove? And to whom?