Hiding from Sunlight

February 6, 2010

by Brian Leubitz

Ken MillerWhile John Ireland and John Ainsworth are working to produce video of the trial at MarriageTrial.com, I was interested in this quote from a conservative opponent of marriage equality:

Constitutional law expert Edward Whelan, a conservative critic of U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who is presiding over the federal trial, said the videos could be helpful to the public without presenting a threat to Proposition 8 supporters who feared retaliation.

“Obviously that’s perfectly within their rights,” Whelan said of Ireland and Ainsworth. “The fact that it’s not being done by showing the real witnesses does a lot to mitigate some of the injury that could reasonably have been expected from Judge Walker’s show trial.”

The injury? That their face will be shown saying such ridiculousness? So, I encourage everybody to go check out the videos, and while you are watching them, go ahead and send around these pictures to everybody you know. And to make sure you can inform others of their lack of credibility, here’s a little bit more information about what the pair would like you to know about them.

On the right, we have Professor Kenneth P. Miller, a so-called “scholar.” Here’s his bio from Claremont McKenna, where he works in the Rose Institute:

Dr. Ken Miller (B.A. Pomona College, J.D. Harvard Law School, Ph.D. U.C. Berkeley) became Associate Director of the Rose Institute in 2009. He has served as a member of CMC’s Government faculty since 2003. Dr. Miller’s research focuses on state government institutions, with emphasis on direct democracy (initiative, referendum, and recall) and the interaction between law and politics. His publications include Direct Democracy and the Courts (Cambridge University Press 2009) and a co-edited volume The New Political Geography of California (Berkeley Public Policy Press 2008). Dr. Miller has worked with Rose Institute students on several research projects, including the 24-state Miller-Rose Institute Initiative Database.

On the left we have David Blankenhorn. You know him, you love him, or something like that. Here’s his bio:

David Blankenhorn is founder and president of the Institute for American Values, a nonpartisan organization devoted to strengthening families and civil society in the U.S. and the world.

A 1998 profile in the New York Times describes Blankenhorn as a “consensus builder for a moral base in society.” Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard Law School writes: “No one writes about the crisis in American family life with more candor, intelligence, and sympathetic understanding than David Blankenhorn.” USA Todayin 2000 describes Blankenhorn as “leading a grass-roots movement” to strengthen marriage. A 1995 profile in the Los Angeles Times called him “the de facto navigator” of a new fatherhood movement and the Idaho Statesman describes Blankenhorn’s 1995 book,Fatherless America, as “the bible of the fatherhood movement.” In 2005, Carl Gershman of the National Endowment for Democracy called Blankenhorn’s Islam/West project “the most effective initiative to influence opinion in the Arab world since 9/11.”

All very thrilling.  In the future, if you see any work from these two, you now have the handy shortcut of ignoring it out of hand. After all they’ve pretty much shot what credibility they had.  And if you happen to see either of these men in twenty, thirty, or more, years from now, when history will look back upon their testimony for the joke that it ultimately was, well, you have my permission to snicker as they walk by.

Filed under: Uncategorized

52 Comments Leave a Comment

  • 1. dieter  |  February 6, 2010 at 7:17 am

    Hathway Quits Catholicism for Gay Brother

    By Advocate.com Editors
    ANNE HATHAWAY X390

    Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway tells GQ Magazine she and her parents have left the Catholic church because of the religion's views on gay issues. Hathaway, whose brother is gay, says she and her parents became Episcopalians shortly after he came out.

    "The whole family converted to Episcopalianism after my elder brother came out,” she said. “Why should I support an organization that has a limited view of my beloved brother?"

    Hathaway, who has been a vocal champion of gay rights since starring in Brokeback Mountain, says she isn’t quite at home with the Episcopalian Church either: "So I'm… nothing (no denomination). F**k it, I'm forming. I'm a work in progress.”

  • 2. Richard W. Fitch  |  February 6, 2010 at 7:41 am

    Who wants to see their lying faces anyway.

  • 3. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 7:58 am

    Oh I am going to do more the snicker….I am going to make a HUGE scene and yell out MAUDE!!!!!!….hahahah……lol

    Hey Richard W. Fitch, did you see I posted an article about the new Armani Exchange Ad… they want to have it removed from stores 1.) because of the sexuality which is understandable but 2.) they directly said that it is offensive because of the Homosexual couplings. I posted it on "The Awakening of the GOP?" thread.

    This protest and attack on AX is being funded by the afa (American Family Association)…which is also against Marriage Equity and LGBT Rights…..Homosexuality is on trial not Marriage….

    WTF…Armani is owned by a Gay Man..he has the right to use any Ad he wants….Ooooo…I am so mad…..I am going to scream….you can't hear me but I am screaming and my dog is howling…lol

  • 4. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 8:08 am

    Anne Hathaway Rocks!!!!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZuIdQVEVY0&fe…

  • 5. Richard W. Fitch  |  February 6, 2010 at 8:17 am

    WOW!! Thanks for posting, Ronnie. I tried to read the article on Advocate.com, but kept getting an error. Hathaway's is the kind of voice that's important in our extended family.

  • 6. truthspew  |  February 6, 2010 at 8:25 am

    Well, they did help prove our case that:

    a) We are a suspect class

    b) The standard of strict scrutiny should apply

    and

    c) Our constitutional rights are most definitely being abused.

  • 7. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 8:25 am

    You're welcome. She truly is amazing person and if someone as wonderful as her can completely oust the Catholic Church as well as an entire family…I mean really…The Catholic churches are closing all over the place here in NJ…..They are doing it to themselves and that understand that if they don't change(as well other denominations and religions) they will completely crumble in this country.

    My mom said for the first time last night…I am no longer Catholic…That was big for her..I could feel her Heart Break…what is even harder is that she works for a Catholic Hospital that employs Openly LGBT people but they have no rights even though CU's are legal in NJ…it is entirely unacceptable…you know?

  • 8. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:04 am

    WOW – your Mom said, she is no longer a Catholic! That is amazing.

  • 9. Layla  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:09 am

    What we need is pictures and bio's on the other 'experts' that pulled out last minute.

  • 10. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:10 am

    "Love is a human experience, not a political statement" – thank you Anne Hathaway for being so proud!

  • 11. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:11 am

    haha,,,you couldn't stay away, could you?….ur hooked…lol…Yeah she still loves God but now she refuses to choose a denomination like the Gorgeous Ms. Hathaway….I told her to take her time with that part…but in the end that is her choice.

  • 12. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:12 am

    I agree and make it go viral with big red letters "I'm with Stupid!"…..lol

  • 13. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:14 am

    Yeppers, guilty on all charges! (chuckles)

  • 14. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:20 am

    Ok so I'm not a Lesbian..But as a Gay man I can relate to this and I'm sure you will all relate to it as well. right?…..RIGHT???
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI34qascjPI

  • 15. slsmith66  |  February 6, 2010 at 9:50 am

    "soylent pink is made from straight people" I LOVE IT!

  • 16. Alan McCornick  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:08 am

    Brian:

    Wish you hadn't gloated like that. Miller and Blankenhorn made fools of themselves. And shot themselves in the foot in terms of academic credibility, 'tis true. I know how good it feels, but we've got the high ground. And don't assume in five or ten years these guys won't change their minds. Colin Powell did. Admiral Mullen did. Mayor Sanders of San Diego did. Hell, even McCain's wife and daughter did. Best way to get rid of an enemy, they say, is to invite them to be a friend. I suspect that is not likely to work with Pugno, but it may well work for his witnesses. They were witnesses for the plaintiffs in the end, remember.

  • 17. Andrea  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:11 am

    We're out of pink Uzis. Would you take a Hello Kitty AR-15 instead?

  • 18. Straight Ally #3008  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:19 am

    After finding this video, I wish I could have seen what David Boies could have extracted from Frank Schubert, who in the end was not called as a defense witness.

    This is a video from the American Association of Political Consultants where Schubert is getting an award and fawning praise from his colleagues for coordinating the campaign for Prop 8. His first power point slide (at 5:08) is telling:

    Question: How do get voters to…

    • Say 'no' to universal health coverage
    • Turn down taxing tobacco companies
    • Continue cutting forests
    • Let insurance companies use credit ratings to set insurance rates
    • Overturn legalized gay marriage in one of America's most liberal states

    He's just sitting there, coldly explaining how you get voters to support something they normally wouldn't! And he admits that he had to use scare tactics, otherwise there is no way Prop 8 would have passed. And he got an award for it from his peers.

    Schubert did the same thing to help the Yes on One campaign to overturn marriage equality in Maine. Miller and Blankenhorn are effete jokes by comparison; Schubert willl be involved in the next marriage equality initiative that comes along, or at the very least his successor will follow the playbook he prepared.

    "We have always been at war with Eastasia." You know what, that's not strong enough…propaganda at this level would have made Joesph Goebbels and Julius Streicher proud.

  • 19. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:28 am

    I like Sponge Bob water guns…after all he is Gay….right?….RIGHT???

  • 20. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Ilk….I couldn't watch past the first minute…This people…they are F-ing gloating over the fact they have ruined peoples lives…Uggg…..I think I'm gonna through up!…..I hope Dorothy drops house on them.

  • 21. Richard A. Walter (s  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:38 am

    Snickering is all I am allowed to do? You mean, I can't just bust out laughing, roll on the floor laughing, or even just roar with laughter? Aww, Brian, you took all the fun out of it for me (LOL!) !

  • 22. Richard A. Walter (s  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Ronnie, you always manage to post videos that bring me to joyful tears! Way to go!

  • 23. Richard A. Walter (s  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:49 am

    Can I get a TeleTubbies set? All six, complete with the purses loaded with C-4 bubblegum!

  • 24. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:58 am

    No problem…i have become an expert at navigating my way around the never ending universe of youtube….
    I'm glad you enjoyed it…. <3…Ronnie Mc

  • 25. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 10:59 am

    I would to take this time to thank TrialTracker for allowing us to post videos. I have been on other Blogs, MBs, and DBs and they don't allow it. I really appreciate having these videos to watch and share them with everybody else….I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!….A Million times THANK YOU!!!

    <3 Ronnie Mc

  • 26. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:01 am

    Tubbie Toast!!!…Et Oh!!!!!……Big Hugggg!!!!!….lol

  • 27. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:16 am

    Yeah, I have been wondering about our agenda, too. Hmm! should we paint the house pink or blue? I vote for pink! LOL!
    Sorry, I have once again been away from puter for a while, had to help friend with her battery in her car.

  • 28. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:18 am

    Yes, I agree, it is nice to be able to see video here. I have watched most of them, but thanks for the warning about the Schubert video – I think I will pass on that one!

  • 29. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:19 am

    I like Periwinkle for a house!

  • 30. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:20 am

    Yeppers, that is a great color of pink!

  • 31. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:30 am

    Yeah, or maybe the wicked witch could just stop in for a visit and stay permanently? By the way, I was just thinking about Dorothy, when I read that comment!
    Love,
    David

  • 32. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:33 am

    The Wicked Witch wouldn't be able to stay…she can't be baptized because she's allergic to water …yeah?…lol

  • 33. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:38 am

    Thanks, Ronnie, you are keeping me stiches and I want to roll on the floor and laugh my ass off! – oops, I don't have that much ass to spare to laugh off!
    David

  • 34. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:45 am

    Well, guess what, I just had to watch – I couldn't past 30 seconds of the video though…hmm…I wonder what that means. LOL
    Love,
    David

  • 35. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:49 am

    That they are EVIL!!!….and there is going to be whole lot of bulimic people…that's not funny but neither is the situation.

  • 36. David Kimble  |  February 6, 2010 at 11:53 am

    You are of course correct, but sometimes they just walk right into it – it's like face meet board – board meet face!
    Love,
    David

  • 37. Felyx  |  February 6, 2010 at 1:41 pm

    Just posted:

    We need women (and men too) to start training to be guards. So far we have 178 camps across the country. As soon as we reach 5 per state and have the necessary 'fabulous solution' gas chambers prepared we will begin the heterosexual roundup.

    Please see your local recruiting officer NOW!

  • 38. Alan E.  |  February 6, 2010 at 1:47 pm

    Notice how most of Blankenhorn's bio is stuff people said about him. The only think he did was found a conservative think tank and write a couple books not related to all to homosexuality. These other witnesses for the plaintiffs actually did their homework and received credible commendations for it.

  • 39. Casey  |  February 6, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    That video was great, Ronnie. Thanks! I had no idea that Anne Hathaway was such a vocal advocate. One more voice!

  • 40. Ronnie  |  February 6, 2010 at 3:45 pm

    you're welcome….If was a woman and she was man and we were both straight I would have her babies…lol…you follow?

  • 41. Marlene Bomer  |  February 6, 2010 at 6:22 pm

    Why do you think I use the phrase "religious reicht" to describe these fanatics, Ally?

    Go find a copy of the Nazi propaganda film The Eternal Jew, then a copy of the Traditional Values Coalition's propaganda film Gay Rights, Special Rights, and see the parallels!

  • 42. Dave  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:37 am

    In this video, Schubert heaps a great deal of praise on Dr. Gary Lawrence and Dr. Richard Wirthlin, who provided the research on what the Prop 8 campaign strategy message needed to be to win.

    Lawrence and Wirthlin are Mormon.

    You may also remember the Prop 8 commercial with the couple in Massachusetts who complained about their son learning about gay marriage in school. Their name was Wirthlin. Yep, they're from the very same Wirthlin klan (intentionally spelled with a k) with very deep roots in the Mormon Church.

    And what did the research of Wirthlin and Lawrence show? Two Messages:
    1. Even if they have a positive image of gays, parents absolutely do not want their own children to turn out gay. Learning about gay marriage in school will lead to their children "choosing" to be gay.
    2. Freedom of Religion is the bedrock of our nation and Churches will have their "rights" taken away from them.

    Of course both messages are absolute lies, but after all, "all's fair in love, war and politics".

    The Mormon leadership orchestrated the entire Prop 8 campaign. They tried to keep it on the down low, but their robes and hoods got pulled off and this will be an albatross around the neck of the Mormon Church for generations to come.

  • 43. Steven B  |  February 7, 2010 at 3:10 am

    It is not that Blankenhorn and Miller are not intelligent. Blankenhorn received much press and praise for his books. Miller has academic degrees. Their problem is that they were asked by the defense of prop 8 team to defend arguments that have no basis in reality.

  • 44. Felyx  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:39 pm

    And that makes them intelligent….how?!

  • 45. Sheryl  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:41 pm

    Have you forgotten, David, the Gay Agenda is that once they have legal marriages they will get a law passed that all children born to hetero couples must be given to gay people to raise. How else could the LGBT community having the same equal rights in marriages as heteros, cause children not to be raised by their biological parents. After all, it is all about protecting the children, and the defense witnesses told us that children not only have the right to be raised by their biological parents but will be happier and better people. It is all about the children.

    Oh, I think pink would be a nice color for the outside. LOL

  • 46. Richard Walter (soon  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:47 pm

    Marlene, as a ger (gentile in conversion to Judaism) I have an interest in both of these films. Can you give me a link where I can fnd them? Thanks. BTW, I know where your Bowling Green is as well as Bowling Green KY. I grew up in St. Albans, WV. And if you are on FB, please look me up.

  • 47. Richard Walter (soon  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    Yes, such a lovely shade of blue, and it will coordinate so well with my Johann Haviland Blue Garland China.

  • 48. David Kimble  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:49 pm

    So you have heard about the 'gay agenda', thanx for filling me in…I think my copy of the gay agenda must have been confiscated in the mail years ago, since I never got mine! Hmm…I wonder if the mail person stole it? (chuckles)

  • 49. Ronnie  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:53 pm

    Is Cliff Clavin delivering the mail again….lol

  • 50. Richard Walter (soon  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:55 pm

    Thank you Sheryl for giving me an opening for getting up on my soapbox with regard to their lies about LGBTQQI's stealing chilren from their "rightful parents." Yes, I want children. However, I will go to the agancies who have children who are orphans, as most of my LGBTQQI friends have done in the past. There are too many children in orphanages and other castaway places who deserve a loving home, and no, I would not be looking for an infant. Also, if I went to an agency and they told me that a child had brothers and/or sisters, I would then tell them to let me see all of the chldren. I was separated from my brother and two sisters when I was an infant and my mother was killed by a drunk driver, and I could never separate children who are brothers and sisters. If my husband and I were to begin the process of adopting a child by going to meet children at an orphanage, and the child had brothers and/or sisters, I would not take anything less than the whole package. All or none. But I would not do what the "missionaries" did in Haiti. If the Prop h8ers want to find people who will steal children from their rightful parents, they only need to look in their own backyards.

  • 51. Richard Walter (soon  |  February 7, 2010 at 12:57 pm

    There was another problem with Blankie and Miller, Steven. Neither one of them was actually an exper in what they were supposedly testifying as experts about. On top of that, they violated one of the cardinal rules of public speaking–be prepared, have all of your ducks in a row. And yes, giving testimony in a court of law is a form of public speaking.

  • 52. Ronnie  |  February 7, 2010 at 1:01 pm

    Not to mention that they were more closer to purging themselves then a Miss America contestant…yeah?

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