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Grard was fired by Bill Thompson, editor of the Sentinel and its sister paper the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, shortly after the Nov. 3 election in which Maine voters repealed a same-sex marriage law approved by the Legislature. Grard said he arrived at work the morning after the vote to find an e-mailed press release from the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., that blamed the outcome of the balloting on hatred of gays. Grard, who said he’d gotten no sleep the night before, used his own e-mail to send a response. “They said the Yes-on-1 people were haters. I’m...

Gay advocates will push to replace freshman Sen. Joseph Addabbo. Gay advocates are on the warpath after the state Senate killed same-sex marriage last week, and few Democratic senators who voted against the bill are safe from their wrath.After spending more than $1 million to help the Democrats retake the chamber for the first time in decades, powerful gay activists and donors say they'll support challengers against anti-gay-marriage senators in 2010. "It's going to be a bloodbath," one gay operative predicted. "We're going to use every single weapon in our quiver to take these people out. We either need to...

Dear Friends of Marriage, On Monday, at 1pm, the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing and vote on same-sex marriage. If passed out of committee, the bill could be voted on by the full Senate as early as Thursday.Please make time to call the Senate Judiciary Committee members today. And if there’s any way you can make time to attend the hearing on Monday, your presence will be GREATLY appreciated!Our opponents are organizing “the most massive crowd ever.” They know this is a do or die moment for same-sex marriage in New Jersey — at least for...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Sunday that Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has his facts wrong in criticizing the health care plan Romney instituted in his state. Pawlenty has repeatedly pointed to the Massachusetts plan of his potential rival for the 2012 Republican nomination as the perfect example of how not to do health care reform. The Minnesota governor has made that case in numerous interviews, speeches and op-eds that, while not focused on the Massachusetts program, make his criticism of it clear. Presented with a clip of Pawlenty arguing that the Massachusetts plan did not come close to meeting...

On Friday night, Michael Savage kept reiterating that he was leaving early because he was going have dinner with potentially the next president of the United States.He was trying to be secretive by using the phrases "him or her" and "he or she" -- but the only big name Republican anywhere near him in San Francisco was Mitt Romney who addressed some type of economic conference. (And Governor Palin was en route from Texas to Virginia, I believe, though perhaps I have the wrong date...)I was expecting to see reports about this meeting of two great minds, here on Free...

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney defended Mike Huckabee's clemency decision that allegedly led to the shooting death of four police officers in Washington state.. During an interview Thursday night with CNN's Larry King Live, Romney, who in his four years as governor says he did not pardon or commute a single sentence, empathized with his former political rival in the last battle for the Republican presidential nomination, saying the focus is on the tragedy that struck the lives of Washington state residents. Huckabee has come under fire because, as governor of Arkansas in 2000, he signed a clemency order for...

Here is a list of 2012 candidates. Generally, I am dwelling on the negatives as this is what is going to limit them in their ability to win but will mention any unique positives. Please share your thoughts on these or any other potential candidates. Romney - Romneycare is an albatross. He is a Mormon which impacts appeal. Is popular in Michigan due to his father. Sometimes comes across like a used car salesman. Is probably more conservative than his record and gets a bad rap due to his need to make compromises to get elected in The People's Republic....

Mitt Romney says that like other presidents, Barack Obama inherited a recession. But the former Massachusetts governor feels unlike his predecessors, Obama has made the recession he inherited worse, not better. In an op-ed in Wednesday's USA Today, Romney says what he calls the president's inability to "stem" the rise in unemployment should not be a surpise. "With no experience whatsoever in the world of employment and business formation, he had no compass to guide his path. Instead, he turned over much of his economic recovery agenda to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, themselves nearly...

The debate on the floor was heated and long. The disdain for the institution of marriage and desire to replace it was hidden in appeals trying to equate homosexual sexual acts and being African American. The use of the Civil Rights movement analogy is absurd but it is the rhetoric of the hour in this Cultural Revolution. The speeches were predictable and are beginning to sound scripted. However, one speech, given by Senator Ruben Diaz was different. He reminded his fellow legislators about moral values. He spoke the language of common sense. He pointed out that adherents of the world's...

RomneyCare is big government forcing its will on a formerly free people. It's anti-American, anti-free-markets, anti-Liberty and unconstitutional. Listen to the Reagan tape. RomneyCare is the socialism he's talking about. RomneyCare = ObamaCare. No difference. Government is not the solution, it IS the problem!! Free Republic will not support gun grabbing, abortion pushing, gay rights pushing, big government socialist RINOS!! In fact we will actively campaign AGAINST them!! Free Republic is a pro-Life & Liberty small government conservative site for pro-Life & Liberty small government conservatives!! Take a freaking hike if you don't like it. RINOS be damned!! Hope this...

The State Senate defeated a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage, after an emotional debate that touched on civil rights, family and history. The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson, is effectively dead for the year and destroys the optimism of gay rights advocates. The bill was defeated by a decisive margin of 38 to 24. The Democrats, who have a bare, one-seat majority, did not have enough votes to pass the bill without some Republican support, but not a single Republican senator voted for the measure. In a debate that in many...

New York lawmakers have rejected a bill to legalize gay marriage. The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers sympathetic to the bill but representing conservative districts. It follows a referendum in Maine earlier this month that struck down a gay marriage law before it took effect. Advocates say they aren't surprised by the decision. Most, including Gov. David Paterson, say they at least wanted a floor debate and vote. Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. A New Hampshire law takes effect Jan. 1.

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York lawmakers have rejected a bill to legalize gay marriage. The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers sympathetic to the bill but representing conservative districts. It follows a referendum in Maine earlier this month that struck down a gay marriage law before it took effect. Advocates say they aren't surprised by the decision. Most, including Gov. David Paterson, say they at least wanted a floor debate and vote.

As of Nov. 29, clergy of the diocese may solemnize marriages for all eligible couples, Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE has announced.  The decision comes after a long discernment process leading up to and continuing after the action of General Convention this past July allowing that “bishops, particularly in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage is legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church.” The full text of Bishop Shaw’s statement follows. Advent I, November 29, 2009 Christian marriage is a sacramental rite that has evolved in the church, along with confirmation,...

Tuesday December 1, 2009 D.C. Council Overwhelmingly Approves Same-Sex "Marriage" Law By Kathleen Gilbert and Peter SmithWASHINGTON, DC, December 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - By a lopsided majority, the District of Columbia City Council voted this afternoon to approve legislation that opens the legal definition of marriage to include homosexual couples. The vote went through despite strong protests from the city's religious leaders who said that the law violates individual conscience rights and religious liberty. The "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009" passed on the first vote by an overwhelming 11-2 margin. The measure was predicted...

Let me be clear: I don't like Romney. I wouldn't vote for Romney. I hope he never runs for President, and if he tries, I hope he never gets the nomination. In other words -- I don't like Romney! However, -- I am tired of having to scroll past an anti-Romney ad as the #1 entry on every article lately. Why does every post start with an anti-Romney ad? As far as I know, he isn't even running for anything right now. In fact, why should every article begin with an anti-Anyone ad? I've always considered most Freepers to be...

A tussle over same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia reveals how high the stakes of the debate have risen. Proponents of redefining marriage frequently assert that this would be only a minor adjustment, expanding the institution slightly to accommodate the two to three percent of the population that self-identifies as lesbian or gay. The appeal is for "tolerance" to allow people to form sexual relationships as they please. But now it becomes clear that same-sex advocates want much more than tolerance. D.C. council member David Catania filed a same-sex marriage bill in October. With support from the mayor and...

The effort to get same sex marriage on the California ballot in 2010 took a hit Monday. Rick Jacbos, the leader of the 700,000-member Courage Campaign just told us that after spending more than $200,000 on "qualitative research" into the issue in California that "We do not see a path to victory." So, the Courage Campaign sent a note to its supporters Monday calling for "for more research and time to change hearts and minds before returning to the ballot." Lambda Legal, a LGBT legal organization, said largely the same thing Monday. Jacobs told us that the research -- led...

www.catholicnewsagency.com N.J. bishops encourage faithful to stand up for marriage Archbishop John Myers of Newark / Bishop William Skurla of Passaic Newark, N.J., Nov 30, 2009 / 07:31 pm (CNA).- The New Jersey bishops asked pastors to read a statement to their parishioners last weekend which explained the Catholic Church's teaching on marriage and encouraged the faithful to pray that New Jersey will not pass a same-sex “marriage” measure.  Same-sex “marriage” advocates are working to put the bill before the current governor who has promised to sign it before he leaves office in January. His successor has promised to...

(CNN) -- Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical Christian leaders last week issued a bold political statement. They intended to target the Obama administration. Inadvertently, they may have also hit probable Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney ought to rank atop the Republican candidates for president in 2012. He finished second in votes cast in the primaries of 2008. He is a candidate with immense private-sector economic expertise in a time of urgent economic debate. But Romney has a political problem: his Mormon religious faith. A Gallup survey in December 2007 found that 18 percent of Republicans would not vote for...

So government wants to be the all powerful arbiter of what is good and clean and healthy, and punish you for deviating. Government is pure, and it can administer your healthcare with no problem. Some on the left even go so far as to say that government is the only one who can decide what's healthy and do so in our best interest. But then government wants to also force a foreign morality down your throat in gay marriage. Which, nobody that I've ever seen has made the case that what one man does to another man's body is healthy....

Could same-sex "marriage" spell the end of religious liberty as we know it? Here is the chilling answer. As more states-like Iowa-approve same-sex “marriage,” conservatives are claiming that freedom of religion is in peril. Same-sex “marriage” supporters accuse them of engaging in hysterical gay-bating. Who’s telling the truth? Let me share some stories with you from an excellent news broadcast produced by National Public Radio. Then you decide. Two women decided to hold their civil union ceremony at a New Jersey pavilion owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. This Methodist group told the women they could not “marry”...

Romney's Legacy: Socialized Healthcare RomneyCare

Asked during last night’s Republican debate about whether his campaign was downplaying his health care plan, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney replied, “I love it.” While praising the plan as a model of bipartisanship — and citing support for it from both Ted Kennedy and the Heritage Foundation — Romney failed to tell viewers what was in the plan. It’s worth reminding people, therefore, that the plan Romney loves: Imposes an unprecedented individual mandate, requiring everyone in Massachusetts to purchase a government-designated insurance product or face thousands of dollars in tax penalties. Significantly increased Medicaid eligibility and provided taxpayer-funded subsidies...

Congress is debating legislation that would do essentially what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts: impose a health insurance mandate, create a network of subsidies, and micro-manage health insurance policies. Before legislators take us down the same road, they should consider the Massachusetts experience. Citizens there are not impressed with RomneyCare.

It took a while, we're talking decades, but finally some American religious leaders say they are fed up. A few days ago, a faith-based group including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York issued a scathing indictment of secularism in the USA entitled "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience." The document, which includes input from Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians, basically says that Christian values are under siege in America and people of faith need to act aggressively to stem the tide. The declaration goes so far as to encourage civil disobedience and uses Dr. Martin Luther King Jr....

Reversing his previously stated belief that none of the Republican candidates for the GOP presidential nomination have all three legs of the conservative stool, Rush Limbaugh told his listeners Monday that Mitt Romney is indeed a three-leg conservative. Describing the three legs as "national security/foreign policy, the social conservatives, and the fiscal conservatives," Rush said, "The social conservatives are the cultural people. The fiscal conservatives are the economic crowd: low taxes, smaller government, get out of the way... The foreign policy crowd is obviously what it is. I don't think there's anybody on our side who doesn't care about national...

WASHINGTON (BP)--Delivering a more forthright speech than is often seen from politicians on the issue, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer -- the third ranking member of the Senate -- told a homosexual group last week that "gay marriage" supporters "must not rest" until it is legalized in all 50 states. Schumer's comments came as Maine prepares for Tuesday's vote that will decide the future of "gay marriage" there. If Question 1 passes it would overturn a new state law that legalized "marriage" for same-sex couples. But if it fails it would be the first time any state will have approved "gay...

Some great numbers to head into the Thanksgiving holiday from Scott Rasmussen. Rasmussen has released some numbers for the 2012 Presidential Election with the usual Republican suspects.

Not a huge deal since, according to his spokesman, he’s more inclined to challenge Menendez for New Jersey’s Senate seat in 2012 than run for prez, but it’s still worth flagging given the running debate we’ve been having about third parties. Just think of me as Groundskeeper Willie. I warned ye. Didn’t I warn ye? A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that if the choice is between President Obama, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Dobbs, Obama leads 42% to 34% with Dobbs pulling 14% of the vote. With Mike Huckabee as the Republican nominee, Obama leads 42%...

A story in The Washington Post’s Metro section last week was actually very positive. Those who read the profile on Bishop Harry Jackson got a full picture of the devoted marriage champion who has fought long and hard to save the institution in the District of Columbia. But the Post’s headline writers gave away their extreme bias in the way they introduced the story: “Seeking to put asunder.” And there’s the rub. To the editors of the Post, it is Harry Jackson who is trying to separate—put asunder—those who have been joined together. In framing the issue thus, of course,...

Some D.C. Council members and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton are reaching out to the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to see whether they can find a compromise so the Church will not end its social services contracts with the city if the council legalizes same-sex marriage. After a week of heated rhetoric, District officials said Thursday that they see a way for Catholic Charities to continue operating programs with city money while assuring that the organization's gay and heterosexual employees would be treated equally if they got married.

(snip) During the 2008 campaign, some conservatives said they were hesitant to vote for Romney because he was perceived as being liberal on some social issues. On Friday, he seemed determined to overcome that impression. In his speech, given in a room filled with more than two dozen pictures of President Ronald Reagan, Romney gave a shout-out to the tea party protesters and spoke about his new book, "No Apologies: The Case for American Greatness." (It is slated to be released by St. Martin's Press in March.) He also said the Republican Party needed to build support among young people,...

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics ruled Tuesday that a proposed ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman cannot go forward, reaffirming an earlier ruling that such a vote would be discriminatory. The board cited the city Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination against gay men and lesbians. The board decision, which will probably be challenged in court, means the D.C. Council can move forward with its plans to vote on a bill next month to legalize same-sex marriage. The council on Tuesday scheduled a vote for Dec. 1. "We have considered all of the...

Let me tell you a fairy tale. Once upon a time, a gorgeous blond California girl -- let's call her "Carrie" -- wanted to be a beauty queen. Asked about gay marriage, "Carrie" blurted out her truth: "I believe all Americans should enjoy equal rights to get married whether it is same-sex or opposite marriage. That's the way I was raised, and that's the way I think marriage should be." Afterward, a judge proclaimed her answer so offensive he voted against her and wanted to rip off her tiara. Instead of rebuking the judge, pageant officials said that "Carrie" needs...

The whole notion there was a conversation where I tried to cajole her into a conversation with Katie [Couric] is fiction," Wallace told MSNBC. "I am not someone who throws around the word 'self-esteem.' It is a fictional description." [SNIP] "It was never made as two working gals," Wallace said. "It's either rationalization or justification or fiction." [SNIP] "She hated me from the beginning," Wallace said. "I try not to take it personally, the fact is that she wrote a book based on fabrications... This book is a bizarre fixation on things that everyone else has moved on from."

The two-member elections board said it could not accept the Marriage Initiative of 2009, filed by the Stand4MarriageDC coalition, because it "authorizes discrimination prohibited under the District of Columbia Human Rights Act." "This undemocratic decision is outrageous and a slap in the face of every resident of the District of Columbia," Mr. Jackson said. "To deny the people their fundamental right to vote on such an important issue as the definition of marriage in our society is simply appalling."

After the New England Patriots disasterous decision Sunday night not to punt on fourth down with the ball on the Indianapolis Colts' 28-yard line, former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, had every right to be ticked off. Especially considering that the Pats had the lead with little more than 2 minutes left in the game. Is it possible that the team's supposedly brilliant coach, Bill Belichick, got confused and thought the Manning brother waiting patiently on the opposing sidelines was Eli and not Peyton? Whatever the case, the Colts went on to win the game with 13 seconds left in the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Fewer than three in 10 Americans think Sarah Palin's qualified to be president, according to a new national poll - the least of any of the five potential candidates included in the survey. But another woman tops that list in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday: two-thirds of the public thinks that Secretary of State HIllary Clinton's qualified for the Oval Office. That's more than Vice President Joe Biden, who's currently next in line for the presidency. According to the poll, 28 percent of Americans say Palin is qualified to run the White House, with seven...

Is it worse for a Republican to have been caught naked on camera or to support gay marriage? Meghan McCain weighs the hypocrisy of the Carrie Prejean scandal. BY MEGHAN MCCAIN If you’re a Republican, is it better to be in favor of gay marriage or to make a sex tape? That is the question. At least that’s the question that comes to mind after the reaction to the news that anti-gay marriage champion Carrie Prejean made a sex tape. After watching several of Prejean’s media appearances this week, it was not her incredibly uncomfortable threat to walk out on...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney delivered a scathing criticism of President Obama's Afghanistan strategy Friday night, accusing the president of delivering rhetoric and not action in the war-torn country. Quoting from a speech Obama delivered in March, Romney agreed with the president "that 'we are in Afghanistan to confront a common enemy that threatens the United States, our friends and allies."' Romney continued on seconding the president: "I believe 'that to succeed, we and our friends and allies must reverse the Taliban's gains, and promote a more capable and accountable Afghan government.'"

(RNS) With the passage Tuesday (Nov. 10) of nondiscrimination laws in Salt Lake City that expand gay rights, Mormon officials and gay activists have found a patch of common ground. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and gay organizations both advocated for the laws, which prevent discrimination in housing and employment. SNIP The Sutherland Institute, a Salt Lake City-based conservative think tank, expressed disappointment in the church's action. "As a public relations opportunity, the LDS church's statement before the Salt Lake City Council may assuage the minds and soften the hearts of advocates of 'gay rights' in Utah,"...

When we heard the news that the city council in Salt Lake City just approved a "gay rights" ordinance (covering both "sexual orientation" and "gender identity"), we knew in our gut that Mitt Romney was behind it. Remember, he's running for President in 2012. He wouldn't want to appear a "bigot". Sure enough... A homosexual blog connected to an anti-Mormon documentary ("8: The Mormon Proposition") on the Proposition 8 defeat of "gay marriage" in California posted this: Sources close to those who called our cast and production team alerting us to the upcoming Mormon statement on discrimination say that Mormon...

Here is a video report on Gov. Mitt Romney and his activities these days to campaign for Republican candidates in 2010, and raise money. His PAC is dishing out money to GOP candidates across the country, which could result in many of them owing him in the future. Romney is being strongly critical of President Obama, and says Obama has already done a lot to rejuvenate the Republican Party. Romney is acting very much like someone who intends to be a candidate for the GOP Nomination in 2012. . . . (VIDEO)

Mitt Romney is heading to Reagan country. The former Massachusetts governor is scheduled to speak this Friday to the Young America's Foundation at the Ronald Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, California. Romney is expected to be the dinner banquet speaker for the foundation's West Coast Leadership Conference, which consists of young conservatives from 44 colleges and universities across 12 states. "Young people provide much of the energy in the conservative movement, and if we are going to be successful as a party we need to harness that energy and put it work on behalf of the principles we all...

Carrie Prejean confessed that she has a sex tape, but said she regrets it. The former Miss California, who caused controversy during the Miss USA pageant when she said she didn't support same-sex marriage, appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox News Channel show Monday night to address the rumor. "It was the biggest mistake of my life," Prejean told Hannity. "I was all by myself. I was sending a boyfriend at the time, who I loved and cared about, a video of me. "I was a teenager at the time," she told Hannity. "Never did I think it would ever come...

Gay rights activists are looking to a possible vote to legalize same-sex marriage in New York State on Tuesday as a way to drive a national campaign that opponents say has lost momentum. Five U.S. states have already legalized gay marriage -- Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont -- but earlier this month voters in a sixth, Maine, chose to repeal such a law, which was due to take effect in September. Forty U.S. states have laws banning gay marriage. New York's Democratic-controlled State Assembly passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in May, but the proposed legislation faces a...

Opposing gay marriage is a losing proposition. That is, at least, what everyone seems to say, on all sides of the political spectrum. Everyone, that is, except voters. Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, has been my personal political hero for the last few election cycles, due to her tireless work in defense of the institution of marriage. It's a bit of a thankless, underappreciated task. Those who disagree with her are angry and hurting, and tend to lash out. Those who agree frequently just want to leave the issue to Maggie and not think about it....

"How would same-sex marriage hurt your marriage?" Advocates of changing our marriage laws tell us this is an unanswerable question. A typical couple -- Mary and John, married for 15 years -- may find it tough to answer. That's because it's the wrong question. Mary and John won't stop loving each other or be bounced out of their house if same-sex marriage prevails. To get at what's really at stake, we need a different question: "How will same-sex marriage harm the institution of marriage -- and in the long run, all of us?" Marriage is a universal human institution. Across...

Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage, comments on Maine´s victorious Question 1, which repealed a legislative act legalizing gay ´marriage´ in the state.