[dirtboy]

Somebody needs to tell the national wing nuts that Lynne Abraham doesn't cower to the forces of political correctness.

She cowers to another form of PC - the politically connected. Smerconish knows damn well about Don Adams and how he was the target of a politically-motivated malicious proscution by Lynn Abraham's office, all to try and protect John Morris, then-head of the Pennsylvania Teamsters. But he ignores that - he knows Abraham personally and tries to pretend she has integrity.

[dirtboy]

Ping.

[odoso]

Some things should just be done in the privacy of your residence --- and that should be the end of that.

One or many cannot go to far in protesting and trying to eliminate from society public displays of perversion... no matter the disguise.

[frog_jerk_2004]

They came to preach that homosexuality is a sin, against the teachings of the Bible.

Where, oh where, did they get this gem from?!?!?!?

[frog_jerk_2004]

But I have to believe there are more fertile recruitment grounds for evangelical Christians than a gay-rights rally, so why not just let these folks have their day?

Because they have a 1rst Amendment right to be there, you jackass!

[Wheee The People]

Now that we can arrest Christians for expressing their views, I say we arrest so call journalist too.

[Tribune7]

Further I don't think anybody has a problem with the arrests. They have a problem with the felony charges and a possible 45 year jail sentence.

If some homosexuals disrupted a service at a church -- as has happened, although I can't recall one in Philly -- I don't think any judge would threaten them with a 45-year sentence

[Sovek]

Don't take this as an attack but I don't think you quite get it. They wern't there to "recruit" more Christians but to counter act the homosexual agenda. I would be willing to bet that that is paid for by taxpayers, I dont want my money being spent on something that goes against the Bible. While I agree that he shouldn't have done some of the stuff he did, I do think he had every right to be there, preaching the Bible. It's getting to point that preachers and pastors can't talk against homosexuality (in their own church mind you) without getting thrown in jail. What people (and demoncrats) fail to tell you is that they want anyone who speaks out against homosexuality arrested for "hate" speech. Several bills have been proprosed that just paves the way for this. Im sorry but, I still have to side with these Christians.

[SkyPilot]

Michael Smerconish is alienating his conservative audience here in New Jersey and Philadelphia with his daily broadside against Christians and the Philadelphia 5.

Last Friday's broadcast was an outrage, he accused the Christians and their attorney of "spinning the facts" and allowed homosexual callers to spew lies and hate about the group Repent America.

Smerconish broadcasts on 1210 AM (The "Big Talker") in the morning slot in Philadelphia, and supported GW in the last election. But I take it from his on the air comments that he dislikes evangelical Christians in particular. On Monday's broadcast, he we ballistic on callers that favored a court decision banning homosexual "couples" from adopting small children.

He must be feeling the heat, because everyday on his broadcast he is defending his comments, but he always seems to step in it further and alienate his audience even more. This article is par for the course. He also has stated his website is getting overloaded by hits because of photos about terrorists he posted. I suspect that is not the case. His website is being overloaded by people e-mailing to tell him they are outraged by his defense of the Philadelphia thugs who are prosecuting the Christians.

[bvw]

Smerconish has a blind spot for "gays" -- his line is "Nothing wrong with that."

He has raked innocent callers over the red hot coals of a demeaning public berating broadcast in realtime to tens of thousands when he has misunderstood them and suspects them of being against homosexuality in any way.

[motherteresa]

Maybe the author should check out the video of the incident at: http://www.afa.net/t (it is referred to as the "Philadelphia Four"). It certainly appears to be a planned attempt on the part of the Outfest organizers to prevent the free speech rights of the "Repent America" group. The author must never have attended a pro-life march, as the peaceful marchers (many who are quite young) are subjected to the most vile and disgusting shouts of hate-filled messages spewed from the mouths of pro-abortion protesters on the sidelines. I have never seen the police make any move to ask them to move to an out-of-the-way spot.
The charges against these people should outrage us all.

[SkyPilot]

What I know for sure is that those who are portraying this as another case of PC run amok just don't know the player

By this comment, Smerconish is bragging about again about his friends in the Philadelphia legal and law enforcement community (Smerconish is an attorney). Smerconish never even bothered to watch the videotape of the "OutFest" event before he had members of Repent America on his radio program. Either he is lazy, or he didn't want the evidence to get in the way of the facts.

His friendship with these people have clouded his judgment. Smerconish is also "good friends" with Sen Arlen Spector, and he boasts about this on his show as well.

[RobRoy]

I've been looking for an article like this. I have been withholding judgement on this thing becuase I had unanswered questions on how the "Christians" were behaving and what evidence was being used in the charges against them.

I wondered if it was their message that got them in trouble or the way they "shared" it.

That said, I still don't have enough information to form an opinion on this, but since I am not the judge nor a member of the jury, and I live across the country, my opinion is not relevant. I'll focus on cetting rid of our corrupt governor here in Washington.

[bvw]

William Penn was arrested and tried in London. His Jury locked in the Tower of London without food and water until they would return a verdict of guilty.

They refused. They refused. They refused. Three times!

In the last they won out. Penn was freed -- of what charge against him?

Inciting to Riot.

[Sloth]

Once more they ordered the group (3) more times but all three times the group failed to comply with police orders to move. The protesters then proceeded to go in the opposite direction in which they were ordered to go.

If the defendants were simply charged with disobeying police instructions, then we could talk about the rightness or wrongness of that.

But that isn't the case.

[Catspaw]

The downside to acts of civil disobedience is that one may well get arrested and charged with a crime. It sounds like this case is headed towards trial. I'll be interested to see how it comes out.

[70times7]

PC IS A DIRTY acronym in my house.

Mac users... Sheesh...

[TAdams8591]

My thoughts about this on another thread:

There are better ways to fight back. Do you really think 11 men entering an area with 30,000 people hostile to their message were going to convert a single one of them by singing and yelling bible verses over a blowhorn? Do you really think those men believed they were going to convert anyone with that method? Unless they are delusional, I think not. They were there to agitate. And knowing the fascist nature of the Philadelphia government, they probably knew they would be arrested and charged. I think they honestly and rightly believe the civil rights of Christians in the US are in jeopardy. And they want to push the issue in the courts hoping to somehow protect and preserve those rights. With the Liberal and activist nature of our present day courts, now is NOT the time. McCarvage and his group are going to help further jeopardize those rights they seek to protect.

I have lived in the city of Philadelphia for most of my life. If you were to traverse the streets of Philadelphia, on any given day, on this very day, you would encounter several people on street corners who are preaching and quoting from the bible. Go to the Fernrock Transportation Center in Philadelphia. There is a preacher who lives across from the station and continually and perpetually has a microphone system set up outside his house (near or beside the street) replete with a soapbox upon which he stands each and every day, many times a day preaching and quoting form the bible. He is particularly mindful about when children and teenagers are letting out of school and he preaches to them daily after they get off the train to catch the bus on their way home. His message is not berating, however, but positive. The kids, among themselves make jokes and mock him, and seem to think he is nuts, but I know they are listening. I believe what he doing is good. And he has every right to do it.

That said, I believe McCarvage and his group has every right to do what they did, whether we support his methods or find them distasteful, whether or not we believe they are effective or ineffective and whether or not he is or isn't the biggest weirdo on the planet. Furthermore, official actions the Philadelphia government took against McCarvage and his gang are fascist, despicable and far worse than anything the "supposed" perpetrators did. At MOST they should have been charged with some misdemeanor, for disobeying police when they were asked to move to the other side of the street.

Additionally, if the situation had been reversed, I can guarantee you NOTHING would have happened to the homosexual group. I was present when ACT UP trespassed upon PRIVATE property, ACTED UP for over an hour, disrupting a Republican function, and nothing happened. Police arrived (after an hour) and asked them to leave. They should have been arrested on the spot.

Thus, the Philadelphia government has an obvious bias which is deeply disturbing.

Lastly, I would like to see McCarvage and his group end this style of protest, because it is a losing strategy.

I would prefer that they had protested outside the event, with a larger group of folks, which included area residents (not people from VA) with protest signs. THAT would have been far more effective and may have inspired other area residents and people from the city of Philadelphia and elsewhere to fight back themselves. It would have planted the more fertile idea that they and all of us have a right to our say in these matters for instance whether the city of Philadelphia or any city should be allowing groups to openly tout perversion on public property with the use of taxpayer money.

[Antoninus]

Somebody needs to tell the national wing nuts that Lynne Abraham doesn't cower to the forces of political correctness.

Anyone who knows Mike Smerconish and listens to him on Philly radio knows that he's a total suck-up to Lynne Abraham. Michael, unfortunately, is the softest of the soft when it comes to being a conservative. He's not an articulate spokesman for conservative issues. Ongoing theory is that he's got his eyes on running for mayor someday and doesn't want to offend any of the big players in Philly politics.

Basically, Smerconish played a conservative to get his start, but much like the O'Reilly's of the world, is all too happy to bash conservatives just to get his face on CNN. I've pretty much given up on listening to him in the morning.

[F16Fighter]

Michael Smerconish is simply another media anti-Christian brownshirt who delighted in the bogus rulling to lock-up Christians for 45 years.

Should the Smerconishs and reptilian Lynn Abrams of the world EVER get their way, they'll be blood in the street for sure.

[TAdams8591]

More thoughts:

Additionally, if the situation had been reversed, I can guarantee you NOTHING would have happened to the homosexual group. I was present when ACT UP trespassed upon PRIVATE property, ACTED UP for over an hour, disrupting a Republican function, and nothing happened. Police arrived (after an hour) and asked them to leave. They should have been arrested on the spot.

If you ever have the opportunity, please review Don Adams (and my) case. On October 1, 1998 when my brother, myself and other protestors (not together, we didn't know each other at the time, and we previously had not contacted one another) arrived indepently to protest then president Clinton during his vist to Philadelphia at the height of impeachment season, we surprisingly found a large contingent of Teamsters who were present to support the president. From the beginning, they charged at some of us ripping signs out of our hands, shouting obscenities, berated us, yelled and screamed at us, knocked old people down, brutally beat my brother Don Adams, knocked me over and beat me when I was attempting to protedct him, pushed and shoved police and continued persuing a man they thought was gay (while shouting gay epitaphs at him) with police at his side admonishing them to stay back. Not a single one of those people were arrested until more than four weeks later when two werre arrested and charged (after local political elections and a national Teamster election) despite the fact that all of this was captured on the news cameras of six different newstations and the Teamster's own video camera. It took a great deal of work and effort on our part and one more year to get three more of them arrested.

Additionally, the DA's office did not charge those who knocked over and hit an elderly man for those actions, or those persuing the man they thought was gay (in fact they talked him out of pressing charges) for those actions, despite the fact that this also was on video.

There is an extremely unfair, lopsided and fascist double standard for protesters on the right vs. protesters on the left in Philadelphia. And it should be deeply troubling to everyone.

Michael Smerconish, you are an insincere phony, baloney who like most politicians, is more concerned about protecting and advancing your own career than you are concerned about advancing truth, integrity and the constitution. Furthermore, you are NOT conservative.