Blier Watch

"Ordo et Traditio" formerly "GreenMountainHardRight!" Pulls The Plug Again!

2007-01-11T14:31:00.000-05:00

We're reluctant to divert from our mission, that is, as an ongoing record of the antics of the Mickey Mouse Machiavelli of Vermont, Kevin W. Blier, but the scrubbing of a recent post over at Ordo et Traditio (scroll down to December 7's post - the cache will remain for a while) caught our eye. Since the cache will disappear eventually, we've reproduced the deletion:

"Thursday, December 07, 2006

BlierWatch Not Keeping Good Enough Tabs on "Racist Anti-Gay Fascists"

One shouldn't ignore the inactivity of the girlie-men over at BlierWatch (the homosexual watchdog group who have a obsession with CFACR/Vermont Renewal, Kevin Blier, and any other "right-wing" group or person they imagine has tea with David Duke or members of the Westboro Baptist Church).

Apparently BlierWatch has been spending too much time reading fashion magazines and condemning the Pope's attire (not to mention proclaiming the end of GreenMountainHardRight! to notice a change in the face of the Vermont Right. Could it be that that they are lax in doing their research? Is it possible that in trying to squash all of us horrible "racist anti-gay fascist haters" (Christians, conservatives, and any others who generally find homosexuality to be sinful and immoral) they forgot to keep tabs on...well, why spoil it. I shouldn't have to do their work for them...after all, they are BlierWatch..."

Source: http://ordoettraditio.blogspot.com/2006/12/blierwatch-not-keeping-good-enough.html

We'd read a post recently over at Green Mountain Daily by Jack McCullough titled An Honest Conservative (yeah, we laughed too!). It got us to thinking about what had occurred and how the scrubbing of poorly considered thoughts was something that we'd noticed before. McCullough's piece had in part to do with conservatives actually acknowledging error in thought and position, and having the decency to admit it. A rare trait indeed among the extremists who call themselves "paleocons" (read more on paleoconservatives in this article from the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report), like the "scribe" at Ordo et Traditio/GreenMountainHardRight!.

Since the blogger at GreenMountainHardRight!, now Ordo et Traditio , never quite gets around to denying his racist connections, we did a little further checking. Seems he's getting encouragement from this secessionist blog. And naturally we found that they too link to the Council of Conservative Citizens (formerly known as the White Citizens Council), the League of the South, and Christian Exodus (read more on these well-known hate groups in these Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Reports here, here, here and here). They use a service provided by this secessionist site that likewise links to various known hate groups and Christian Identity organizations. You won't find any references to "ha(ving) tea with David Duke" in the various Intelligence Reports but there's plenty on these groups selling Duke's books and discussing his ideas.

We understand that the writer over at Ordo et Traditio has said elsewhere that he has conviction in his moral and spiritual beliefs. Does that conviction extend to his blogging? Apparently not so much. We again found that he'd shed yet another skin, but not for very long before shedding the next one too. You can find him briefly in this Google cache of his new but now gone umpteenth blog at a winger blogging site called TownHall. Apparently stung by our revelations about various links on his old blogs to racist organizations and ideologues, he's deleted his earlier links to sites like Sailer's and vdare.com, as well as his ode to the racist Samuel Francis, eulogized by none other than David Duke who has called Francis "a true brother in the Cause." He neglected to delete however his link to the founder of the extremely racist (yeah, redundant but fits this particular group of racial separatists) League of the South, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. Here's another one of his announcements of the move to the TownHall blogging site from the now closed Blogger site (Google cache):

Monday, January 01, 2007
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: ORDO ET TRADITIO TO MOVE TO TOWNHALL.COM

DEAR READER,

ORDO ET TRADITIO IS MOVING TO WWW.TOWNHALL.COM AND AS OF JANUARY 15 WILL NO LONGER UP AND RUNNING THROUGH WWW.BLOGSPOT.COM. IN ADDITION TO THIS CHANGE I WILL NOT BE TRANSFERRING ALL OF MY OLD POSTS OVER TO THE NEW SITE--ONLY THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN MY FAVORITES SINCE I BEGAN BLOGGING IN JULY OF 2006.

PLEASE BE SURE TO VISIT THE NEW SITE AT: HTTP://OET.TOWNHALL.COM/

NOTICE THAT I HAVE SHORTENED THE WEB SITE ADDRESS FOR EASIER ACCESS.

I DO HOPE YOU ENJOY THE NEW FORMAT, THE ACCESS TO THE LATEST CONSERVATIVE NEWS AND OPINION THAT WWW.TOWNHALL.COM PROVIDES, AND ALL FUTURE POSTS I INTEND TO MAKE.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS,

CONSERVATEUR (FORMERLY VTPALEOCON, NYPALEOCON, AND NYKIRKIAN)
posted by NYKirkian at 9:44 PM

Well, it seems that's all over now too. Perhaps he'll be back. Or perhaps all this crap he's churned out might eventually turn into campaign blowback for a close family member's recurring political endeavours. Too early to say, yet. We'll see... "after all, we are BlierWatch."

Isn't that right, Matt?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

NH GOP Jammin' Part Four

2007-01-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

This one just keeps on givin'.

In a RawStory article on a possible Abramoff connection in the New Hampshire 2002 election cycle from last May, an early mention was made of dates that coincide with the NH Gop phone-jamming scandal and an apparently improper contribution from tribes that had been previously linked to Abramoff's illegal funneling of funds to GOP candidates.

This week we learn from a LostNationTV post titled "Did Abramoff Pay for NH Phone Jamming?" that ex-jailbird and former boss of Kevin Blier, Chuck McGee has said in an August deposition that funds were transfered from the Abramoff connected out-of-state tribes with gambling interests to the NH GOP just days before the phone-jamming scheme was put into action. This political contribution was for the exact amount paid to the the firm, Republican Marketplace, that was hired to jam the Democrats phone banks.

From the Manchester Union Leader's John Distaso:

"SPECIAL DELIVERY

Former Republican State Committee executive director Charles McGee said under oath that a staffer for Sen. Judd Gregg delivered checks from two clients of now-jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff to the party office about a week before the 2002 election.

The donations from the Mississippi Choctaw and Agua Calienti tribes totaled $15,000. That is about the same amount McGee then paid a consulting firm to hire the telemarketer that illegally jammed Democratic and union get-out-the-vote phone banks with hang-up calls.

While questioning McGee in an Aug. 30 deposition in the now-settled phone-jamming civil suit, Democratic attorney Paul Twomey said, "But you were aware that somebody working for Senator Gregg, either his office or his campaign, hand-delivered those checks to the Republican State Committee."

McGee responded, "I believe that's correct."

Former state GOP office manager Kristy Stuart gave similar testimony.

[snip]

Nearly a year ago, Gregg turned over to charity $12,000 in donations he had received in 2002 and 2004 from the two tribes."

Given McGee's earlier recollection that Blier was aware of the scheme before its implementation (see the FBI report on McGee's interview, pgs 4 & 6) and these revelations about a potential Abramoff connection to that scheme, it would now seem even more important than ever to know what degree of separation, if any, there is between Blier and the now exposed and discredited GOP culture of corruption.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Kevin Blier, 2006: Brandon Dodges A Bullet, and more...

2006-12-31T17:52:00.000-05:00

Because of the months long dearth of Kevin Blier screeds it had been our intention to post one of those long "Year In Review" type posts. Not really anything new to say but perhaps a few new insights or the disclosure of a previously unrevealed detail or two. You know the type thing - tediously long and really not worth the work or the read, but an obligation nonetheless.

(Photo credit: Seven Days)

Then along comes Vermont's own doughy-faced conservative activist to the rescue with one of his extreme, partisan, take-no-prisoners tirades. Like an unexpected Boxing Day gift he gives us this email of his to the equally right-wing Dwinell Political Report:

"DO SOMETHING!

»» Kevin Blier, Rutland: Third straight election Republicans lose seats in Montpelier...if this was the "bad year" to be a Republican, what's the excuse for the previous two elections? This isn't the first election in the last 4 years they've lost at least 10 seats in the House.

You had another DPR reader observe that the Republicans didn't run on explaining the "Revolt and Repeal" and making the connection between property taxes, Democrats, and the expense of funding public education. Quite and astute observation. Republicans having a tax issue only other states could dream about and they couldn't capitalize. So, who was responsible for packaging that message? Why didn't candidates follow it?

I would start by making the argument that Republicans support "public" education, just not "NEA" education and contrast what those differences mean. As long as the NEA runs public education in this country, it will continue to be the bloated, bureaucratic, expensive, mob-like, status-quo defending monopoly it has been for more than 20 years. Return real power back to school boards, administrators, and parents and education will instantaneously improve. Start by telling the NEA to pound sand come re-up time during contract negotiations and go from there. This is why the Republican Party needs to invest in "non-partisan" school board elections. Believe me, the NEA does, and they are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party.

Act 60 and 68 are the gimmicks, a revolving mess of "who dunnit", wrapped in an enigma, allowing the egalitarian fundamentalists in Vermont the duck and cover of arguing that "equal spending" is an "equal education"…it is nothing of the sorts! No one is to blame, yet everyone is to blame, and the voters are confused as to who the blame belongs to, which is exactly where the liberals like to have the debate. As long as everyone is confused, frustrated, and uninformed, the liberals get their way and can collectivize to their heart's content. Can't you just hear the "don't worry, leave it to us" circulating through the halls of Montpelier and the Department of Education?

Like the great economist Milt Friedman once quipped..."Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned"! God forbid we should take that huge pool of power, the Education Fund, away from Montpelier. After all, centralized power and state control are exactly the way the socialists in Montpelier like it.

But enough of the liberals. In my view, there is only one thing more dysfunctional than the Republican Party in Vermont, and that's the conservative movement! As a "guest" in the movement over the last 2-1/2 years, I can tell you first hand that the reason why it gets no traction or has no clout is because of its own organically-grown need to self-destruct.

The one goal that all the "leaders" in the conservative movement share is the need to be "the one"! And so while the issues that social conservatives care about lose ground daily, like abortion-on-demand and state-sanctioned depravity, the "leaders" in the movement climb over each other's back on the way to the top of what, a failed effort to effectively defend traditional values. There's an intellectual argument to be made to defend moral and traditional values, there's just no leaders who seem willing or able to make them. And if they are, they don't have the ability to carve and package a message the media is willing to give air or print time to.

Say what you will about liberals, but they get it! They could care less who "gets the credit" as long as their issues win the day, and that's the secret of their success in Vermont. Despite what any of the liberal wing-nut media-types believe, Vermont cannot be the "most liberal state" in America with Republicans in the top two posts in state government. Conservatives are not out-manned or out-gunned... they are outsmarted and out-willed!

Conservatives don't have the heart to win because they're too busy going to "Conservatives Anonymous" meetings, aka, Republican Assemblies, and whining about the "RINO" Republicans or the liberals. If they would spend less time whining about their despair and more time actually doing something about it, things could change. There's no one willing to do the hard work and the patience to embark on long-term progress. It won't happen overnight, but the conservative mind wants immediate results. Conservatives need to fight this natural impulse.

Lastly, if there is one thing I would suggest that needs to happen to begin to turn things around here in Vermont, it would be this... Mr. Tarrant, make Mr. Mitchell an offer he can't refuse!"

Whew! Kinda long-winded there, Kevin but we hear ya. Scrap "non-partisanship" on Vermont school boards and bring on the sort of tactics that you and your pals brought to the 2002 New Hampshire election cycle, remember? According to the FBI report (see pgs 4 & 6 of the FBI interview docs) , you were "believed" to have known about plan to jam Democratic phone banks on election day. Just the sort of insider know-how that any State party would want - not! Since you've gone to such great pains to tell your less motived Vermont colleagues on the conservative right how extreme they need to become to meet your lofty goals, you might as well let them know also that that 2002 election plan you're alleged to have been aware of worked so well that the millions subsequently paid out in legal defense fees from the NH GOP coffers for you former team mates is being directly credited with having made possible this year's election sweep by the Democrats in the Granite State. Not only that, but following this year's election, the New Hampshire GOP settled its lawsuit brought by the Democrats for six figures and, not surprisingly, within days of the settlement the NH GOP State Committee chairman Wayne Semprini resigned for "health reasons." Nice plan, Kevin! (Could Kevin really be some kind of Democratic mole, we wonder?)

And so Kevin would now have school boards around the state enter contract negotiations with the teachers by telling the unions to "pound sand come re-up time." Way to position the school districts for the arbitration that would most certainly follow such a combative proposal, Kevin. Brandon's voters clearly made the right decision last March when they overwhelmingly rejected Kevin's bid for a seat on their school board. Given his "we have to destroy the village in order to save it" approach to education matters, Brandon dodged a bullet last March.

- - -

MILESTONE NOTE: Earlier this year Blier Watch was added to the gazillions of footnotes in Wikipedia. The notation was made in the Straight Pride article. Not a first among Vermont blogs but rare indeed.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

GreenMountainHardRight! Goes Belly-Up

2006-10-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

Wow! That didn't take long!

The blog that seemed to radiate at the mention of Kevin Blier or his hate group, Vermont Renewal, has left the building.

"Green Mountain Hard Right! will now be known as "Ordo Et Traditio". All future posts will be found at (that) web site..."

You can read his tortured reasoning for discarding his old skin here.

We'd sum it up this way: He's moved to upstate New York; even though the blog name NewYorkHardRight! is available, it's racist origin is, umm, discomfiting and has proven troublesome; he's found a new, equally unappealing name, in a Gucci glasses, Prada red shoes, and old school Roman Catholic, fascist kinda way; and he discloses that Vermont's own Fred Phelps, Steve Cable, was a boss of him!

Perhaps our posturingly learned friend should have considered naming his blog "Absurdo Ab Inconvenienti". It would seem more apt.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Kevin Blier: Flamer

2006-10-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

No, no, no. Not that kind, this kind.

Late last week we learned that Kevin Blier is still trying to peddle the spin that he knew nothing about the New Hampshire GOP Phone Jamming scheme until after the fact and that everyone is either mistaken or slandering his good(?) name.

This time he's doing it in the form of a discussion board flamer. If you've ever had the misfortune of coming across a flamer like Blier, you know the type. Rational discussion is never the point. Being pointlessly argumentative and insulting is the best that they offer in their posts to a discussion thread. Even when they've clearly got something wrong, as Blier did when he said that the Lost Nation TV website was anonymously operated (not that there's anthing wrong with that!), the flamer never relents, they merely sidestep their error and reach for another insult.

You'll find Kevin flaming away here.

Read more about Troglodyte Flame Warriors like Kevin here.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Cashing In On Foley-gate

2006-10-06T13:45:00.000-04:00

Naturally the websites of the Kevin Blier hate groups Vermont Renewal/Center for American Cultural Renewal are following the lead of other notorious hate groups such as Tony Perkins' Family Research Council. Unsurprisingly, Perkins, to whom their piece refers, has longstanding ties to racist groups.

Blier's group has posted a tortured, outcome oriented, analysis of the latest Republican congressional scandal with the usual fund-raising "donation" buttons at the top and bottom of the post. The Blier group piece deliberately and cynically blurs the lines between Pedophilia and Ephebophilia, as do other fundamentalist activists, seeking to inflame the matter as much as possible as a part of an attempt to divert attention from the makeup of the the group that has covered up this situation - conservative Christian Republicans.

This ABC News piece takes a different view, exploring the Republicans own self-made closet issue, while pointing out:

Social conservatives... have seized on the story line that homosexuality leads directly to interest in underage partners, though it should be noted that there's as yet no evidence of any improper physical contact between Foley and the former pages.

Although the Blier group piece contains links to earlier Jack Tapper, Salon and ABC News articles, you won't find this more recent one on his websites. After all, you can't raise as much money with the truth, can you?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Fisking Kevin Blier

2006-10-04T16:27:00.000-04:00

We've come across another one of those wickedly funny emails from Kevin Blier that he sent to a website that clearly has his number, LostNation.TV. When he whigs out as he did here, Kevin's reading skill and power of observation seem to escape him. And when tied to the long-standing Republican precepts of misdirection, misinformation and minimization, along with his by now well known nasty, anger management issues, it can all make for some humorous reading:

"Re: Jamming - NH Phone Jamming Conspiracy Case Widens
I suppose, Mr. anonymous "Lost Nation TV webmaster", that I should have alerted the authorities of the "impending" felony after it had already happened? And since Kathy Sullivan was aware of the actual crime for 12 hours longer than I was, I suppose that makes the NH Democrat Chair a "co-conspirator" in the cover-up as well?"

If Kevin had bothered to look at the bottom of the piece or had troubled himself to examine the website's main page, he'd have been able to learn, as we did, that the "webmaster", editor and author's name were all in plain view and in numerous locations.   The charge that "Kathy Sullivan was aware of the crime for 12 hours longer than [he] was" is merely that, a charge.   Kevin offers us no evidence, unlike that of the orchestrator of the 2002 NH GOP Phone-jamming scandal who has told investigators repeatedly that it is his belief that he told his confidants, among who he counted Blier, before the criminal event that it was to occur.   Nor does he yet tell us why he kept this statement to him by the perpetrator of the felony his little secret for three and a half years until it all came out earlier this summer in the Union Leader.   Sadly, Kevin can't seem to resist the urge to further victimize the targets of the aborted scheme.

"Seems you could use an editor!"

See above, Kevin.

"I was always willing and available to talk to the FBI and Justice Department long after their initial inquiries, however, it seems I had little to offer their investigation."

This statement does nothing to clear up whether Kevin ever advised any of the investigators that he'd left New Hampshire or why he didn't come forward to tell them what he did know.   There has been no public assestment offered by the investigators of the value they might placed in what he could have told them, had he chosen to come forward. Would his story have remained the same?   Who can say? While it is a crime to lie to investigators, it isn't a crime to lie to a website or a newspaper, so we can't really say yet, given his previous obfuscations and minimization of the event, that we know the whole truth about what Kevin knew and when he knew it.

"I have never accused you liberals of being that bright...and low and behold...you've proven it once again!"

"Now, since logic doesn't seem to be a strong suit, and smearing people anonymously is how you seemingly fulfill your fantasies, there's a 9/11 conspiracy theory awaiting you and the rest of the left-wing kooks working to slander anyone who they disagree with."

Now, just who's smearing and slandering who here, eh Kevin?

"Once you become an honest journalist, and are able to check your facts, show your face, and stand behind your assertions with those whom you accuse, than maybe someone other than your minions, sleuthy wannabes, and Star Trek convention-goers would take seriously what you write."

"Sleuthy wannabes???" Really, Kevin.   The rest of what you said before that was just your usual substanceless posturing for effect, but we think the "sleuthy wannabes" crack might have been directed to us.   Frankly, you ain't seen nothing yet.   As for the "Star Trek convention-goers" jab, the funny thing about that is it seems the headliner for your recent exclusive, invitation only, bigot-fest was a... Trekkie!

"Get a life...  better yet...  get a job and become a contributing member of society." --

In all honesty Kevin, there aren't many who would consider your present position as the "Director" of a second-rate, secretive hate group, actively engaged in destroying one Vermont family as a part of a fund-raising scheme, to be much of a life, or much of a job, or much of a contribution to society.

"Kevin Blier"

Kevin Blier - What has become, by his leaving, New Hampshire's gain, is now Vermont's loss.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Someone's Got His Sheet In a Knot

2006-10-02T17:39:00.000-04:00

Kevin Blier's hoity-toity lapdog over at GreenMountainHardRight! has a hilarious series of refutations of our charge that he likes the thinking of racists and other assorted bigots, here, here and here. They bring to mind another royal "I just thought the uniform looked cool" kind of dissimulating.

He clumsily cites a racist plagiarizer, Michelle Malkin, whose presence, he would argue, is "proof" that he can't be a racist himself. Like the blogger at GMHR!, she's also a fan of the white supremacist ideologue, Steve Sailer. Gee, we didn't know you had to be white to be a racist. We suppose that sort of thinking must be a consequence of signing on to the other crap espoused at a website like VDare's. The fact of the matter is, Malkin is merely further confirmation of the extremist, fringe nature of GMHR!'s gross predilections.

"Quite simply the reason I read Steve Sailer is the same reason I read George McCartney who writes the film reviews for Chronicles: I want to know what films they recommend. If reading the film reviews of Steve Sailer makes me a racist then how can I fight such ludicrous logic?"

Next thing he'd have us believe is that he buys Playboy for the articles

More (again) on where GMHR! gathers its many insights on diversity among like-minded "paleoconservatives" here and here

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Another Connection of a VT GOP Heavy Hitter to Kevin Blier

2006-09-27T17:59:00.000-04:00

We've found a reference to an email reportedly sent to the UVM College Republicans VRWC (cute!) by Jim Barnett, VTGOP Chairman, concerning last fall's State GOP Fall Dinner. Seems that the contact person for a pre-dinner reception for Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) (You remember him? The beneficiary of the voter suppression effort in the NH GOP Phone-jamming scandal? [1] [2] [3]) was none other than Kevin Blier. Barnett directed informational inquiries be made to Kevin at his Center for American Cultural Renewal email address.

Since these things have a way of disappearing from the web after they've been discovered, we're reproducing the entire thread below:

JAK
John Sununu in Burlington
« on: November 02, 2005, 03:23:24 PM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent to me by Jim Barnett. If you can go you should.

"CALLING ALL YOUNG REPUBLICANS!

The Vermont Federation of Young Republicans is hosting a reception with special guest Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire on Saturday, November 5th, at 5:00 p.m. in the Kingsland Room at the Sheraton Burlington.

All Republicans, age 18-40 are welcome to attend. This reception will be the kick-off YR event for the 2006 elections. Come and meet Senator Sununu and get acquainted with other Young Republicans from around the state.

The State GOP's Fall Dinner will be at the hotel following the YR reception and YR's are entitled to a discounted ticket price.

For more information, please contact Kevin Blier at 775-6247 or by email at kevin@cfacr.org.

WHAT: Young Republican Reception With Sen. John Sununu

WHEN: Saturday, November 5

TIME: 5:00-6:00PM

WHERE: Sheraton Burlington, Kingsland Room

CONTACT: Kevin Blier, 775-6247 or Kevin@cfacr.org"
Brad Willey
Re: John Sununu in Burlington
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2005, 08:03:44 PM »
-------------------------------------------------------------------
yeah, i was gonna go.

then i learned it was $100!!!!!! no thanks. gotta go home and take care of the dogs this weekend, anyway. BTW.... a lady may be contacting you guys about a possible free ticket or two to go.

Todd VE
Re: John Sununu in Burlington
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2005, 07:54:24 AM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe there is a reception beforehand (from 5-6) that is open to all, then the dinner afterward is what the $100 is for. But they also just announced that due to the large amount of people already signed up, the price has been lowered to $35. Anyone who is interested should contact me, i'm still debating whether or not to do it...

Brad Willey
Re: John Sununu in Burlington
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2005, 03:23:23 PM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote from: Todd VE on November 04, 2005, 07:54:24 AM
["I believe there is a reception... "]

did you go, and how was it if you did?

Todd VE
Re: John Sununu in Burlington
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2005, 08:46:50 AM »
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I did go. It turns out there were two different events: one was a VT Young Republican (18-40) meeting with Sununu, then afterward there was a separate event for the VT Senate (which was $35). The meeting was free and GREAT-- I talked to Sununu for a bit, and Douglas, Dubie, Terrant(sic), and Barnet(sic) were all there. In total there were about 15 people in the room, 3 of which were Me, Greg and Rick. It was great!

Sadly for them, Kevin Blier may turn out to be the VT GOP's own "Tony Perkins" in the making.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Don't ya just love it when that happens?

2006-09-24T17:27:00.000-04:00

We were snarkin' away on the extremist newbie, GreenMountainHardRight!, during the morning a few days ago:

"... does he just keep losing the passwords?"

Later that evening he confirmed our suggestion:

"Special Note On This Site

Just a quick note: This is now the official site of Green Mountain Hard Right! The old site that I had began will no longer have new posts and is only up and running since I seem to have lost my old password to close it."

"So... what about you, Helen?"

2006-09-22T19:18:00.000-04:00

In a recent post about our site, odum has said that our focus on Kevin Blier has, in the past, been somewhat myopic. Perhaps so.

One reader has suggested to us that we have become to the Vermont blogosphere, vis à vis Kevin, what Helen Sharp/Goldie Hawn was to her group session regarding her own, ummm, preoccupation with Madeline Asheton/Meryl Streep in the movie "Death Becomes Her," and that also, not unlike Helen, we hadn't been heard "from... in awhile."

You be the judge:

"What?"

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

More Reaction

2006-09-21T15:57:00.000-04:00

Looks like the Faerie Faggot Farmer has found the bilious, racist, homophobic hate oozing from the nether links on the website maintained by the Kevin Blier jackboot-licker, GreenMountainHardRight! , a bit distasteful.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

NH GOP Jammin' Part Three

2006-09-21T10:31:00.000-04:00

More reporting on this growing regional story that also points to an issue raised here. This analysis by the New Hampshire based political blog, Lost Nation TV, goes a step further to suggest that, based on his own statements, Kevin Blier may have been a participant, in some fashion, in a cover-up of the NH GOP phone-jamming scandal.

Kevin Blier (link as embedded in story) – who went on to run an antigay organization in Vermont... denies that he had prior knowledge of the scheme, and that McGee told him about it election night.   Which, if true, means McGee’s testimony to the FBI is wrong, or as Blier insists, “I believe the FBI made a mistake in how they reported it.”

According to the NH Union Leader, Blier claims, "The inference (sic) that I knew about the phone-jamming ahead of time is dead wrong.   I deeply resent the insinuation.   I knew about it on election night.   I knew about it after it had occurred."

Which, if true, may make him part of the cover-up.   As the NHDSC motion puts it, the GOP operatives “were all likely to have been aware of the impending felony.   Not a single one of them sought to dissuade McGee; no one warned the intended victims; no one called the police.”   McGee described himself to the FBI as “stoked” about the phone jamming plan.   Who else was stoked?

The complete Lost Nation TV story here.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Local Reaction To The Recent Revelations About Kevin Blier's Ties To The NH GOP Phone-jamming Scandal and Other Stuff

2006-09-20T10:12:00.000-04:00

One blogger finds it "skanky." Well put.

Also, odum at Green Mountain Daily has found the second GreenMountainHardRight! site that we'd noted below in the Friends post. We thought it odd, and odum found it weird. But for downright freaky, here's the Kevin Blier acolyte's third site. We wonder, is he aping his "Machiavelli of the Vermont New Right" by creating mirrored sites like Blier's CFACR and Vermont Renewal or does he just keep losing the passwords?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

What Did Kevin Blier Know About The NH GOP Phone-jamming Scandal... Part Two

2006-09-19T17:49:00.000-04:00

The original feature story in the Manchester, NH Union Leader on the New Hampshire phone-jamming scheme hatched by a NH GOP party executive director, and that was reportedly known in advance by several of his confidants, and that subsequently prompted Kevin Blier's problematic denial, is posted below. It's interesting to note how that organization, whose so-called "rogue" members who were the source of the felonious attempt to suppress voter turnout, tries to paint itself as the victim.

Sound familiar?

Battle rages on over GOP phone-jamming
By John DiStaso
(Union Leader) Senior Political Reporter
Friday, Aug. 11, 2006

MANCHESTER -- Nearly four years after the incident occurred, allegations continue to fly in a two-year-old civil suit pitting the state Democratic Party against the state GOP over a Republican Election Day 2002 phone jamming scheme.

In a motion filed this week in Hillsborough County Superior Court, Democrats say FBI files show several former state Republican officials and/or staffers appeared to have had advance knowledge of former party executive director Charles McGee's plan to jam Democratic and firefighters' union get-out-the-vote telephone lines with hang-up calls.

The state GOP has long insisted the McGee masterminded the operation as a "rogue" employee. GOP attorney Ovide Lamontagne said yesterday the new motion and FBI files contain nothing new to contradict its stance and adds nothing new to the suit.

Republicans, meanwhile, charge the civil suit, filed by the Democrats nearly two years after the incident occurred, is part of a ploy to manipulate the court system and media for political gain.

In an amended counter-claim currently under advisement by the court, the state GOP points to a 66-page manual that the Democratic National Committee distributed to its state affiliates prior to the 2004 election. "How to Prevent and Combat Voter Intimidation" instructed party organizers to devise strategies that would publicize alleged GOP efforts to suppress voter turnout.

"Significantly," the Republican motion states, "the manual proposed that even where no evidence of voter suppression exists, organizers should nevertheless launch a 'pre-emptive strike' - including litigation - to alert the public of past instances of alleged Republican misconduct."

The GOP motion says the state Democratic Party's conduct in the lawsuit "parallels to an astonishing degree the very tactics called for by the DNC manual."

It says the Democratic Party, while refusing to discuss a settlement, treats the litigation "as a continuous media event" and "is the very embodiment of the DNC's national strategy of using the judicial system and media to launch a 'pre-emptive strike' and legal action against Republicans prior to the 2004 election."

Democratic attorney Paul Twomey's motion asks Superior Court Judge Philip Mangones to release all Republican State Committee documents related to an internal party probe of the phone-jam that had been sealed under the attorney-client privilege.

Twomey said the privilege has been rendered inapplicable because the Republicans "engaged in a pattern of fraudulent concealment of their real role" in the operation.

GOP attorney Lamontagne said the court "has already ruled on the motion that they raise" when the documents were initially sealed.

"There is nothing new here," Lamontagne said. "This is a continuation of their victimization of our party and further evidence of the efforts by the Democrats to use the litigation for political purposes."

Twomey's motion contains FBI interviews of McGee, former state GOP chairman John Dowd, former party finance director Kristy Stuart and Concord GOP chairman Jeffrey Newman.

McGee, who last year served seven months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges, told the FBI that he came up with the idea of blocking the phone lines a few weeks before the 2002 election. He said he contacted veteran strategist Brian McCabe, who told McGee he had "never heard of an idea such as this," according to the FBI report.

McGee told investigators that former Republican National Committee regional political director James Tobin, who is appealing a December 2005 conviction on telephone harassment conspiracy charges, "did not say 'no' when he brought up the idea of phone blocking on election day." Tobin gave McGee the telephone number of former GOP consultant Allen Raymond, who McGee later hired to set up the phone jam and who subcontracted with an Idaho telemarketer to make the calls.

The FBI file says McGee "believes he told (GOP activists) Chris Wood, Kevin Blier, (former party vice chair) Marc Pappas and (former state party public relations specialist) Jeff Fontaine about the idea. McGee told the FBI Pappas gave McGee the telephone number of the Manchester Professional Fire Fighters Association, whose telephones were jammed along with those in five Democratic Party offices.

McGee said he told Dowd about his idea a day or two before the election. McGee said Dowd told him he would check with former party legal council David Vicinanzo.

But McGee said Dowd did not initially veto the idea, which McGee viewed as an "OK."

Dowd told the FBI that McGee informed him of the operation the evening before Election Day. Dowd said he told McGee he would think about it and did not give him an answer.

Dowd, after speaking with Vicinanzo early on Election Day morning, called off the phone-jam, but only after it had begun and had been underway for more than an hour.

The Democratic motion alleges, "By Election Day, 2002, the Chair, the Vice Chair, the Executive Director, the Finance Director, the Concord GOP Chair and three other staffers at the (GOP state committee) were all likely to have been aware of the impending felony. Not a single one of them sought to dissuade McGee; no one warned the intended victims; no one called the police."

Stuart told the FBI she drafted and signed Dowd's name to a state GOP's check to Raymond's GOP Marketplace firm after McGee told her it would pay a firm to "make repeated hang-up calls to the Democratic offices in New Hampshire on election day."

She said that under instructions by McGee, she reported purpose of the disbursement to the Federal Election Commission as "get out the vote." The Democratic motion charges the "false" purpose was entered "to cover up the crimes" of the state committee.

Regardless of whatever the truth may be about when he learned of the criminal plan, the question still remains, why didn't Kevin Blier come forward to report what he knew about the crime? What does this say about him as a would-be public policy advocate and executive director for a holier-than-thou group like Vermont Renewal?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Friends

2006-09-18T21:38:00.000-04:00

One would think that in a pro-civil union state like Vermont most politicians would think twice about attending an affair hosted by the most bigoted, extremist, anti-civil rights organization to rear its head here since the Klan disbanded in 1944. Down south it doesn't come as much of a surprise when a future Republican governor goes to a fund-raising cookout held by the former White Citizens Council. Given his veto this year of transgender civil rights legislation, it came as No Surprise Here that our governor attended the annual summer shindig thrown by the champions of discrimination, Vermont Renewal. However it's the other names on the list of guests that caught our eye on a new blog called GreenMountainHardRight.

GreenMountainHardRight is Vermont's own entrant into the fun world of the genteel, racialist (read: racist) right. Don't take our word for it. Just look at some of the posts. The very first post on the blog indicates that it takes a part of its name, HardRight, from the term created by the racist writer, Samuel Francis. Before his death last year (a "must read" obituary here ), Francis had been a favorite speaker of white nationalist groups like American Renaissance and the segregationist organization mentioned above, now known as the Council of Conservative Citizens. The few mainstream publications that carried him dropped him like the hot-rock he'd become when he said this:

"breaking down the sexual barriers between the races is a major weapon of cultural destruction"

This quote was from a piece that he wrote for the racist website VDare, a featured website on GreenMountainHardRight's National Blogroll. (Read the piece if you must, but don't forget to wash up when you're done.)

Also listed on his National Blogroll is Steve Sailer, who wrote this in VDare about some of the victims of Hurricane Katrina:

"What you won't hear, except from me, is that 'Let the good times roll' is an especially risky message for African-Americans. The plain fact is that they tend to possess poorer native judgment than members of better-educated groups. Thus they need stricter moral guidance from society. ... In contrast to New Orleans, there was only minimal looting after the horrendous 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan — because, when you get down to it, Japanese aren't blacks."

Well, you get the idea.

The writer at GreenMountainHardRight is typical of the perverse erudition on the New Racialist Right.   Same old hooded bedsheet, just a better verbal threadcount.   (And nothing helps the Kool-Aid go down easier than heapin' spoonfuls of academic references, eh perfessor?)

(Note to Cathy Resmer at 802online:   Give'em a look and add it to your Vermont blogroll - it should be a fun, hardcore, winger blog, although somewhat pretentious, in a church-lady kinda way!   Oddly, GMHD maintains a creepy conservative funhouse mirror site here, sans most of the piety.)

We were recognized by a tip of GreenMountainHardRight's hooded sheet right there in the intro paragraph on Vermont Renewal president Stephen Cable, vice-president Judith Sargent and executive director Kevin Blier, who he descibe as "a veritable Machiavelli of the Vermont New Right."   Lucky us.   After adding the blogs GreenMountainDaily and Freyneland (not his first swipe at dear Peter on GMHR blog, btw) to their growing enemies list, GreenMountainHardRight got down to the business of talking up the picnic and the list of GOP "bigwigs."   In addition to the guv and his wife, attending were:

"Windsor County GOP Chairman Suzanne Butterfield... (former) U.S. Senate candidate Greg Parke, Bennington County State Senator and (former) U.S. House candidate Mark Shepard, Attorney General GOP primary opponents Dennis Carver and Karen Karin, Chittenden County State Senate GOP candidate Agnes Clift, and Brandon State Representative Joe Acinapura"

It was at this point that the self-described "reactionary" blogger threw a blogging hissy-fit over the presence of GOP US House candidate Martha Rainville at the event.
"The interesting part of the cookout was when former Adjunct General Martha Rainville decided to show up to eat hamburgers and potato salad the assembled red-headed stepchildren of the Republican Party (Christians and conservatives and anti-abortionists, oh, my!).   It was clear that Rainville was trying to gain a few votes at theevent, an irony given that she has virtually ignored most conservatives during her whole campaign (except to kiss the ring of a few who for some reason her campaign believes are "key" Movement figures."

"Rainville was introduced by former Chittenden County GOP Chairman Rand Larson, who did his best to convince Vermont Renewal's guests that Rainville's stripes were redder than the shade of blue most of us perceived them to be.   It reminded me of the greedy relative who goes to see their rich aunt in the nursing home every few years in hopes of finding out that they are still in the Will.   Only in this case it was a middle-of-the-roader holding her nose in hopes of getting a few votes and maybe some footsoldiers.   It was rather comical, the attempt to mask Rainville's Ripon Society links by associating her with a pro-lifer.   Not even invoking the name of Phyllis Schlafly could convince me of that one.   Whether Rainville picked up any votes from her appearance at the Vermont Renewal Cookout remains to be seen, but I wonder how many she will lose once pro-choice former First Lady Barbara Bush comes to Vermont on her behalf.   Knowing this (and that at least three pro-choice PACs have given her money), I remain doubtful that the conservatives will be flocking to the Rainville camp if she wins September 12.   We've been fooled and stabbed in the back too many times to go that route again."
"Stabbed in the back?"   Yikes!   Wait'll real "moderate" Republicans hear about this trolling for votes at a cookout held by the state's most bigoted, right-wing, partisan, polarizing lobbying group by the now GOP candidate for the US House, Martha Rainville.   Kevin Blier's Vermont/Center for American Cultural Renewal has been noted for such attack's on Vermont's gay community as "Fag Commentary."   One hopes, to paraphrase this candidate's campaign pledge, that she, while not guilty herself of such talk, doesn't allow herself to become "guilty by association as well" with such campaign stops.   After all, is there really much difference between accepting dirty money from tainted groups or soliciting dirty votes from such groups?

"(Hold) her nose," indeed.   We doubt that her old Guard gas mask could keep out the stench of all the bigotry emanating from Vermont Renewal's hate mongers.   Hatred espoused in the name of religion is still hatred.   The cookout's guests need to ask themselves if there really is any dissimilarity in the agenda of the "islamofascists" and that of the christofascists, and can they really afford to be so closely affiliated with such groups?

Read the whole post about the picnic and its guests by Vermont's latest anonymous blogger, vtpaleocon, (welcome to the club!) at GreenMountainHardRight.   It comes as little surprise that Kevin Blier and Vermont Renewal draw such high praise from a blogger with self-made connections to the white nationalist/"white consciousness" community and its ideologues.   It wouldn't be the first time we've found the Blier mob mingling and mongering with the David Duke crowd.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

What Did Kevin Blier Know About The New Hampshire GOP Phone-jamming Scandal and When Did He Know It?

2006-09-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

WELCOME GreenMountainDaily and Newsie8200's Penndit readers.

Summer vacation is over and we returned expecting to find much of the same old stuff on Kevin Blier.   We weren't disappointed.

There were the usual angry, abusive, bloviating letters to local papers, along with a snippet of a classic Kevin whine buried in an AP story on a setback in his campaign to harm one Vermont family.   We'll come back to them in future posts.

The real eye-opener was from a story in the Union Leader.   It details Kevin's denial of prior knowledge of the 2002 phone-jamming scheme perpetrated during the New Hampshire US Senate campaign.   The scheme led to a felony conviction and time for one unrepentant GOP official.   Other convictions have followed.   The New Hampshire Democratic Party has filed a civil action.   According to court documents (from the Talking Points Memo Document Collection) filed by the plaintiffs, NH Republican State Committee officials have, in statements to the press and in their pleadings, maintained that the crime was committed by "a single rogue employee acting alone."   In June of this year the plaintiffs requested that subpeonas be issued to depose top Republican officials in Washington, DC.   The court granted the request in July.   Also contained in the court documents (see pg 2 of the docs) are references to an FBI interview conducted by the agency and Justice Department attorneys in December of 2003.   In the FBI interview report (also from the Talking Points Memo Document Collection) the then Executive Director for the NH Republican State Committee, Charles "Chuck" McGee, "believes that he told... Kevin Blier," among others who McGee called his confidants, "about the idea" to jam the phones at NH Democratic Regional Offices for the purpose of disrupting their communications on the forthcoming Election Day (see pgs 4 & 6 of the FBI interview docs).   The August 10 TPM item, Dems Allege Broad Conspiracy among New Hampshire GOP can be read here.

Ex-GOP State Staffer Challenges FBI Report
By John DiStaso
(Union Leader) Senior Political Reporter
Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006

A former state Republican Party staffer disputes an FBI report that he may have known about an election day 2002 Republican phone-jamming scheme before it occurred.

Kevin Blier said an FBI report quoted by the New Hampshire Union Leader is incorrect.   He said former state party executive director Charles McGee told him about the phone jam on election night, after the scheme had been put into operation and then halted about 90 minutes later, not before, as the report stated.

The FBI report on its agent's December 2003 interview with McGee was filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court earlier this month in the state Democratic Party's civil suit against the state Republican Party over the phone-jamming incident.

Several FBI interviews were included as an appendices to a motion by state Democratic Party attorney Paul Twomey asking a judge to unseal documents related to an internal state Republican Party probe of the phone jam.

According to the FBI report on its interview with McGee on Dec. 12, 2003, McGee said that after he came up with the idea of blocking Democratic get-out-the-vote lines, "he may have talked with confidants," including Blier, "and (McGee) said he wondered if this was something he could make happen."

In a second passage, the FBI reports, "McGee believes he told" Blier and other staffers "about the idea" before election day.

Blier said yesterday that after reading the Union Leader's initial report on the filing last Friday, he became concerned.

"The inference that I knew about the phone-jamming ahead of time is dead wrong," said Blier, who was the party's paid Rockingham County staff coordinator in 2002.   "I deeply resent the insinuation.   I knew about it on election night.   I knew about it after it had occurred."

Blier said while it is possible that McGee may have been mistaken in what he told the FBI, "I believe the FBI made a mistake in how they reported it.

"The FBI never interviewed me," said Blier. "I know that a lot of people were interviewed or testified, but I was never interviewed or never testified. I knew about it on election night, when Chuck (McGee) told me what had happened."

Blier said state Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan, by having court motions filed, "is just trying to get as much mileage as possible from this.   Chuck has been remorseful and has apologized and served time in federal prison.   There are some people who need to just let this thing go.

"This has been blown way out of proportion," Blier said.

"It's nothing more than a high school prank gone bad.   Nobody was denied their right to vote.   What other excuse will Kathy Sullivan make for her losses on election day 2002?"

But Sullivan said yesterday that McGee's FBI report shows that phone jam "goes from being the work of one rogue employee to having a number of people with prior knowledge."

While Blier makes clear that he wasn't interviewed by the FBI, he doesn't address whether he knew that what he alleges McGee subsequently told him constituted a crime and, when he did learn of the criminal investigation, why he didn't come forward to report to investigators what he did know about the crime. Did he ever tell the FBI, or anyone else involved in the investigation, that he'd relocated to Vermont? We'd also like to know if Kevin's alleged knowledge of the crime was explored in the NH Republican State Committee's internal investigation, a detail he's yet to address in any published report we could locate.

Given Blier's frequent moral holy-rollering in his capacity as a spokesperson for Vermont Renewal, you'd think he'd know better than to characterize a felony as a "prank."

Makes you wonder who Kevin could be a staffer for and "confidant" of in this year's upcoming Vermont election.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

We Couldn't Have Said It Better

2006-06-07T19:31:00.000-04:00

A great post from odum at Green Mountain Daily:

Not a Single One
by: odum
June 07, 2006 at 18:50:53 US/Eastern

Here's what has been said by Vermont politicians about the fag bashing, sorry, debate in the US Senate over the (thankfully) failed Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage:
Rich Tarrant: "We believe it's the role of the states"

Peter Welch: "This question is rightfully left to the states"

Martha Rainville: "I don't see the need to amend the United States Constitution to dictate to the states the laws of marriage"

Patrick Leahy: "For 225 years we've left it up to the states to define marriage,"

Bernie Sanders: "Marriage historically has been left to the states."
If none of our esteemed leaders is capable of saying it, allow me:

The "marriage amendment" should be defeated because it is wrong. Immoral. Bigotry. Not because it should be "up to the states" to decide which citizens they'd like to stomp all over. Or because of the abstraction of "enshrining discrimination in the Constitution." As Senator Feingold said: "I support gay marriage. If two people care enough about each other that they want to get married, they ought to be able to." Period. They oughta put this guy in pill form and start prescribing it to certain Vermonters. Even better? Try this clip of Jon Stewart putting the screws to Mister "Virtue", Bill Bennett.

I expect this crap from the knuckle-draggers like Tarrant & company, as they want to try to pass as civilized before the electorate. A nice warm place in the history books is waiting for that crowd.

But everybody who knows better and couldn't bring themselves to come out and speak the truth because they might lose Kevin Blier's vote should be ashamed of themselves.

UPDATE (6/8): Seems that in addition to Sen. Feingold, the old lion hasn't lost his roar:

Sen. Ted Kennedy: "The Republican leadership is asking us to spend time writing bigotry into the Constitution," said Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2003.

"A vote for it is a vote against civil unions, against domestic partnership, against all other efforts for states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law.”

Oh, and screw Orrin Hatch and the rest of his "crew of bigots."

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

First Annual VDB/GMD Political Barbeque and Hamburger Summit

2006-06-05T10:46:00.000-04:00

We would never pass up a chance for some red meat (and since Vermont's premier homophobe and bien pensant, Kevin Blier, has been publicly silent of late), the Blier Watch team is so looking forward to the First Annual VDB/GMD Political Barbeque and Hamburger Summit Sunday, July 9, 2-6 at North Beach in Burlington.

See you there!

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

No Surprises Here

2006-05-22T10:33:00.000-04:00

There must have been a celebration in the klavern when Gov. James Douglas became the first Vermont governor to veto legislation intended to extend civil rights protection to a class of Vermonters.

This veto should have come as no surprise considering some of the governor's earlier observations on societal discriminatory practices:

"I'm not sure there is segregation."
- Jim Douglas, then a Middlebury College Young Republican, in the October 9, 1970 story "Nixon's Man On Campus," from The (Middlebury) Campus

Douglas said this during a time when civil rights leaders who actively sought an end to both de jure and de facto segregation had recently been assassinated, and when millions Americans of all colors and sexual orientations were engaged in the struggle to end all forms of segregation, including those laws still enforced in 1970 that prohibited the use of public accommodations by anyone perceived to be gay or lesbian. De-segregation of American schools continued well into the 1980's. In 2004 Alabama voters defeated a proposal to repeal that portion of the Alabama constitution that requires that "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race." Unenforceable though that provision may be today, it remains a part of Alamaba's constitution as it did in 1970. As recently as in 2005 a case involving state sanctioned racial segregation of prison inmates was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, whose ruling will likely force an alteration of that policy.

Last week the head of Kevin Blier's Vermont Renewal said:

Although we wholeheartedly agree with the governor's premise that denying people a place to live or a job because of sexual identity has no place in Vermont, this legislation would have the unintended atmosphere of confusion, litigiousness, and false protection," said Steve Cable of Vermont Renewal, a Rutland-based organization that served as the legislation's primary foe. "This bill has the potential of creating an environment of 'affirmative action' for cross-dressers and transvestites, which is a concept we vehemently oppose."
- Gov. Douglas Vetoes Gender Discrimination Bill, VPB, May 18, 2006

Just two weeks earlier, when speaking to the AP about the same bill, Kevin Blier, also a former Young Republican, opined:

(Blier) complained that some terms in the bill were ambiguous and would be open to interpretation by the courts. Blier said it might permit a teacher who had appeared in a classroom as a man to return as a woman. "The public has to wonder whether that's appropriate in a kindergarten classroom or a high school classroom," he said.
- Senate Approves Nondiscrimination Bill, AP, May 4, 2006

When it comes to whether there is a place or not in Vermont for discriminating against a transgendered Vermonter in an employment situation, it sounds as though the bigots at Vermont Renewal are talking out of both sides of their sheets.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Kevin Blier Comes Out...

2006-05-02T18:08:00.000-04:00

... for Vermont Republican Congressional Primary candidate Mark Shepard.

Well, sort of.

Although he stopped short of an explicit endorsement, Kevin Blier seemed to give a big sloppy, wet kiss to the Shepard campaign in this email sent to the Dwinell Political Report (scroll down to "THE ROAR OF THE CROWD: EMAIL" section):

"Mark's skills as it pertains to how he relates to people, especially one-on-one, is actually quite stunning. He has an unpretentious manner and is quite adept at pulling people towards him, even if they start out disagreeing. That is a rare trait that is a gift that cannot be taught."

Oddly, Kevin then went on to raise questions about the conservative bona fides of the putative opponent of Mark Shepard, questions that we've found no public record of his having raised about Richard Tarrant, a megazillionaire candidate with no conservative credentials in the Vermont Republican US Senate Primary, who also faces a conservative challenger.

Hmmm... Must be love. Or maybe it's just the money. Anyway, it just sounds fabulous, Kevin.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

No News Is Good News?

2006-04-18T12:34:00.000-04:00

We're always amused at the cut-and-paste, mish mash that Kevin Blier and his fellow minions at the Center for American Cultural Renewal/Vermont Renewal try to pass off as a compendium of news stories not likely to be covered by the average Vermont news outlet. They call their irregularly published news column, "Real Vermont News". Relying as it does on bigoted sources such as WingNutDaily, the heterofascist Tony Perkin's Family Research Council, along with a smattering of out-of-context items lifted from gay sites, there's little surprise at its theoconservative bent.

What we have found interesting is the CFACR "news" site's unwillingness to cover the stunning defeat of Kevin W. Blier, their director, at last month's Town Meeting in Brandon, VT, that we reported on here and here.

In "Real Vermont News", CFACR's stab at Newspeak, unwanted electoral results, like unwanted words or people, are simply disposed of or ignored.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

A Vermonter's Letter

2006-04-05T12:52:00.000-04:00

When we reported on the Kevin Blier rant last month in our post Shorter Kevin Blier, we referred to his demand for the resignation of the head of the Judiciary committee, the out gay legislative representive Bill Lippert of Hinesburg, VT. In it Kevin, once again, disparagingly mentioned the "conversation" first referred to last summer by another group.

"Conversation" is something that Kevin and the rest of the theocratic throwbacks at Center for American Cultural Renewal/Vermont Renewal want no part of, unless it's amongst themselves and about the complete marginalization of all who do not share their own perverse and exclusionary beliefs.

We'll have more on the links between Kevin's hate group and the Reconstructionists in a future post. In the meantime, here's one Vermonter's take on Kevin's whine.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

They're Making A List

2006-04-03T15:59:00.000-04:00

The most recent post in the Features section at the Kevin Blier hate site, Center for American Cultural Renewal, a.k.a. Vermont Renewal, asks that Vermonters sign a petition promoting the religious right's Marriage Discrimination Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The petition is being offered by the Family Research Council, over its president's name, Tony Perkins.

So who is Tony Perkins?

Prior to taking over at the Family Research Council in 2003, Perkins' history is laced with associations with the most extreme elements of the lunatic right. A concise biographical history on Perkins is contained in a piece about Justice Sunday leaders in The Nation. In short, Perkins ties to racists and their organizations go back for years. As recently as in 2001, Perkins addressed a Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, formerly known as the White Citizens' Council.

"In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke."
- Justice Sunday Preachers, The Nation

And now Blier's group would like Vermonters to sign a petition offered by a man who buys lists of like-minded folk from neo-Nazis like David Duke, probably the best known American racist, anti-Semite and homophobe of the 21st Century.

We wonder who Perkins might be swapping mailing lists with today, and would Vermonters ever want to be on such a list?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Okay, Kevin

2006-03-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

"If they want to pinpoint me as the high-profile public figure making these arguments," (Blier) suggests, "I say, start pointing to Steve (Cable). He's the president (of CFACR/Vermont Renewal, formerly called Who Would Have Thought, Inc)."
- Kevin Blier in Seven Days

According to records available from the Vermont Secretary of State's database for corporations, on July 23, 1980 Stephen Cable was a registrant (Officer 5) of a corporation described as "Religious" that went by the name New Hope Ministries, Inc. The corporate status terminated on June 23, 1989.

Similarly, New Hope Ministries was registered as an corporation in California as early as 1981. Today, New Hope Ministries is a so-called "ex-gay" ministry with ties to the discredited groups Exodus International and Love In Action dating back to the 1970's. The "ex-gay" ministries have been widely rejected by professional organizations such as the American Psychological Association and are considered to be harmful to lesbians, gays and, in particular, youth.

The question is, was Cable's New Hope Ministry an early Vermont "ex-gay" ministry and did its leadership consist of, as is usually the case, "ex-gays?"

Nothing is impossible. And that could explain an awful lot.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Free Speech Wankery: It's Fundamental for Fundamentalists

2006-03-29T12:27:00.000-05:00

Free speech is something that groups headed by the likes of Kevin Blier often claim as their absolute right, even up to protecting the right of hate-mongers like themselves who argue for the death of gays and lesbians. One such case is that of Michael Marcavage.

Blier's Center for American Cultural Renewal has posted a defense of Marcavage's radical anti-gay group, Repent America, by the homophobe Robert Knight. Marcavage is also known for beating the anti-everyone hate-meister, Fred Phelps, to the punch in claiming that Hurricane Katrina was a godly smiting of the unpious. Not unsurprisingly, a fundamentalist activist like Knight rises to the defense of scumbags like Marcavage, yet has gone out of his way to attack groups like the Girl Scouts of America and to make the argument against stopping kids in school from calling other kids names.

Here's a taste of the kind thing that Marcavage has said:

"According to the Scriptures, it's the government's job to enforce God's law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don't want to really get into this — it'll make me sound like I'm crazy — but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I'm not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals. … I'm saying that the government's duty is to uphold God's law. … I know that's harsh, but we have all broken the law, God's law, and we need to be held accountable."
- City Paper

Marcavage later claimed his comments were off the record and had been promoted by others "in a false light." The paper stands by its story.

In 1942 the death penalty was instituted for gay people (primarly men) in Nazi Germany. Gays in the military were shot.

"That wasn't a punishment, but simply the extinguishing of abnormal life. It had to be got rid of, just as we pull out weeds, throw them on a heap, and burn them."
- Heinrich Himmler

Fundamentalist extremists like Blier, Knight, Dobson and Marcavage claim an absolute free speech right, even up to calling for or defending those who would "extinguish" whole segments of the population. However, when it comes to others the right of free speech is not so much of an absolute. In fact, when you wade through all their hate-based rhetoric, you find that they have a biblically prescribed solution for anyone whose speech is not as unhinged as theirs is.

If you'd like to read more about Kevin Blier and his hate group, see Cathy Resmer's recent piece in Seven Days, Uncivil Liberties.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

They Just Can't Help Themselves

2006-03-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday we received another comment from Kevin Blier that betrays the bigotry that is a part of the hard wiring of the radical religious right brain.

"(O)nly a liberal from Berkeley could possibly buy that argument. Oh wait, it was a liberal from Berkeley who made the argument...go figure!"

No doubt Kevin feels at great ease to display his bias against certain places of origin. It's a favored prejudice of most hate-mongers. Of course it's become gauche among bigots to mention some places like, oh, say, Africa, Israel or Puerto Rico, but we get your drift, Kevin.

Here's a recent example from the founder of a group, the American Family Association, as well as its propaganda arm, AgapePress, that Kevin's Center for American Cultural Renewal likes to cite from time to time, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8], ad nauseum. Don Wildmon, an ardent homophobe activist, has gotten his panties in a knot over a "Freedom Ride"-like action called "Equality Ride" that began earlier this month under the auspices of Soulfource.

BENSON: Yeah, I mean, this is -- this is what you call -- what? -- chutzpah. This is -- this is --

WILDMON: That's a Jewish word, right? Be careful.

You can hear AFA's Don Wildmon for yourself here. He also has some interesting and untrue things to say about gay income, à la "rich Jews."

via Media Matters for America and WayneBesen.com

UPDATE (3/28): More on Don Wildmon and the AFA's anti-Semitism

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

More On The ACLU's Response To The Legal Punks At The Misnamed Liberty Counsel

2006-03-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

Justin Watts has put up the latest on the reponse to the Liberty Counsel's legal threat directed at him here. It includes a copy of the ACLU's detailed legal response sent to the Florida based bastion of legal bigotry, the Liberty Counsel, as well as other pertinent links.

This quote from the text of another response, sent on behalf of Ex-Gay Watch, is a keeper:

“Just as the ex-gay movement often uses weak science in support of its agenda, so Exodus is using weak law to curtail Mr. Airhart’s freedom of speech. It’s unfortunate that many of Exodus’s targets have no choice but to turn to “Wikipedia” to resist Exodus’s bullying tactics. Yet this is one instance in which “Wikipedia” appears to have a better understanding of First Amendment principles than Exodus’s own counsel.”

Bottom line: Exodus has dropped its complaint... go figure.

Thanks to Justin, the ACLU and all who worked on opposing the legal thuggery of Exodus and the Liberty Counsel. If you think that you'd like to help fight the Taliban of right's efforts to silence Americans, consider making a donation to the ACLU.

Artwork via Zortnac

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Another Thorn...

2006-03-24T14:28:00.000-05:00

...in the side of the culture warriors. Just click here and experience internet radio.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Sister Nancy Beth Eczema

2006-03-24T13:32:00.000-05:00

...took a break from her busy faith-based beauty ministry to stop by and add a comment to the Mule Whisperer post. It has a link to even more on the wingnut's obsessive preoccupation with things bestial. Just read.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

AMERICAblog's...

2006-03-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

...picked up on the "whiny conservatives" study today.

Here's their take on it. As well as a few other folks.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

The Religous Right's Legal Threat On Behalf of So-Called "Ex-Gays" Answered

2006-03-22T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Kevin Blier ally's challenge to free speech that we first reported on here has taken an expected turn today.

The Liberty Counsel's threat to the First Amendment rights of gay Americans is being answered by the ACLU.

via AMERICAblog

UPDATE (3/23): From The Angry Fag

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

We're In...

2006-03-21T12:29:00.000-05:00

...Google Heaven!

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Have People Like Kevin Always Been Whiners? Surveys Say Yes.

2006-03-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered why conservatives like Kevin Blier are the way they are? Others have and they've studied the subject.

"Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative."

Morphing from from a insecure child into an intolerant adult may just be a natural progression.

"(D)ecades later, (Prof. Jack) Block followed up with more surveys, looking again at personality, and this time at politics, too. The whiny kids tended to grow up conservative, and turned into rigid young adults who hewed closely to traditional gender roles and were uncomfortable with ambiguity."

And in another study,

"(R)esearchers (in the Jost study) reviewed 44 years worth of studies into the psychology of conservatism, and concluded that people who are dogmatic, fearful, intolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty, and who crave order and structure are more likely to gravitate to conservatism."

Meanwhile,

"(T)he confident kids turned out liberal and were still hanging loose, turning into bright, non-conforming adults with wide interests. The girls were still outgoing, but the young men tended to turn a little introspective."

An upshot to all this seems to be that, according to a third study, liberals get to sleep better. But then we probably already knew that. Hell, even Kevin figures that we "sleep okay at night."

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

The Mule Whisperer

2006-03-19T12:01:00.000-05:00

Earlier this weekend the web research team at Blier Watch donned their nose clips and protective gear and entered the foul, hateful netherworld that is the website of Kevin Blier's Center for American Cultural Renewal. As always, the team returned with another gem. This one's from the website's "news" section:

"We have a request from a reader for a quotation:

Neal Horsley writes: "I have seen a quote but I cannot remember who said it and therefore cannot find it. The gist of the quote states that when God's people (or any people for that matter) collaborate with an evil government, for them to be squeezed and oppressed by that government is a necessary thing because it is only through the experience of that governmental oppression that people will become willing to resist the government's tyranny."

Can anyone help? Editor - Judith Sargent" (from CFACR's August 17, 2004 Real Vermont News NB: This is a cache link due to the CFACR's tendency to delete these humiliating entries on their website)

Now, for those unfamiliar with the various leaders within the violent, anti-choice movement, Neal Horsley is one of the big Kahunas. Having Neal Horsley write to you for research help is a very big deal and a bit of website name-dropping that serves to establish your bona fides as a insider of the hardcore anti-choice crowd. It's something on the order of an Amy Goodman or Noam Chomsky stopping by a prog site to ask a question. However, that's where the comparison ends. Horsley is no mere evangelical/political theorist. Neil Horsley is a terrorist and an exponent of a type of evangelical imperialism. Neal Horsley's alleged "hit list" that he called the "Nuremberg Files" was the subject of a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and continues to be mirrored abroad. We have seen it but will not link to it. You can learn more about the "Nuremberg Files" here.

More recently, Horsley was interviewed by Alan Colmes on his radio show and it went like this:

NH: "Just because it's printed in the media, people jump to believe it."
AC: "Is it true?"
NH: "Hey, Alan, if you want to accuse me of having sex when I was a fool, I did everything that crossed my mind that looked like I..."
AC: "You had sex with animals?"
NH: "Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule."
AC: "I'm not so sure that that is so."
NH: "You didn't grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?"
AC: "Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?"
NH: It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed from the reality... Welcome to domestic life on the farm...You experiment with anything that moves when you are growing up sexually. You're naive. You know better than that... If it's warm and it's damp and it vibrates you might in fact have sex with it."

You can read about the interview here and you can hear the complete interview here.

You just couldn't make this kinda stuff up.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Wanker of the Day

2006-03-16T22:25:00.000-05:00

It had to happen. A minor Vermont blog asserts via "Justice Department sources... that documents pertaining to "BlierWatch"... have been turned over to the Criminal Investigation Division for possible Telecommunication Act violations by the Federal Communications Commission."

The reporting blog, which has stolen the name of a man dead for 178 years as its own, is irked by anonymous blogging and "long(s) for the days of John Jay and James Madison." Perhaps being dead for so long has dulled the blogger's memory. The blogger can refresh his or her memory by reading a more recent report on the period for which she/he longs.

This nascent blog claims "sources" in the Justice Department that would make Bob Woodward jealous. Maybe the Vermont blogosphere is about to be shocked and awed by this insiders blog's future breaking news. Or maybe not. The long recitation about information that could not be obtained or confirmed wasn't terribly convincing. The line that read "(t)he Vermont AG's office would not confirm our request for information" is as confused as the blogger is with the webservices Blogger and eBlogger or which investigative branch of the Justice Department investigates various purported crimes.

Meanwhile, Blier Watch will continue to a source for indisputable facts, in particular those made publicly available by the hate site Vermont Renewal/Center for American Cultural Renewal and its Director/Director of Communications, Kevin Blier. The re-born blogger, as well as Kevin Blier, would do well to remember what Calvin Coolidge (who our sources confirm actually is dead) once said, "I found out early in life that you don't have to explain something you haven't said." (courtesy of a real Vermonter, Walter Epstein)

To read the first Vermont blog that specializes in making sh*t up, go here. To learn more about the blog's real inspiration, read this.

UPDATE (3/18): Cathy Resmer's kerfuffle report.

Green Mountain Daily's take on the to-do.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Kevin Blier Has Topped Off The Hydraulics On His Delete Key...

2006-03-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

...and is busy purging the Internets of his posts. Here are two deletions from yesterday in the Google cache for Townhall.meetup, a place to troll for like-minded conservatives, here and here:

From this -

Kevin Blier
Brandon, VT · Tue Mar 29 16:02:30 EST 2005

"I am Kevin Blier. I am the Director at Vermont Renewal, a grassroots public policy advocacy group which promotes tradtional values. I am also the proud father of two boys, and here's the oldest Aidan."

To this -

Kevin Blier
Rutland, VT · March 13, 2006

That's a pretty quick move for Kevin from Brandon to Rutland, after his defeat last Tuesday for the seat on the Brandon School Board for Otter Valley Union High School. And if it's on the Internets, you know it must be true, especially since a guy who "promotes traditional values" certainly wouldn't lie, would he?

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

The Governor's Press Conference: Will Kevin Blier Become Vermont's Jeff Gannon?

2006-03-14T11:39:00.000-05:00

There has been much discussion of late about the weekly Governor's Press Conference and who may ask Jim Douglas questions. Should bloggers be included in the scrum and, if so, what kind of blogger? We were struck by a comment of Cathy Resmer's at 802online that the focus of all the attention, Adam Quinn, wasn't "a reverse Guckert, but he's close". Over the weekend we received an email informing us that Kevin Blier had attended past press conferences of Douglas'. We've checked it out and have confirmed that Blier has been there but he has not posed questions, according to the observer. People do stop in to these press conferences who are not members of the press but in light of the recent discussion we wondered, how unlikely would it be that Blier wouldn't eventually try to join the Montpelier press gaggle?

Like James D. Guckert aka Jeff Gannon, Blier is a political activist. Gannon attended a two-day journalism seminar put on by a conservative group and worked for a conservative propaganda organization, Talon News. Kevin Blier works for a conservative propaganda organization that has an irregular news service called Real Vermont News. Reportedly, Blier has taped his first television program on Adelphia’s Public Access channel 15 called “The Right Perspective”. There's at least one previous questioner at the press conferences that barely has Blier's "qualifications". His publication is similar to Blier's group in content, point of view and regularity.

Unless some criteria is established for who may offer questions, there is a real potential that we could one day face a situation where a enterprising questioner of the governor could, on the same day, conduct a rally on the State House steps, buttonhole legislators on behalf of or in opposition to legislation, lead election campaigns (as in judicial retention votes) against certain judicial candidates, issue demands for the resignation of legislators who are gay, and also drop off his lobbyist registration fee. That wouldn't be a press conference, that would be a farce.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Is Blier's Group Targeting The Judiciary In Vermont?

2006-03-13T17:15:00.000-05:00

Last week a story ran on NPR about former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's concerns about the Republican and conservative critcisms of the courts, and the threat to our democracy that such a subordination of courts in the hierarchy of checks and balances poses. In other press accounts here and here you can read about Justice O'Connor's observations. And, as we learned, not a speech so very pleasing to Sister Nancy.

What struck us also was O'Connor's mention of Tom Delay's attacks on the judiciary when he didn't care for a unanimous decision (Schiavo) of the US Supreme Court in this quote by him:

"an arrogant, out-of-control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at Congress and the president"

Similary, Kevin Blier has labeled some Vermont justices who also were part of an unanimous decision (Baker) as "unaccountable" and as "the epitome of arrogance."

Blier and his allies have repeatedly sought the removal of jurists that aren't sufficiently conservative in their decisions, and have sought to inflame public opinion where their legal arguments have proven inadequate and insufficient. The appeal to mob emotion and the attempt to strong-arm the Vermont judiaciary and the legislature says more about the underlying weakness and dangerousness of Blier's group than we ever could.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Weekend Update

2006-03-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

There have been a few more emails received this weekend since the influx of activity that began ten days ago that we should take a moment to address. Some suggestions have been made and we have incorporated them on our blog template. Apparently it was unclear to some that there was a side to this site that focuses on ridiculing the pretensions and pomposities of Kevin Blier and his group of evangelically impacted activists, so there is now a note in the Profile to that effect.

We pointed out in an earlier post that this blog has had no contact with the Brandon, Vermont electorate, despite the lavish praise heaped upon us by Kevin Blier in awarding us sole credit for "orchestrating" his defeat at the polls this past Tuesday. That condition has now been remedied. ;-)

One tipster suggested that we make it clearer that we will accept information about Blier's group for inclusion in future posts. We will investigate as fully as we can any information received, and have changed the Contact information in a small way to reflect that. If we can confirm a fact, we will post it. If the tip that we received this weekend is confirmed, the post will appear early this week. Any email received will not be published or retained as a matter of courtesy, unless permission is given by the sender (Offer not available to: Kevin Blier, Stephen Cable, Judith Sargent, their immediate families and minions, and, for whom, other restrictions may apply).

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Right Wing Date Bait

2006-03-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

Even though Kevin Blier is a somewhat happily married hero of the Vermont conservative Christian activist community, it never hurts to stay aware of opportunities out there, especially given the dismal failure rate amoung evangelical christian marriages (34%) against those of, say, agnostics, atheists or Lutherans (21%). (And let's not even mention the preliminary data on the civil union dissolution rate to Kevin.)

Crooks and Liars notes this pretty little thing should Kevin ever find himself back in the Dating Game.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

The Ex-Gay Myth Makers

2006-03-10T14:46:00.000-05:00

Kevin Blier and the CFACR have been peddling the fiction about ex-gay organizations for years. They even link to these charlatans and frauds on their Resources page at cfacr.org.

This from Wayne Besen on these self-loathing liars.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

This Is Just Dishonest

2006-03-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

We knew that Kevin Blier and his gang at Vermont Renewal and the Center for American Cultural Renewal lacked integrity but this really does take the cake. We've pointed out the gross similarities between the beliefs and hateful rhetoric of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church and the post that Blier's CFACR website labeled Fag Commentary: "Rebuke Them Sharply" in our recent post on subject, "God Hates Fags?" Last night we received an email that said the title at Blier's CFACR had been changed to Rebuke Them Sharply For Calling "Gays" Bad Names.

We checked it out and it's true. For the time being you can see it here. There's no notation about the change. You can see how the title originally appeared in the Features section (near the bottom and also for the time being) in the Google cache here. We can understand their embarrassment at their own title for the piece but how do they explain deleting the line "Hate the sin but love the sinner? Of course. And to be precise: Hate the faggotry but love the fag" from the author's work and then not using the soap and water on the nine other occasions where the word "fag" is used in the commentary?

You could say it's because Kevin and his group are dishonest, lack integrity and that they're cowards. If you did, you'd be right. But if you think that words like "fag" and "homo" aren't a part of the behind the scenes nomenclature of groups like Kevin's, well, that's just naive.

Thanks to Pat in Montpelier for catching this one.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Shorter Kevin Blier

2006-03-09T17:14:00.000-05:00

Dear Bill,

My God hates fags. Man's law must comport with my God's will and uphold anyone who also hates fags. And you, being a fag, have got to go. Oh, and never mind that I've left out the part about the language in the two bills being different.

Kevin

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Kevin Blier Emails Update

2006-03-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

A reader was kind enough to provide a link to the emails Blier sent to Peter Freyne at Seven Days that we referred to in our earlier post. The emails are reported on in this reproduction of the November 16, 2005 Inside Track column by Freyne (scroll down to "Feedback" section) or read the clipped version below:

Feedback -- We always enjoy hearing from readers, and last week we received a nice little email from Kevin Blier, the director of the Rutland-based Center for American Cultural Renewal -- www.cfacr.org.

The Center's stated goal is "to promote and protect traditional values based on the Judeo-Christian ethic . . . Our goal is to renew the promise of America envisioned by the Pilgrims of the 17th Century and the Founding Fathers of the 18th Century restoring our greatest institutions; traditional marriage, two-parent families, community and religious organizations, and civic responsibility for the purpose of renewing our values to fall in line with our most cherished traditions."

Earlier this year, Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Richard Tarrant went to Rutland and spoke to CFACR members in his run-up to declaring his candidacy. Apparently Richie Rich, a good Catholic boy whose charitable foundation has a policy against contributing to pro-choice organizations, made a good impression.

That's evidenced by the interest Director Blier took to our Tarrant coverage last week, and the fact that the Tarrant Campaign had not responded to our questions. Wrote Director Blier:

"Tisk, tisk, tisk [sic]. . ."

Q. "What do you call a political columnist with no access to politicians?"

A. "Finished"

"I saw your wimpering [sic] tirade this week about a lack of access to Tarrant. Funny how he won't speak to you after you've thrown him under the bus several times . . . imagine that, eh?"

"And forget about blaming "out-of-state" consultants for your lack of access. If I have my way, you'll get access to no one and like it!"

"And loved how you sucked up to Jim Barnett . . . you should get "Lemon Through a Straw" award for the giant, tart-tasting sucking you did on that one! By the way, how DO your lips feel after last week?"

"Considering the way you've gone after other members of the media in this state, good luck trying to find allies to make it painful for me. Most of them I've talked to can't stand you, and what's it say that an outspoken conservative like me has more friends in the liberal Vermont media than you do, a member of that very media? Seems you've burned more bridges than you've built."

"That giant ticking sound you hear, Mr. Freyne, is the clock winding down on your dismal career!"

We were so impressed, we emailed Mr. Blier back, requesting his photo to run right here alongside his insightful missive. Free publicity!

Unfortunately, and perhaps understandably, Kevin the sucking expert did not forward his mug shot. Can't blame him. In fact, he did send another charming, culturally renewing message, perhaps designed to prevent this column item from appearing:

"And of course, when you get done attacking me in your column, your editors will have no choice but to let me respond, which will give me access to your readers so they can hear my side of the story minus your editorializing."

"I love how a plan comes together. I might have access to Seven Days readers for months to come."

Sorry, Mr. Blier, but you've already gotten more space than you deserve. Your own words, we'd suggest, "attack" you better than we ever could.

Thanks for sharing.

Goodness, Kevin! Not another failed plan? And we'd forgotten all that talk about sucking and Freyne's lips. Your email to us was hardly as personalized and we won't forget it! Dirty boy!

Thanks to Chris in Bristol.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Brandon's "Night of the Long Knives!"

2006-03-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

Late this morning we received a chummy email from Kevin Blier, brimming with what we've come to know well as his brand of Christian congeniality. He'd even indicated that he intended to "continue to enjoy the insights" of our simple blog. Sadly, that camaraderie has been short-lived. His recent stunning loss at the polls has apparently weighed heavy on his mind and so a scape-goat he must find. Within hours he sent us this new and, should we say, much more paranoid message:

"Blierwatch editor:

I have to say, I appreciate all the help in “spreading the word” around Brandon. You managed to orchestrate quite a last-minute whisper smear campaign that helped the liberals in town organize.

What took you so long to incite such vitriol and hatred? I mean, one of Brandon’s most prominent liberals, Warren Kimble, had my business card for three months. It took the left-wing cabal three months to get its act together? But, I’ve got to hand it to you, for a group so insistent on calling others “hateful”, you do a pretty good job of stirring up the worst in people, as evidenced yesterday at the polls.

Cowards like you probably sleep okay at night, even when your intimidation tactics mirror the very same things you profess to despise. You should read Mein Kampf, as most learned historians are required to as undergraduates. It’s amazing what self-hatred will drive people to. You may learn a lot about yourself before you get the chance to silence your opponents permanently.

You seem to be well on your way to adopting all the tactics to find a “final solution” for conservatives like me, starting with the “Night of Long Knives” that I faced at the Brandon polls yesterday, right into your website to intimidate me into silence. Such hatred must be hard to manage. I hope you can control it!

Kevin W. Blier, Director
Center for American Cultural Renewal & Vermont Renewal
P.O. Box 1566, Rutland, VT 05701
www.cfacr.org
Email: kevin@cfacr.org"

Contrary to Kevin's seeming belief, this blog has had no contact with any voter in Brandon. We would like to hear more about this so-called "whisper smear campaign." Details, Kevin? Vermonters want to know.

Also, just about 24 hours before he had sent us his email, he'd written this at 802online:

"Infusing the Nazi comparisons is not only passe, but it actually shows that you bring nothing to the table making a plausible, rational argument for your position."

All in all, quite a day for Kevin: lose an election; lash out at the voters; and manage a little flip-floppery to boot!

Today's exchange reminds us of another that we learned about while researching Kevin Blier and his group. It seems that when Kevin was in the early stages of pimping for a Republican US Senate primary candidate, he'd decided that email flaming a Seven Days reporter, Peter Freyne, would be a clever thing to do. Kevin indicated that the reporter would be out in the cold and have no access to the candidate in the future. Given the candidate's by now well-known aversion to press in general, Freyne would seem to be in the same boat as every other reporter in the state, Kevin's spin notwithstanding. Hopefully, Seven Days will get around to restoring their archive access - those emails were priceless!

In the meantime, Kevin, keep sending us those emails!

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

"It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp!"

2006-03-07T23:41:00.000-05:00

We first became aware that Kevin Blier might be broadening his horizons from merely lobbying for a hate-filled group like Vermont Renewal/Center for American Cultural Renewal, to entering the local Vermont political scene when we came across this entry in last fall's Selectboard Minutes from the Town of Brandon in Addison County, Vermont:

"Kevin Blier, resident of 49 Carver Street, advised that he has been asked to circulate a petition for inclusion on the March ballot. Mr. Blier would like to know what the protocol is for circulating a petition for town meeting day requisition."

"Richard Baker stated that the statues indicate and suggest for resolutions at town meeting, an item can be placed on the ballot by a majority vote of the Select Board or a petition signed by 5% of the registered voters. If a petition is given to the Select Board for items that are under local control and a legal petition is provided, the Board would consider this for inclusion. If an issue is outside of local control, the Board does have the discretion of whether to place the item on the warning for town meeting, and if it were placed on the warning it would be for advisory purposes only. It was noted that past Select Boards have opted not to include advisory resolutions in the warning. Mr. Blier stated that he did not want to go through the process if it was not going to be considered and questioned whether the Board would be amenable to an advisory petition relative to under-age abortion. Bill Hatch stated that he would personally discourage that kind of article, as he is uncertain that we could vote on something of this nature. Mr. Hatch noted that it is at Mr. Blier’s discretion whether to move forward on this item. Mr. Blier stated that with the statutes being unclear, it would be helpful for citizens to have a written policy on this process. Steve Carr stated that if 5% of the registered voters signed the petition, he would consider it, but not knowing the nature of the petition, he could not advise whether he would approve or disapprove it at this point. Keith Arlund stated that for reference, the handbook for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns does suggest there is a case law that supports a Board of Selectmen’s decision to not place advisory non-binding matter on the warning. Keith Arlund stated that he would provide a copy of this information to Mr. Blier."

It's at times like these that the full extent of the emptiness of Kevin's organization's boasting at their website becomes apparent. You should hardly call yourself a "DO tank" if you don't even know the fundamentals about Town Meeting and advisory petitions "at the local level." One might think that Blier's team mate, Judith Sargent, editor of Vermont Renewal's newsletter, might have mentioned to Kevin that the Vermont League of Cities and Towns offers such information in its handbooks since her husband David serves as Chittendon Select Board Chairman, a fact she never seems to tire of "disclosing" in her faux news column (there are limits to what crap we'll link to, so in this instance we won't).

According to the Brandon Town Clerk and a subsequent check of Town records and minutes, no such petition was presented that resulted in an advisory warrant item "relative to under-age abortion" by Kevin Blier. So much for that.

We were surprised when Kevin didn't resort to one of his usual attacks on the Select Board, as he so often does whenever the system doesn't comply with his demands. In fact, it was so out of character that we sensed there must be more to come. Sure enough, we soon discovered that shortly after his most recent failure, Kevin offered himself up to the community to be a member of the School Board at Otter Vally Union High School:

"The Otter Valley Union High School Board will see a race for a three-year seat, between incumbent Robert Clark and challenger Kevin Blier."

Well, the votes have come in for the School Board seat. Kevin Blier loses again, and by a margin (37%) as dismal as President Bush's own recent approval rating in a CBS poll (34%). He couldn't even garner the percentage of the vote that had opposed the school budget (43%). Maybe the voters had gotten a whiff of his group's thoughts on Intelligent Design and figured that there might be better ways for a school system to piss away a million dollars. Perhaps Brandon voters hadn't forgotten the lessons of an earlier homophobe and anti-Semite who used a School Board position as a steppingstone. Whatever the reason, they didn't come close to taking what he has to offer. So failing yet again, and despite the CFACR boasts about his and their leadership ability at the local level, Kevin might do well to remember Prov: 28:25 -

"He that boasteth, and puffeth himself, stirreth up quarrels."

Not unlike a pimp. Or a lobbyist. Or whatever.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Straight? Unhappy? Cease & Desist!

2006-03-03T17:35:00.000-05:00

A resource of the Center for American Cultural Renewal has been Jerry Falwell's Liberty Counsel. Having failed repeatedly in the marketplace of ideas, the religious culture warriors are more frequently turning to litigation as a favored tactic to silence the opposition, as in the case of the parody above of the ludicrously ineffective fundie billboard campaign in support of so-called reparative therapy.

The post late last summer of this parody of the Exodus International billboard has resulted in the Liberty Counsel's chief legal thug, Michael Staver, sending a Cease and Desist letter to the website Justinsomnia. Staver's organization has backed Kevin Blier and his group in a variety of actions, such as interfering in a lesbian couple's Family Court proceeding and in seeking to overturn longstanding Vermont legislative tradition.

The issue of religious litigiousness with regards to gay free speech needs more discussion. Bloggers are responding to the call here, here, here and here, just to name a few. Can you help?

There's not too much irony in the idea of fundie lawyers protecting the trademark of an "ex-gay" recruiting billboard, eh? As Jason so smartassedly summed it all up:

UPDATE (3/4): For those who may be unaware, Exodus International is run by this guy, Alan Chambers.

Photo via WayneBesen.com

'Nuff said. Ex-GayWatch and Wayne Besen have more on this snake.

UPDATE (3/6): Uh oh. Looks like trouble! The forces of faith are starting to rally at Edicts of Nancy and Jesus' General.

Mike Tidmus adds a thought:

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

God Hates Fags?

2006-03-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

Kevin Blier's impish webstaff has posted this "timely" piece titled by them as Fag Commentary: "Rebuke Them Sharply". Naturally with the usual lame disclaimer they make when they try to duck the charge that they share the same opinion, that "the views of the writer may not be those of CFACR or of our readers." Sure. And one of the leaders of CFACR "may not be" a wingnut Millerite still trying to get over his Great Disappointment, a loopy bit of fundie dogma that was nailed so precisely by the Simpson's crew in the Thank God It's Doomsday episode.

Sadly for them, Kevin's group of malcontents are in for future disappointments as they pursue their agenda, which is scripted for them by the supreme hate-mongering wingnut himself via his legal army at the misnamed Liberty Counsel.

Blier's hate group needs no encouragement or excuse to call people fags. The post on the subject even offers the argument that their god hates fags. Sound familiar? It should. Stephen Cable and Judith Sargent, back when they called their group Who Would Have Thought?, Inc, sided with the Fred Phelps crowd in more than a few ways.

You just have to wonder what and who else this group hates when they sound and act so much like Fred Phelps' mob.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Thanks Kevin!

2006-02-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

In a recent post at the Kevin Blier hate site, Center for American Cultural Renewal/Vermont Renewal, the wingnuts went off (again!) on Planned Parenthood. This time it was to point to Margaret Sanger's link to eugenics and racism in 1916. Fair enough. In their post they refer to a piece on Sanger by La Shawn Barber, a truly venomous religious rightwing crank if there ever was one.

It's interesting that Blier's group would seek to make a connection of some sort between the beliefs of a founding member of a group from 90 years ago with the group today. That must mean that the Blierites see that there is a very definite connection to their own much more recent associations with neo-Nazis and racists as first disclosed last month here on Blier Watch.

Thanks for helping to make our point Kevin.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

In Memoriam

2006-01-31T17:32:00.000-05:00

Coretta Scott King
1927 - 2006

From Chicago speechs by Coretta Scott King on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther Kings assassination:

"I still hear people say that I should not be talking about the rights of lesbian and gay people and I should stick to the issue of racial justice. But I hasten to remind them that Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream to make room at the table of brother- and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people."
- 31 March 1998

and

"Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group."

"We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be," she said, quoting her husband. "I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy."

"For many years now, I have been an outspoken supporter of civil and human rights for gay and lesbian people. Gays and lesbians stood up for civil rights in Montgomery, Selma, in Albany, Ga. and St. Augustine, Fla., and many other campaigns of the Civil Rights Movement. Many of these courageous men and women were fighting for my freedom at a time when they could find few voices for their own, and I salute their contributions."
- 1 April 1998

Straight Pride.com

2006-01-30T15:42:00.000-05:00

One might think the notion of a "Straight Pride" group would be at best silly, but, as with all things associated with the extremism of the religious right, Straight Pride has a more shadowy history.

In most reports about the group the focus first turns toward a 2002 United States District Court ruling that found that a Woodbury (MN) High School student, Elliot Chambers, had experienced a free speech infringement at the hands of his school principal when he had been told not to wear a StraightPride.com black hooded sweat shirt with the words "Straight Pride - straightpride.com" printed in white lettering across its front while he was in school. Chambers' litigation was underwritten by the radical, religious right anti-gay organization AFA (American Family Association). In an entry on its website, the AFA also provides a link to the source of Chambers' sweat shirt, StraightPride.com.

In the years following the court's ruling there have been a number of college campus groups set up modeled after Chambers' own original campaign as a Christian who opposed tolerance of gays and lesbians under the guise of defending the group they argue is most under fire today - heterosexuals. Never mind that in two thirds of United States when can legally be fired for being lesbian or gay. Forget that gay families are under legal fire by groups like Blier's. Nope, it's heterosexuals who've got it bad. Sorta like white people.

I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous but here's the thing. Craig Storm, the founder of StraightPride.com is also concerned about the plight of white Americans. In fact he's so concerned that he joined the discussion forum at Stormfront.org. Although since it was discovered that he was a regular poster at Stormfront and had received praise there from the racist, neo-Nazi hate-monger, David Duke, for his work at StraightPride.com, Storm has had his anti-gay, racist and handgun obsessed posts deleted from the hate-site. Here's a copy of his membership profile that was posted last year at another website that monitors the activities of religious hate groups.

StraightPride.com made the blogosphere's bigtime when this post appeared last year at Jesus' General website. Five days later StraightPride.com's new Director of Public Relations, Adam Key, resigned from the organization after he too had confirmed Craig Storm's neo-Nazi connections. Since then the StraightPride.com website has gone silent, although it appears that T-shirts and such are still available for purchase there. Naturally, Blier's group offers Straight Pride handouts in its publications section.

Center for American Cultural Renewal/Vermont Renewal. StraightPride.com. American Family Association. Stormfront.org.

Birds of a feather...

UPDATE (4/18): Welcome Gay Youth UK readers!

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Wannabe

2005-12-28T21:20:00.000-05:00

There are reports that Kevin W. Blier first appeared on the conservative political scene in New Hampshire as a would-be Young Republican leader whose colleagues found had a style that they couldn't quite stomach, even in a Republican. So much so that when it looked as though he had the votes in a multi-candidate race to take a vice-chairmanship, an opponent backed out to throw his support (and votes) to a more rational choice. A few years later Blier took on his present role at The Center for American Cultural Renewal/ Vermont Renewal as its Director and Director of Communications.

Before Blier's arrival there The Center for American Cultural Renewal had staked it's claim as a resource for extremists among Vermont's evangelical Christians, as well as an umbrella organization to assist like-minded bigots in advancing their common exclusionary agenda. Their website is a collection of familiar propaganda from the religious right. Modeled after much more successful anti-gay organizations but every bit their equal in promoting vitriol and hatred by circulating misinformation in a fashion that is now de rigeur among racist and anti-Semetic organizations on the far right.

While at a adjunct seminar to a CPAC conference that Blier attended earlier this year he gave this unsurprisingly bloated assessment of he and his organization's effectiveness on the Vermont political scene:

"My name is Kevin Blier, the director for an organization out of Vermont called (T)he Center for American Cultural Renewal. Let me just say because our operation works out of Vermont, we are working out of the belly of the beast. And a lot of what we are trying to accomplish is competing in the world of ideas in that state and in other states where others are operating in the belly of the beast. Let me just – if I could – bring one military analogy to something that Stephen Moore mentioned not only in his writing but also in his public statements here: the issue of think tanks versus do tanks. And I don’t necessarily think they are in a “versus” type of thing. But let me just make the suggestion that there isn’t anybody in this room who would look at a $400 billion military budget and say let’s send it all to the Pentagon and just pay generals. And what I mean by that is, I look around the room at the people – a lot of the leadership in this room and a lot of the people at this roundtable – and say, these are the people who are part of the intellectual conservative movement who have a lot of great ideas. I think what we don’t do enough of is fund the boots on the ground. And if we want to – if it’s a war for territory – let’s say if it is a culture war – and we’re trying to take territory, we don’t take territory by just having generals come up with great ideas. I think we need to do more focus on having the boots on the ground if we are going to win battles. And I just wanted to throw that out there to those of you who are looking to fund organizations that are going to take ground."

Such repetitive use of self-aggrandizing military metaphors usually is the hallmark of a Republican chickenhawk type of wannabe. No wonder Blier's group touts its endorsement by another Republican chickenhawk, Bill Bennett. Blier's record is one of failures and his failures are beginning to mount up: a failed attempt to unseat Vermont Supreme Court Justice Denise Johnson; a failed attempt to oust Vermont Supreme Court Justice John Dooley; a failed lawsuit aimed at altering a legislative tradition outside of the normal rules making process (what part of losing the November 2004 election does Blier not understand?); and his endless kvetching aimed at gaining some primacy to his hardcore, reactionary views on the editorial page of the Rutland Herald. Despite what he says about his group being a "do tank", he's accummulating the record of a "doesn't do so much tank" that consists primarily of failed efforts and overblown press releases.

If Blier ever expects his organization to ever be taken seriously here in Vermont, he should consider deleting from his website links to groups like the Family Research Council that rely heavily on the "research" of the Family Research Institute, led by de-licensed Dr. Paul Cameron, who had been found by a court to have "made misrepresentations" in his research claims. Even more disturbing is the fact that the Family Research Institute has been identified as a known hate group by the respected Southern Poverty Law Center. It probably wouldn't hurt to also delete references from his site to a certified screwball, "Dr" Judith Reisman the "discoverer" of Erototoxins. Hard to "take ground" when your intelligence comes from sources that the court has found to have lied, are identified as a hate group by an organization that normally tracks the Klan and Nazis, or that are just plain flaky.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

A Little History...

2005-12-13T16:59:00.000-05:00

The Center for American Cultural Renewal (cfacr.org), or Vermont Renewal as it is sometimes known, is the offspring of an earlier, little known group called "Who Would Have Thought?" that was founded by the hard-core religious right activists Stephen Cable and Judith Sargent at the time that the Civil Unions Act was approved by the Vermont state legislature.

Stephen Cable, a Rutland, VT (right) insurance agent, had been around for years. He is best known for angry, insistent "letters to the editor" that espoused unproven theories and opinions on human sexuality, with an oddly obsessive focus on gay sex. His spurious contentions about gays are based on "research" from very discredited sources such as Paul Cameron of the Family Rearch Council and the always entertaining Judith Reisman. (More on the notorious Cameron and the bizarre yet powerful FRC, as well as the slanderous bigot Reisman, in future posts).

Some say that Cable has had earlier personal connections to notoriously unsuccessful "ex-gay ministries" but certainly at his cfacr.org site we can see that he touts the work of these frauds now. Practicing what is called "reparative therapy" these groups programs have been roundly condemned by the American Psychiatric Association , the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association, the National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of Social Workers. These groups, along with the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the American School Health Association, the Interfaith Alliance Foundation and the National Education Association put out the following statement more than 15 years ago:

The most important fact about 'reparative therapy,' also sometimes known as 'conversion' therapy, is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of Social Workers, together representing more than 477,000 health and mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus there is no need for a 'cure.' ...health and mental health professional organizations do not support efforts to change young people's sexual orientation through 'reparative therapy' and have raised serious concerns about its potential to do harm.

The decision by the Vermont Supreme Court in Baker v. Vermont upset activists like Cable so much that he and his group urged the legislature to defy the Court. Anti-gay activists cared little about the effect that such a constitutionally dumb act would have had. They dismissed the recognition by the legislature of marriage being preserved for male-female couples. Like white supremacists in the 60's fearing the results of the US Supreme Court's decision in Loving v Virginia that struck down Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, Vermont's anti-gay activists like Cable based much of their argument on purported biblical prohibitions, misinformation and an appeal to the baser instincts of some Vermonters.

Cable and the other groups goal was then, and remains today, the institutionalization and state sanction of discrimination, supported by their own peculiar religious beliefs, with the ultimate goal to be the complete breakdown of church and state separation, leading to a state level (if not national) theocracy. To that end these activists pursued a narrow agenda in 2000, primarily that of driving from the state legislature those who had voted for Civil Unions and advocating for the removal from the Court of those justices that had affirmed the Baker decision. They were partly, although only briefly, successful. They, along with other groups that had fundamentalist or evangelical connections, like TIP (Take It To The People) and a group calling itself Take Back Vermont (Funny story here: The "Take Back Vermont" crowd failed to register the tradename "Take Back Vermont." Two Ferrisburg, VT women, sensing an entrepreneurial opportunity, registered the name for their Vermont-made products company. Succeeding groups like Vermont Renewal have learned from that lesson and are quite diligent about their "brands," so much so that they've left quite the paper trail), were able to see that 17 of the legislators who had voted for the Civil Unions Act were ousted in the November 2000 election. Most, if not all of the anti-civil union replacements that they supported or sponsored, had short careers due to the limited scope of their agenda. A successful legislator needed to be more than against something. The legislature is back to normal now and, despite the dire predictions of the anti-civil union forces, the sky has not fallen.

During this period Vermonters learned something about what other parts of the country had been going through in the name of religious intolerance. Fundamentalist cranks of all stripes showed up. Extremists like Randall Terry took up residence in the state. He was acclaimed and fêted by local anti-civil union activists like Rep. Nancy Sheltra (R-Newport). He was every bit as nasty as his reputation suggests and ironically, while working hard to deny Vermont lesbians and gays of their right to spousal benefits, he had just been censured by his church, the Landmark Church of Binghamton, New York, for a "pattern of repeated and sinful relationships and conversations with both single and married women." (Washington Post, February 12, 2000) Terry has since dumped his wife (not a very Christian a thing to do!) and has re-married to a former staffer.

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good...Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism."
— Randall Terry as quoted at an anti-abortion rally in Fort Wayne, Indiana by the Fort Wayne News Sentinel, August 16, 1993

More on Cable, his associates and many misrepresentations in the future.

Next up: Kevin Blier.

"What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

Is Homophobia a Mental Disorder?

2005-12-11T14:13:00.000-05:00

Perhaps.

Increasingly, the study of study of biases such as racism, anti-Semitism, sexism and homophobia are being encouraged in the mental health research community. Recognizing that we are all biased in some fashion the question then becomes, when do ordinary human prejudices acquire a pathological feature? All people experience sadness as an emotion. That is not a disorder. Major depression is a disorder. So how are we to view organized, delusion groups that advance a homophobic or racist agenda? Can we find instances where these groups, who often claim no association, by necessity cross paths? During the coming weeks and months, we at Blier Watch will be examining these delusions, assertions and connections, with a focus on the group that calls itself "The Center for American Cultural Renewal."

To begin, here's a piece just published in the Washington Post:

Psychiatry Ponders Whether Extreme Bias Can Be an Illness
By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
December 10, 2005

The 48-year-old man turned down a job because he feared that a co-worker would be gay. He was upset that gay culture was becoming mainstream and blamed most of his personal, professional and emotional problems on the gay and lesbian movement.

These fixations preoccupied him every day. Articles in magazines about gays made him agitated. He confessed that his fears had left him socially isolated and unemployed for years: A recovering alcoholic, the man even avoided 12-step meetings out of fear he might encounter a gay person.

"He had a fixed delusion about the world," said Sondra E. Solomon, a psychologist at the University of Vermont who treated the man for two years. "He felt under attack, he felt threatened."

Mental health practitioners say they regularly confront extreme forms of racism, homophobia and other prejudice in the course of therapy, and that some patients are disabled by these beliefs. As doctors increasingly weigh the effects of race and culture on mental illness, some are asking whether pathological bias ought to be an official psychiatric diagnosis.

Advocates have circulated draft guidelines and have begun to conduct systematic studies. While the proposal is gaining traction, it is still in the early stages of being considered by the professionals who decide on new diagnoses.

If it succeeds, it could have huge ramifications on clinical practice, employment disputes and the criminal justice system. Perpetrators of hate crimes could become candidates for treatment, and physicians would become arbiters of how to distinguish "ordinary prejudice" from pathological bias.

Several experts said they are unsure whether bias can be pathological. Solomon, for instance, is uncomfortable with the idea. But they agreed that psychiatry has been inattentive to the effects of prejudice on mental health and illness.

"Has anyone done a word search for 'racism' in DSM-IV? It doesn't exist," said Carl C. Bell, a Chicago psychiatrist, referring to psychiatry's manual of mental disorders. "Has anyone asked, 'If you have paranoia, do you project your hostility toward other groups?' The answer is 'Hell, no!' "

The proposed guidelines that California psychologist Edward Dunbar created describe people whose daily functioning is paralyzed by persistent fears and worries about other groups. The guidelines have not been endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association, which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM); advocates are mostly seeking support for systematic study.

Darrel A. Regier, director of research at the psychiatric association, said he supports research into whether pathological bias is a disorder. But he said the jury is out on whether a diagnostic classification would add anything useful, given that clinicians already know about disorders in which people rigidly hold onto false beliefs.

"If you are going to put racism into the next edition of DSM, you would have enormous criticism," Regier said. Critics would ask, " 'Are you pathologizing all of life?' You better be prepared to defend that classification."

"I think it's absurd," said Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and the author of "PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine." Satel said the diagnosis would allow hate-crime perpetrators to evade responsibility by claiming they suffered from a mental illness. "You could use it as a defense."

Psychiatrists who advocate a new diagnosis, such as Gary Belkin, deputy chief of psychiatry at New York's Bellevue Hospital, said social norms play a central role in how all psychiatric disorders are defined. Pedophilia is considered a disorder by psychiatrists, Belkin noted, but that does not keep child molesters from being prosecuted.

"Psychiatrists who are uneasy with including something like this in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual need to get used to the fact that the whole manual reflects social context," said Belkin, who is planning to launch a study on pathological bias among patients at his hospital. "That is true of depression on down. Pathological bias is no more or less scientific than major depression."

Advocates for the new diagnosis also say most candidates for treatment, such as the man Solomon treated, are not criminals or violent offenders. Rather, they are like the young woman in Los Angeles who thought Jews were diseased and would infect her -- she carried out compulsive cleansing rituals and hit her head to drive away her obsessions. She realized she needed help but was afraid her therapist would be Jewish, said Dunbar, a Los Angeles psychologist who has amassed several case studies and treated several dozen patients for racial paranoia and other forms of what he considers pathological bias.

Another patient was a waiter so hostile to black people that he flung plates on the table when he served black patrons and got fired from multiple jobs.

A third patient was a Vietnam War veteran who was so fearful of Asians that he avoided social situations where he might meet them, Dunbar said.

"When I see someone who won't see a physician because they're Jewish, or who can't sit in a restaurant because there are Asians, or feels threatened by homosexuals in the workplace, the party line in mental health says, 'This is not our problem,' " the psychologist said. "If it's not our problem, whose problem is it?"

Opponents say making pathological bias a diagnosis raises the specter of social engineering -- brainwashing individuals who do not fit society's norms. But Dunbar and others say patients with disabling levels of prejudice should be treated for the same reason as are patients with any other disorder: They would feel, live and function better.

"They are delusional," said Alvin F. Poussaint, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who has long advocated such a diagnosis. "They imagine people are going to do all kinds of bad things and hurt them, and feel they have to do something to protect themselves.

"When they reach that stage, they are very impaired," he said. "They can't work and function; they can't hold a job. They would benefit from treatment of some type, particularly medication."

Doctors who treat inmates at the California State Prison outside Sacramento concur: They have diagnosed some forms of racist hatred among inmates and administered antipsychotic drugs.

"We treat racism and homophobia as delusional disorders," said Shama Chaiken, who later became a divisional chief psychologist for the California Department of Corrections, at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. "Treatment with antipsychotics does work to reduce these prejudices."

* * *

Amid a profusion of recent studies into the nature of prejudice, researchers have found that biases are very common. Almost everyone harbors what might be termed "ordinary prejudice," the research indicates.

Anthony Greenwald, a psychologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and Mahzarin R. Banaji, a psychologist at Harvard, developed tests for such biases. By measuring the speed with which people make mental associations, the psychologists found that biases affect even those who actively resist them.

"When things are more strongly paired in our minds, we can respond to them more quickly," Banaji said. "Large numbers of Americans cannot as swiftly make the association between 'black' and 'good' as they can between 'white' and 'good.' "

Similarly, psychologist Margo Monteith at the University of Kentucky in Lexington found that people can have prejudices against groups they know nothing about. She administered a test in which volunteers, under time pressure, had to associate a series of words with either "America" or a fictitious country she called "Marisat."

Volunteers more easily associated Marisat with such words as "poison," "death" and "evil," while associating America with "sunrise," "paradise" and "loyal."

"A large part of our self-esteem derives from our group membership," Monteith said. "To the extent we can feel better about our group relative to other groups, we can feel good about ourselves. It's likely a built-in mechanism."

If biases are so common, many doctors ask, can racism really be a mental illness?

"I don't think racism is a mental illness, and that's because 100 percent of people are racist," said Paul J. Fink, a former president of the American Psychiatric Association. "If you have a diagnostic category that fits 100 percent of people, it's not a diagnostic category."

But Poussaint said there is a difference between ordinary prejudice and pathological bias -- the same distinction that psychiatrists make between sadness and depression. All people experience sadness, anxiety and fear, but extreme, disabling forms of these emotions are called disorders.

While people with ordinary prejudice try very hard to conceal their biases, Solomon said, her homophobic patient had no embarrassment about his attitude toward gays. Dunbar said people with pathological prejudice often lack filtering capabilities. As a result, he said, they face problems at work and home.

"Everyone is inculcated with stereotypes and biases with cultural issues, but some individuals not only hold beliefs that are very rigid, but they are part of a psychological problem," Dunbar said.

The psychologist said he has helped such patients with talk therapy, which encourages patients to question the basis for their beliefs, and by steering them toward medications such as antipsychotics.

The woman with the bias against Jews did not overcome her prejudice, Dunbar said, but she learned to control her fear response in social settings. The patient with hostility against African Americans realized his beliefs were "stupid."

Solomon discovered she was most effective dealing with the homophobic man when she was nonjudgmental. When he claimed there were more gays and lesbians than ever before, she presented him with data showing there was no such shift.

At those times, she reported in a case study, the patient would say, "I know, I know." He would recognize that he was not being logical, but then get angry and return to the same patterns of obsession. Solomon did not identify the man because of patient confidentiality.

Standing in the central yard of the maximum-security California State Prison with inmates exercising around her, Chaiken explained how she distinguished pathological bias from ordinary prejudice: A prisoner who belonged to a gang with racist views might express such views to fit in with his gang, but if he continues "yelling racial slurs, assaulting others when it's clear there is no benefit" after he leaves the gang, the behavior was no longer "adaptive."

Prison officials declined to identify inmates who had been treated, or make them available for interviews.

Chicago psychiatrist Bell said he has not made up his mind on whether bias can be pathological. But in proposing a research agenda for the next edition of psychiatry's DSM of mental disorders, Bell and researchers from the Mayo Clinic, McGill University, the University of California at Los Angeles and other academic institutions wrote: "Clinical experience informs us that racism may be a manifestation of a delusional process, a consequence of anxiety, or a feature of an individual's personality dynamics."

The psychiatrists said their profession has neglected the issue: "One solution would be to encourage research that seeks to delineate the validity and reliability of racism as a symptom and to investigate the possibility of including it in some diagnostic criteria sets in future editions of DSM."

Groups like The Center for American Cultural Renewal frequently cite the work of supposedly scientific sources. We'll examine their sources. If the sources are not scientific, but are the work of equally delusional bigots, is it not like the prison gang prejudices that reinforce their biases in a purportedly fact-based way that really is nothing more than a validation of the group paranoia/bias?

Hopefully we'll conduct this examination in an informative and at times lighthearted way. We'll leave humorlessness to the folks at The Center for American Cultural Renewal.

"What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2005-12-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

This site is a grassroots effort dedicated to examining the shenanigans, as well as connecting some of dots, of the hate-mongers over at The Center for American Cultural Renewal/Vermont Renewal. The opening date is expected to be during the coming holidays.

What do fellow GOP conservatives say about The Center for American Cultural Renewal? "...(A)n organization with no Washington presence and little clout with social conservatives outside Vermont where it is based."