By signing that letter to Iran newly minted Senator Joni Ernst might have just opened herself up to a court martial.

Courtesy of the Daily Kos:

Lt. Col. Joni Ernst, the junior senator from Iowa, is a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard. As such, she is bound by the Iowa State Code of Military Justice. Her signing of the seditious letter to Iran is a clear and direct violation of Chapter 29B.85 of the Iowa State Code of Military Justice. 

29B.85 CONTEMPT TOWARD OFFICIALS. 

Any person subject to this code who uses contemptuous words against the president, the governor, or the governor of any other state, territory, commonwealth, or possession in which that person may be serving, shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

Well now isn't THAT interesting?

Ernst of course is not the ONLY Senator who might have reason to regret signing that letter.

John McCain does not seem terribly thrilled with his decision either:  

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the signers of the controversial letter to Iran’s leadership, admitted Tuesday night that the letter might not have been the way to express frustration that President Obama isn’t working with Congress on nuclear negotiations with Tehran. 

“What that letter did was tell the Iranians that whatever deal they make, the Congress of the United States will play a role,” he said on Fox News’s “On the Record with Greta van Susteren.” 

“Maybe that wasn’t the best way to do that, but I think the Iranians should know that the Congress of the United States has to play a role in whether an agreement of this magnitude.” 

“It’s also symptomatic between the total lack of trust that exists now between we Republicans and the president,” he said. 

“This has established a poisoned environment here which sometimes causes us to react maybe in not the most effective fashion.”

Perhaps somebody needs to remind this old fossil that it was NOT President Obama who fired the first round in the war with the Republicans they started that skirmish the night of his inauguration:  

On the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration, a group of top GOP luminaries quietly gathered in a Washington steakhouse to lick their wounds and ultimately create the outline of a plan for how to deal with the incoming administration. 

“The room was filled. It was a who’s who of ranking members who had at one point been committee chairmen, or in the majority, who now wondered out loud whether they were in the permanent minority,” Frank Luntz, who organized the event, told FRONTLINE. 

Among them were Senate power brokers Jim DeMint, Jon Kyl and Tom Coburn, and conservative congressmen Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan. 

After three hours of strategizing, they decided they needed to fight Obama on everything. The new president had no idea what the Republicans were planning.

I defy John McCain to explain how ANY President is supposed to work toward compromise with THAT sort of entrenched oppostion.

This Iran letter is just the latest example of the kind of uncooperative, underhanded, and even treasonous behavior exhibited by members of the Republican party since the very day this President was sworn into office.

This is the most aggressive language I have EVER heard a President use concerning sexual assault in the military. And I like it!

Here is the source:

Valerie Jarrett, among President Obama’s closest advisers, and Tina Tchen, first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, called the meeting at the White House two days after the Pentagon reported a 35 percent rise in the number of military members victimized by sexual assault and related crimes over the past two years. 

During a news conference the same day, Obama said, “If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged — period.”

You know as the father of a young woman, and a person who once taught self defense course for women, I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to see the President using such unequivocal language concerning sexual assault.

Sexual assault is not about sex, it is about power. And it is about using that power to demean, brutalize, and humiliate somebody into acquiescing to the demands of their assailant.

I for one hope that the President follows through on this and we start seeing some of these misogynistic jackasses standing in front of military courts and being forced to listen as their crimes are read out in front of their commanding officers and families before being court-martialed or dishonorably discharged.

However it should be noted that if stronger guidelines are implemented it will be most likely WITHOUT the support of the majority of Republicans who recently demonstrated their lack of support for victims by fighting against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

According to former Navy Chaplain homosexuality is the result of "gay demons" which can also possess animals. Oh, well that explains...wait what?

Former Navy Chaplain, Gordon Klingenschmitt, who founded lobbying group The Pray In Jesus Name Project, appeared on a progressive talk show this week to criticize President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same sex marriage.

This is the rather startling exchange he had with the host David Pakman:  

“The problem is, nobody’s born a homosexual,” he said, explaining that all gay people are converted via “marketing” because the LGBT community “has an agenda” to “repopulate their population by recruiting the children of heterosexuals.” 

Klingenschmitt added that “anyone who’s studied” genetics knows that homosexuality is not an inherent trait, simply because LGBT people aren’t capable of reproducing and passing that genetic trait along. Though Pacman didn’t immediately challenge it, that’s a claim as bizarre as it is untrue, as scientists have long known homosexuality can be attributed to genetic traits and many LGBT people have reproduced thanks to the help of platonic opposite sex partners. 

“That’s what this whole marketing scheme for pro-homosexual movement is all about,” 

Klingenschmitt insisted, reiterating his point about repopulating the LGBT community. 

That’s when Pacman hit him with the science on homosexuality in the animal kingdom. 

“Let’s step back for a second, Gordon, and say okay, let’s assume you’re right that homosexuality among humans is only because of marketing,” Pacman countered. “What about in the 4,000 other species that have homosexuality? Because, as far as I know, they don’t have TV. They don’t have advertising. They don’t have the iTunes store to recruit people. How is it that humans are gay sometimes because of marketing, but 4,000 other species… Why? Is it something else?” 

“It is entirely possible — we know from the Bible, for example, when Jesus cast the devil out of Legion, he went into a herd of pigs,” Klingenschmitt said. “So, it is possible for demons or the devil to inhabit or invade animals just the same way they invade humans, and that causes the sin of lust.” 

Picture of gay demon. For you skeptics out there.

“So, what you’re saying is, in humans it’s marketing that makes people gay; in animals, it’s the souls of gay humans who have invaded the animals,” Pacman replied. “That makes them gay?” 

Klingenschmitt laughed and scratched his temple. “Well, I think you twisted what I’m saying there,” he said. 

“No, I don’t think I did,” Pacman responded. 

Backpedaling, Klingenschmitt explained that he believes marketing to be “related to the demonic, because the devil wants to recruit people into sin.” He added that even Pacman himself was being used by the devil to promote “the homosexual agenda.” 

“I don’t promote homosexuality any more than I promote being tall,” Pacman deadpanned.

Man there is SO much stupid in this exchange that I almost don't know where to start.

Essentially there is literally NO way to reason with a person who views social change, biology, and sexuality through the prism of Biblical superstition.

No matter which carefully researched, and scientifically sound facts you were to introduce, this individual would simply discount them because he sees the world as a child sees the world, broken up into simple categories of bad vs good, evil vs non-evil, and satanic vs godly.

With those definitions in place, especially as this person clearly sees himself as an instrument for for spreading the message of good, there is no way to communicate the ridiculousness of their argument.

Now Klingenschmitt is clearly a nutjob, but the rationale he uses to justify his seemingly insane world view is not THAT dissimilar from the one used by a large number of devout Christians to view the subject of homosexuality.

Take a look at this Facebook rant from a Kansas middle school social studies teacher:

"All this talk in the news about gay marriage recently has finally driven me to write. Gay marriage is wrong because homosexuality is wrong. The Bible clearly states it is sin. Now I do not claim it to be a sin any worse than other sins. It ranks in God's eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing, or cheating. His standards are perfect and ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Sin is sin and we all deserve hell. Only those who accept Christ as Lord and daily with the help of the Spirit do their best to turn from sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There aren't multiple ways to get to Heaven. There is one. To many this may seem close minded and antagonistic, but it doesn't make it any less true. Folks I am willing to admit that my depravity is just as great as anyone else's, and without Christ I'd be destined for hell, if not for the undeserved grace of God. I'm not condemning gay marriage because I hate gay people. I am doing it because those who embrace it will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And I desire that for no one."

In other words homosexuality is just as much of a sin as murder. Now keep in mind that this is a man who teaches in the PUBLIC SCHOOL system, not a Christian school, and who has influence over the developing young minds of prepubescent children that have no idea how illogical his point of view is, or how out of touch it is with the way the world is changing.

And undoubtedly SOME of the people he has influence over are just now becoming aware that THEY themselves might be gay. Imagine how quickly those kids will stuff themselves back into the closet, and slam the door, when surrounded by this kind of insane homophobia!

I know that I sometimes take heat for challenging the Bible, or taking Christianity to task, but considering that it is where these people find their"facts" to support their disgusting point of view and their inspiration to attack people who do not fit their interpretation of normal, what choice do I really have?

I mean gay demons possessing animals, really?