One Million Moms

• Michael Keegan @ PFAW Blog: Hypocrisy, McCarthyism & “Christian Persecution.” 

• Timothy Johnson @ Media Matters: Media Credulously Repeat Sen. Ayotte’s Claim To Have Voted For Background Checks. 

• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: With a whimper. 

• Alex Pareene @ Salon: GOP successfully scream “Benghazi” until people pay attention to them. 

• Good As You: One Million Moms seeks Mouse House’s mass discrimination.

• Joe.My.God: FRC: We Need “Divine Intervention” To Stop Gay Marriage In Minnesota. 

• Zach Beauchamp @ Think Progress: Harvard Historian Decries ‘Speech Police’ In Pseudo-Defense Of Homophobic Comments.

• David Corn @ Mother Jones: Dick Armey: "This Kind of Secrecy is Why I Left" FreedomWorks.
• Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Jindal re-embraces 'dumbed-down conservatism.'
• Zack Beauchamp @ Think Progress: Fox News Op-Ed Says Women’s Nature Is To Be Dominated By Men.
• Towleroad: Bill O'Reilly Believes That the 'Gay Rights Agenda' is at the Root of the 'War on Christmas.'
• Ben Dimiero & Eric Hananoki @ Media Matters: The Dick Morris/Newsmax Super PAC Boondoggle.
• Daily Kos: GOP did, in fact, spend big on Todd Akin's behalf.
• Andrew Kirell @ Mediaite: They’re Back! Anti-Gay Group Calls For Boycott Of JC Penney’s Over Ellen Degeneres Christmas Ad.

• Mitt Romney is now totally disavowing his infamous "47% " remarks.
• That must disappoint Bryan Fischer, who thinks the statement right-on and says that liberals "cannot be collaborated with, they can only be defeated. "
• Jerome Corsi is now claiming that President Obama's marriage to Michelle was arranged and orchestrated by Jesse Jackson.
• OneMillionMoms is proclaiming victory over JC Penney.
• Read this and keep in mind that Antonin Scalia is almost universally cited by all Republican candidates when they talk about the kind of justices they want to see on the Supreme Court.
• Finally, Arkansas state Rep. Jon Hubbard explains that slavery was a good thing for black people because that were "rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth."

Last year, Liberty Counsel and the Family Research Council were outraged — outraged! — when gay rights advocates began pressuring companies to end their ties to a so-called charity group called the CGBG, which funds anti-gay organizations including LC and FRC. The two groups urged retailers to “remain neutral in the culture wars” and accused gay rights supporters of “economic terrorism.” The FRC even created a website where activists could call on companies to “remain neutral in the current cultural battles, thus enabling you to focus on business and not force consumers to make purchasing choices based on corporate political agendas.”

Of course, both LC and FRC had organized and endorsed similar pressure campaigns against corporations in the past, but apparently those didn’t constitute “economic terrorism.”

As Chick-fil-A, a company that bankrolls anti-gay groups and whose CEO has said marriage equality is inviting God’s judgment, faces a national backlash for its opposition to gay rights, once again the Religious Right is employing an almost pathetic use of double standards.

The National Organization for Marriage, which literally has two campaigns dedicated to boycotting Starbucks and General Mills for refusing to stay “neutral” in the marriage equality debate, is now outraged that gay rights activists are boycotting Chick-fil-A.

NOM's state affiliate in Minnesota organized a protest outside of the corporate headquarters of General Mills and in a letter to Minnesota corporations, NOM asked that companies “stay neutral and respect the conscience rights of your customers and employees who are on both sides” of a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Another group shockingly outraged by protests targeting Chick-fil-A is the American Family Association.

The AFA and its subgroups One Million Moms and One Million Dads have boycotted countless companies, most recently leading boycotts and pressure campaigns against Home Depot, Ford, GAP, Macy's, JC Penney for their advertising campaigns and efforts to create inclusive work environments “rather than remain neutral in the culture war,” and against DC, Marvel and Archie Comics for including gay characters.

In fact, the AFA goes so far as to claim, without any evidence, that it’s pressure campaign is responsible for financial problems at JC Penney.

So the question needs to be asked, did the AFA, in the words of its spokesman Bryan Fischer, "go Ahmadinejad" on JC Penney, Home Depot and Archie?

The American Family Association’s OneMillionMoms found another ally in its war on JC Penney, as the American Decency Association is now backing a boycott of the retailer for including a same-sex couple in an ad marking Father’s Day. The group maintains that JC Penney “insulted millions of us ‘traditional,’ i.e. ‘real,’ family people” by featuring two dads and their children in the ad:

The ad features a gay “family” – two men playing with two children – with these words: “What makes Dad so cool? He’s the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver — all rolled into one. Or two.”

How twenty-first century of JC Penney! All inclusive and stuff. It’s just too bad that by featuring this homosexual couple they have insulted millions of us “traditional,” i.e. “real,” family people. We know that a family is not a mix-and-match combination of its components. It’s a man and a woman and any children they may have or take legal responsibility for. And, in case you skipped biology, that means you can only have one father.

So why is JC Penney pandering to this four percent of the population by marketing to homosexuals rather than simply not encumbering itself in the culture war?

The ADA is encouraging members to email JC Penney and tell them that because of the store’s “pandering to the homosexual movement” they will no longer shop there:

I am extremely offended by your recent attempt to redefine "families" in your recent Father's Day ad featuring a homosexual couple. Your pandering to the homosexual movement is at the same time pushing away those of us who support traditional, i.e. real, marriage. It is not the place of a department store to be making preachy statements about issues like gay marriage at the cost of its customers. Until such time as I hear that you will no longer attempt to make moral judgments on these issues in your ad campaigns and will be backing out of the culture war, I will not be shopping in your stores. Please, stay out of the controversy and just sell your products.

Already boycotting JC Penney for hiring Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson, now the American Family Association’s OneMillionMoms is urging members to boycott Gap and its affiliated stores Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime and Athleta. The group is upset about a billboard that features a gay couple and says “GAP needs to seriously consider how their immoral advertising affect the youth of our nation.”

The group also claimed that its boycott of JC Penney is working and responsible for the store’s declining profits:

Sales have dramatically dropped since JC Penney's showed their "bold new marketing strategy" included pushing a lesbian spokesperson and same-sex couples in their advertising. JC Penney's current marketing plan has done incalculable amounts of damage to this once family-friendly store. If they would quit pushing a deviant and unhealthy lifestyle and focus on product quality and value along with excellent customer service, their bottom line would be not be struggling.

Hopefully JC Penney's (and other retailers) will listen to their long time customers now as JCP is reporting a bigger-than-expected loss and plummeting profits in the first quarter. The retailer lost $163 million in the quarter ending April 28. Numbers do not lie.

Companies should learn from others' mistakes. Retailers need to choose morality or remain neutral. Otherwise, their bottom dollar will suffer.

Speaking of companies who are choosing to be politically correct instead of focusing on selling clothes; GAP is also guilty. In Los Angeles, CA, GAP has a billboard located downtown that reads: "GAP- BE BRIGHT- BE ONE" with two homosexual men pressed together under a shared t-shirt. They are hugging each other and facing the camera cheek-to-cheek. "BE ONE" is in large letters which emphasizes the same-sex relationship.

GAP Inc. Brands, including Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta, does not deserve, nor will it get, money from conservative families across the country. Supporting GAP is not an option until they decide to remain neutral in the culture war. GAP needs to seriously consider how their immoral advertising affect the youth of our nation.

Christians should urge for the removal of GAP's offensive billboard in Los Angeles and any other city where it is located. GAP will also need to cancel any plans to use the "Be One" ad campaign elsewhere including store-front posters, its website, and in print magazine ads.

TAKE ACTION

GAP Inc. Brands approved this type of ad in public areas where families and children are sure to see it. Please send your email to GAP now and let them know you are offended by their disrespect for family values and common decency.

The group’s letter action item reads:

As a parent and a member of OneMillionMoms.com, I am highly offended by your company's disrespect for the millions of parents whose children will be exposed to your latest "Be One" GAP billboard ad. Selling clothes has nothing to do with a person's sexual orientation. In attempting to be politically correct, you are offending a huge majority of your customers.

GAP Inc. Brands, including Old Navy, Banana Republic, Piperlime, and Athleta, does not deserve, nor will it get, my family's business as a result. I will not be able to support your corporation until you decide to remain neutral in the culture war. I implore you to consider how your immoral actions affect the youth of our nation.

Please order the removal of your offensive billboard in Los Angeles and any other city it is located. Also cancel any plans to use your "Be One" ad campaign elsewhere including store front posters, your website, and in print magazine ads.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding my concerns.

The American Family Association’s women’s group OneMillionMoms is waging a campaign to convince JC Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson because DeGeneres is openly gay, predicting that the retailer “will be losing more than they’ll be gaining.” Today, OneNewsNow, which like OneMillionMoms is a branch of the AFA, posted an article today from the Associated Press which tried to link a drop in JC Penney’s credit rating to “‘gay’ activist Ellen DeGeneres”:

The American Family Association has a long history of exaggerating the impact of their boycott campaigns, even taking credit for a decline in Ford Motors sales by attacking the company’s “support [of] homosexual groups.” Plus, it is highly unlikely the Associated Press would include scare-quotes around the word ‘gay.’

Of course, the Associated Press story on JC Penney’s credit rating doesn’t mention DeGeneres at all:

The AFA’s distorted version of the DeGeneres story is yet another reason why one shouldn’t trust a news service which called champion sprinter Tyson Gay “Tyson Homosexual,” floated whether Satan is “the major factor” behind the purported power of homosexuals, and wondered if the Little Mommy Cuddle 'n Coo doll is “promoting Islam.”