Vile Bile and endless word vomit

Over at Max's Dad, my namesake told a little tale about how Fred Phelps from the Westboro Baptist Church and his group of.... you know, I can't even come up with a word vile enough to describe these folks... anyway, these people were in Omaha yesterday picketing the funeral of a Boy Scout who was killed when the tornado hit their camp.

Did you catch that... they were PICKETING THE FUNERAL OF A CHILD! A Boy Scout no less. I know the Scouts have been under fire the past few years, but still. Both myself and my brother were scouts and I can surely remember that Scout Camp never had anything happen that would invoke the wrath of God! If it had our scout master would have had my ass before God had a chance to register!

I was trying to find a picture of Phelps for you and, sadly, I found this video instead.



In February 2002, when I worked for American Academy of Pediatrics, the AAP Committee on Adoption released a study finding that children adopted into a home with same sex parents could flourish just as well as a home with opposite sex parents. The study was to show that health care for all adopted children should be the same no matter the parents who adopted them. (oddly, there were physicians who would not treat children of same sex parents). This study in no way said that homosexuality was normal or gay marriage should be allowed. But you wouldn't believe the shit storm we had to endure in the month or so after that was released. Flash forward to October when AAP's National Conference was being held in Boston, MA. I'm the convention planner who was told that the Phelps group had obtained a permit to picket our conference because of the statement.
I always hate their type of propaganda because someone may, not fully knowing Phelps' stupidity and narrow mindedness, may actually follow on. However, amongst all the signs they held saying "God Hates Fags" and "AIDS Kills Homos" or "Matthew Shepard is in Hell" they had signs that said "Thank God for 9/11" and "Sept. 11 was God's punishment"
I remember the counter-protest by the GLBT Medical Association and the support we received from our attendees when they found we had re-routed the shuttle system to lessen their exposure to this rabble. But I mostly remember how absolutely pissed off he Boston Police were having to be present to protect the Phelps group. Gay Bashing you might be able to get away with, cracking on 9/11 barely a year after it happened... not going over well with Boston's Finest. In my fantasy mind, that police officer snuck over to Phelps' hotel room that night and sodomized him with his billy club.... and Matthew Shepard was giggling his ass off in heaven :)