The Secret Political Reach Of 'The Family' (including Ugandan proposed law w/death penalty for gays)

[Shallah Kali]

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=120746516

Mr. SHARLET: Well, I think the bombshell comes from Doug Hampton himself, who in describing this whole process, went to The Family thinking that he could trust the - what they say about accountability, what they say they exist for, for holding congressmen accountable. What his relationship with John Ensign through The Family was supposed to be about. And he attempted to work through them. They told him to, as he put it, be cool, in other words to keep the whole thing quiet. And he took their word for it. And last night he finally sort of came out and said look, this isn't - C Street, The Family, it's not what they say it is. And if I can just quote him, he puts it very succinctly: He says they - the C Street group, The Family - they think the consequences don't apply. Those need to be dealt with differently, because of the responsibility, because of the pressure. Meaning that congressmen have sort of special rules for them, because of the work that needs to be done. This is about preserving John, preserving the Republican Party. This is about preserving C Street. These men care about themselves and their own political careers, period.

And that's a devastating critique from a man who has given his loyalty to this group, who has turned to them in the most painful moment in his life, expected them to stand up for what they say they believe in, and instead was forced to confront the fact that when The Family talks about power being the bottom line of the New Testament, they really mean it. Power trumps love.

GROSS: Let's talk about The Family's connection to Uganda, where there's a, really a draconian anti-gay bill that has been introduced into parliament. Uganda already punishes the practice of homosexuality with life in prison. What would the new legislation do?

Mr. SHARLET: Well, the new legislation adds to this something called aggravated homosexuality. And this can include, for instance, if a gay man has sex with another man who is disabled, that's aggravated homosexuality, and that man can be - I suppose both, actually, could be put to death for this. The use of any drugs or any intoxicants in seeking gay sex - in other words, you go to a bar and you buy a guy a drink, you're subject to the death penalty if you go home and sleep together after that. What it also does is it extends this outward, so that if you know a gay person and you don't report it, that could mean - you don't report your son or daughter, you can go to prison.

And it goes further, to say that any kind of promotion of these ideas of homosexuality, including by foreigners, can result in prison terms. Talking about same sex-marriage positively can lead you to imprisonment for life. And it's really kind of a perfect case study in the export of a lot of American, largely evangelical ideas about homosexuality exported to Uganda, which then takes them to their logical end.

[niyad]

1. wish there were a way to close this group of sickos down for good.

[wolfgangmo]

6. There is.

First, shut down their church status.

Second, post volunteers outside with cameras much like plane watchers outside air force bases who keep the information online and connect the dots on new tech development and deployments (these were the dudes who figured out the the US was trying to quietly transfer nuclear weapons to the Mideast - remember when the airforce announced that they had "mistakenly transfered nukes" to the staging area for Iraq?)

Third, I won't say outright, but it involves the 2nd amendment and patriots.

[juno jones]

2. Thanks :) n/t

[maglatinavi]

3. Hampton

who is Hampton? what is this Uganda relationship with the C Street Family. I am afraid I am raw on these matters ... Death to gays? Related to the Family? My head is twirling? Please help...

[dmr]

4. Senator John Ensign had an affair w/Hampton's wife, both

worked for Ensign. There was a huge cash payoff by Ensign's parents to shut them up, including illegal conflicts of interest for Ensign when he found new employment for Hampton.

There's a lot more to this affair that isn't pretty; including the involvement of C Street & Senator Coburn, who negotiated the payoff.

That's a basic synopsis. Maybe someone else can explain it better. If you Google Hampton's name, you'll get plenty of info.

This sickening information regarding Uganda is new to me.

[hootinholler]

5. Couple this with the witch hunters, we could well see a new dark age. n/t