“The Minnesota Marriage Minute videos are an exciting opportunity to promote a respectful dialogue about the future of marriage in Minnesota,” said John Helmberger, chairman of Minnesota for Marriage, in a recent statement announcing the videos.

“We especially want to thank Kalley Yanta, a veteran former news anchor and devoted mother for volunteering her time to make these important videos,” said Helmberger. “We are grateful for Kalley’s faithful commitment to preserving marriage in Minnesota and for her experience and poise in presenting the various topics. We are confident that she will be well received by Minnesotans across the State.”

The first video in the series is an introduction:

Yanta launched her new project with Minnesota for Marriage on Pastor Brad Brandon’s “Word of Truth” radio show on Wednesday.

“This is a big deal,” she said of the anti-gay marriage amendment. “People need to really pay attention to this.”

Yanta said they’ve taped 30 of the “marriage minutes” and are considering also creating radio and television spots. The Minnesota for Marriage group asked her to be the “face” of the effort, she told Brandon.

She also said she signed up for the project because of her own marriage and that fact that same-sex parents are harmful to children.

“I feel very, very grateful to have a good marriage,” Yanta told Brandon. “I want to be a part of … preserving that as our definition of marriage in Minnesota. … There are many efforts under way to tear apart the foundation of our society, which is the family.

“Thirty-one states across the nation have taken up this amendment and all have passed it, so if Minnesota doesn’t, we’d be the first not to, and that sets a precedent for the rest of the nation, and we don’t want to do that” she continued.

Yanta refuted the idea that same-sex parents can raise healthy, well-adjusted children, referring to a conversation she had with a “very prominent CEO of a major metropolitan hospital here in town,” who defended gay parenting.

“I have beg to differ with that opinion,” she said. “There are studies that are being conducted right now about how children are being raised and how that affects somebody in their psyche and in their self-esteem and in the various ways that that can affect a person being raised by either a man and a man or a woman and a woman. It’s not natural.”

Yanta also said that if the amendment doesn’t pass, Christian parents could be arrested.

“If marriage between homosexuals is legalized, what would some of the consequences be?” she asked rhetorically. “Parents who want to opt their kids out of the public school on the day that they’re teaching about homosexual relationships how it should be okay and accepted, and the parents are charged with discrimination and are hauled away sometimes in handcuffs. … We just can’t allow this to happen.

“We all need to have courage when it comes to speaking the truth,” she continued, noting that, so far, she hasn’t received any backlash from the videos.

But while Yanta may not have received backlash, the videos have.

Minnesotans United for All Families, a coalition of more than 100 groups, analyzed the images in the first video released and determined that not a single person in the video was actually from Minnesota.

“While this video is full of stock images, it is strangely lacking in real Minnesotans,” the group said on its Facebook page. “Perhaps they couldn’t find any real Minnesotans willing to support their divisive agenda?”

One image appears to have been taken by a French photographer of a French family, and another is being used on the website of an India-based health-care center.

Most of the images were purchased through low-budget stock-photo websites.

And it’s not the first time a group affiliated with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM is one of three groups that make up Minnesota for Marriage) used stock photos to misrepresent support for their cause. In 2011, the group’s New Hampshire affiliate used images from a rally featuring Barack Obama and passed them off as their own rallies.

The Minnesota for Marriage videos are not Kalley’s first foray into conservative Christian issue-oriented video production.

She has recently produced documentaries that express aimed her anti-abortion beliefs. In a November video, Yanta accuses Planned Parenthood of building “clandestine” and secretive headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota’s Midway neighborhood. The video compares the Planned Parenthood construction to the Nazis’ Auschwitz concentration camp complex.

Yanta’s video also discusses “post abortion syndrome,” a controversial notion that women experience higher rates of mental illness following an abortion. The video portrays it as a real illness, despite recent scientific research to the contrary. A study in January 2011, for instance, showed that women do not have a higher risk of mental illness after having an abortion. In fact, studies that have shown a link often have neglected to assess the mental health of the women prior to them becoming pregnant.

Yanta courted controversy in the late 1990s, when as the anchor of KSTP-TV, a Minneapolis ABC affiliate, she had to cancel a speaking engagement with a group called Concerned Citizens for Action, an anti-abortion group that would later become Pro-Life Action Ministries, an entity that Yanta has worked with for several years. The station did not say why the news anchor had to cancel the appearance, but Yanta later told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the event created the appearance of bias for the anchor.

She’s also been involved in Total Life Care Centers, a network of crisis pregnancy centers in Minnesota, many of which are state-funded despite providing information that medical experts and reproductive rights advocates have called false and misleading.

Photo: Screen shot of Kalley Yanta anchoring “Minnesota Marriage Minute: Episode 1″ (Source: minnesotaformarriage.org)

In a private speech to Minnesota’s priests last October, Archbishop John C. Nienstedt said that any priest who disagreed with the church’s efforts to place a constitutional ban on marriage for same-sex couples should remain silent. Any disagreements should be brought to him personally, he said. The Catholic Church in Minnesota has been a driving force for the anti-same-sex-marriage amendment since it passed onto the 2012 ballot last May.

Nienstedt later sent the text of that speech to priests who were unable to participate in the gathering. Someone in the church recently leaked the text to the Progressive Catholic Voice, a group working for reform within the church. On Thursday, PCV published statements condemning Nienstedt’s speech.

In the speech, Nienstedt told the priests he expects participation in getting the amendment passed from everyone within the church:

It is my expectation that all the priests and deacons in this Archdiocese will support this venture and cooperate with us in the important efforts that lie ahead. The gravity of this struggle, and the radical consequences of inaction propels me to place a solemn charge upon you all — on your ordination day, you made a promise to promote and defend all that the Church teaches. I call upon that promise in this effort to defend marriage. There ought not be open dissension on this issue. If any have personal reservations, I do not wish that they be shared publicly. If anyone believes in conscience that he cannot cooperate, I want him to contact me directly and I will plan to respond personally.

Nienstedt also noted that he’s created teams of “a priest and a married couple” to go into Catholic schools to talk about the amendment.

In a public statement, various members of Progressive Catholic Voice said the Archbishop’s direction is unbelievable.

“When I first read this letter I couldn’t believe that the Archbishop was telling priests and deacons to be silent if they were opposed to the marriage amendment,” said Paula Ruddy, parishioner at Minneapolis’ St. Boniface. “Is one’s position on whether the State constitution should be amended a matter of Church doctrine? How are Catholics to form their consciences if their pastors are not candid with them?”

Ruddy is also a member of the editorial board of the Progressive Catholic Voice.

That group’s editor, Michael Bayly, called the speech problematic.

“The Archbishop’s letter is problematic in many ways,” he said. “As a gay man, I find it particularly offensive that he can’t even bring himself to name gay and lesbian people. We’re simply a ‘minority’ seemingly out to destroy the church and civilization. Such an absurd caricature would be funny if not for the hurtful and damaging consequences to individuals, couples and families resulting from the Archbishop’s anti-marriage equality activism.”

Minnesota’s Catholic hierarchy has come under intense scrutiny over its support for the anti-gay constitutional amendment.

In the run-up to the 2010 gubernatorial election, the church sent out approximately 400,000 DVDs and mailings urging Catholics to vote for Republican Tom Emmer, the only candidate in the race who opposed marriage equality for same-sex couples and a staunch Catholic.

The campaign, paid for by an anonymous donor and produced by the Knight of Columbus, sparked protests against the church.

More recently, the Archdiocese’s lobbying wing, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, has joined with the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council to form the Minnesota for Marriage Coalition, a group dedicated to passing the amendment in November.

Photo: New Yorkers celebrate the law legalizing gay marriage (Photo: Flickr/Zach Roberts)

Vander Plaats’ endorsement of Santorum was not a surprise to LGBT advocacy groups; both men have a history of making inflammatory statements against the LGBT community.

“Today’s endorsement of Rick Santorum by Bob Vander Plaats comes as no surprise,” One Iowa Executive Director Troy Price said in a statement. “Both Santorum and Vander Plaats have all built their careers attacking loving and committed gay and lesbian couples, and the fact is that Vander Plaats caved to the extreme social conservative agenda. With poll numbers lagging, it is clear Rick Santorum does not have a chance against President Obama in November, and Vander Plaats has endorsed a losing candidate.”

Vander Plaats drew the ire of many Iowans earlier this year when his group released a “marriage vow” for Republican presidential hopefuls that suggested that children were better off under slavery than they are under President Obama. After significant criticism, that language was removed.

But the vow, which Santorum signed, also likened homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, and polyandry; called gays and lesbians a public health risk; and asserted that homosexuality is a choice.

Price said that Vander Plaats’ endorsement of Santorum shows he is out of step with popular opinion regarding LGBT issues.

“Today’s announcement proves what we have known all along,” he said. “Bob Vander Plaats is out of touch with what voters want. What Iowans care about are jobs and the economy, and they deserve a candidate who does too.”

Vander Plaats’ action during the 2012 campaign has led some Republicans to criticize his tactics.

Iowa House Speaker Pro-Tem Jeff Kaufmann sent Vander Plaats a scathing email in July, which read, in part: “Guys your integrity is in question and your political credibility is waning to the point of no impact,” he wrote.

Santorum and Vander Plaats have both called for reduced federal spending, yet both have played a crucial role in funneling millions of taxpayer dollars to conservative Christian outfits that support their agenda of opposing equal rights for LGBT people.

Vander Plaats’ Family Leader got $2.2 million in federal money for the Marriage Matters program between 2006 and 2010.

As a U.S. senator, Santorum was instrumental in securing $3.1 million for conservative Christian groups in Pennsylvania, including the Urban Family Council, a Philadelphia-based group headed by William Devlin.

Devlin’s group supports laws criminalizing gays and lesbians. He told the Advocate in 2003, that he is “one of those folk who believes the government should be in our bedrooms.” He also filed suit to prevent domestic-partner benefits from taking effect in Philadelphia and has vociferously supported a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution barring same-sex marriage.

In endorsing Santorum, Vander Plaats told reporters: “Our fear all along is that the conservatives would fragment their votes. In our assessment, we believe Rick Santorum is the best one to launch out of Iowa. … Hopefully, this gives him a stamp of credibility that some people are waiting for.”

He added: “I believe Rick Santorum comes from us. Not to us. He comes from us. He is one of us.”

Though Santorum is taking the endorsement seriously, Vander Plaats said in July that he doesn’t put much weight to endorsements.

In addition to Vander Plaats, Chuck Hurley of the Iowa Family Policy Center also endorsed Santorum. The IFPC is a division of Vander Plaats’ Family Leader.

Photo: Rick Santorum (ricksantorum.com)

Hooper found an internal memo between the ADF and Public Opinion Strategies, a Republican polling firm hired to conduct the poll, that laid out the questions and who would be excluded from the sample. Bloggers, people who comment on blogs, political campaign volunteers and members of the media were all excluded from the poll.

As Hooper notes, excluding those Americans from the poll would have the effect of skewing the poll.

“We are dealing with an opposition movement that benefits as much from fog as we do from clarity,” he said. “So shutting out anyone who so much as comments on blogs only helps to get to an older, less engaged audience that is willing to affirm statements about ‘protecting traditional marriage’ and ‘stopping the decline in moral values.’”

But it wasn’t just the exclusion of politically engaged Americans that skewed the poll.

Faith in Public Life, a group that advocates for faith in the public square and organizes around social justice, also took issue with the poll, specifically its wording. The ADF poll asked for response to the statement “I believe MARRIAGE should be defined ONLY as a union between one man and one woman,” while mainstream polls in recent months asked whether or not same-sex marriage should be legal.

“A key difference is that these [mainstream] polls focused on legality rather than the ‘definition’ of marriage,” the group said on Friday. “Given that the political debate surrounding same-sex marriage pertains to legislation rather than the contents of the dictionary, it’s hard to see the relevance of ADF’s data. It certainly is interesting, but it’s not even close to a refutation of the overwhelming body of current nonpartisan opinion research pointing to majority support for legal recognition of same-sex marriage.”

Recent polls have found a slight majority of Americans in favor of gay marriage. In May, Public Religion Research Institute found 51 percent were in favor of same-sex marriage. Another May poll by Gallup found 53 percent in favor of gay marriage. CNN found 51 percent supporting gay marriage in April, and in March an ABC News/Washington Post found that number to be 53 percent.

The ADF was founded by several religious right groups including the American Family Association, which has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Here’s the ADF memo outlining the poll’s methodology:

ADFMethodologyMemo

The candidates pledged to appoint anti-abortion judges, to appoint anti-abortion cabinet members, to defund Planned Parenthood and to sign a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks gestation.

Bachmann went after Mitt Romney for not signing the pledge.

“It is distressing that Governor Romney refuses to sign the SBA Pledge, even while claiming to be pro-life,” Bachmann said in a statement on Sunday. “The excuses for not signing clearly continue the doubts about his leadership and commitment to ending the practice of abortion – particularly for a candidate who ran as pro-choice for the Senate and Governorship of Massachusetts. Any Presidential candidate seeking our party’s nomination should sign the SBA Pledge and vow to protect life from conception to natural death. Governor Romney should reconsider his decision not to sign the Pledge just as he reconsidered his position on the life issue during the last campaign.”

POS, a Republican polling firm, was hired by religious right outfit Alliance Defense Fund to conduct the poll. The poll’s numbers stand in stark contrast to a series of polls that show majority support for same-sex marriage among the American electorate, and come on the eve of a contentious push in New York to legalize gay marriage.

The Alliance Defense Fund — founded in part by Focus on the Family, Campus Crusade for Christ and the American Family Association, which has been dubbed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — paid for the poll. The ADF opposes any rights for same-sex couples including marriage, civil unions and domestic partner benefits.

The poll found that 63 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “I believe marriage should be defined ONLY as a union between one man and one woman,” with 53 percent strongly agreeing with the statement. Thirty-five percent disagreed.

The poll’s sponsors did not release methodology or crosstabs, but did release basic information (PDF).

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which is also listed as a hate group by the SPLC, praised the poll.

“This survey is a reflection of the voters in 31 states who have voted overwhelmingly to preserve marriage at the ballot box – with Minnesota, North Carolina and Indiana next in line with referendums,” he said. “As New York legislators debate a marriage redefinition bill, they should consider the impact on families, children and religious liberty. In 2006, the New York Court of Appeals reasonably concluded that the legislature has a legitimate interest in promoting responsible procreation and can ‘rationally’ believe that children need both a mother and a father.”

The poll contrasts with several mainstream polls released in recent months that found majority support for same-sex marriage. A Gallup poll in early May found that 53 percent of Americans support gay marriage. A CNN poll asked the same question in April and found 51 percent in support of gay marriage. The Washington Post released a poll in March showing 53 percent of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples.

To that, Ellison said, “In other words, he’s saying, we need to pay them because that’s the only way we can do better for them, right? Tim Pawlenty is one of these right-wing ideologues who has a vision of America that is completely inconsistent with the interests of the middle class.”

Ellison added, “He is out there to make sure that the David Kochs of the world, you know, have it their way, right. And their vision has nothing to do with if you get a Pell grant, and their vision has nothing to do with, you know, they can get water purifiers at their private estates. They don’t need the EPA.”

“He is operating on their behalf and he has drank the Kool Aid,” Ellison said.

Ellison also asserted that Pawlenty has lost his blue collar cred. Pawlenty often touts his working class background in his stump speeches around the country.

“And he’s going to get up there on the course of this presidential campaign and tell you all about how his father was a truck driver in south St. Paul,” he said. “Well you know what, that was a long time ago. And he has no connection to that any more.”

Here’s video of the exchange:

]]> http://washingtonindependent.com/106124/rep-ellison-pawlenty-has-drank-right-wing-kool-aid/feed 1 http://washingtonindependent.com/106117/bachmann-still-toying-with-potential-2012-presidential-run http://washingtonindependent.com/106117/bachmann-still-toying-with-potential-2012-presidential-run#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:41:29 +0000 Andy Birkey http://washingtonindependent.com/106117/bachmann-still-toying-with-potential-2012-presidential-run In Florida on Friday, Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Palm Beach Post that she’s been traveling the country to gauge national support if she decides to run for president and that she’s gotten a “fantastic reception” from activists in Iowa and South Carolina. Political prognosticators have also started to More...

“History is clear: the founders of our country drew their inspiration, wisdom, and direction from the Bible,” the webcast promoters write. “Beginning in colonial times, church leaders spoke to their congregations about the events and issues of the day in the context of Biblical truth. Rediscover God in America will lay a foundation of critical knowledge for your congregation. They’ll learn how to interpret and assess current events in light of God’s Word, as our founding fathers did, and how to respond Biblically and take action that aligns with His truth.”

Rediscover America is part of United in Purpose, a conservative Christian organization that works to mobilize Christian voters.

In Minnesota, only two churches have signed up to show the webcast: United Methodist Church in New London and Jesus Assembly of God in St. Peter.

The “Defunding Planned Parenthood: Urgent Nationwide Webcast,” observed by the Minnesota Independent, was hosted by anti-abortion rights group the Susan B. Anthony List.

“Abortion is the watershed issue of our time,” Bachmann said. “We shouldn’t have one red cent go for Planned Parenthood,” calling it an opportunity abortion rights opponents have not had before.

She said that GOP leadership thought cutting all funds to the group was too controversial to include in the continuing resolution, which passed in a 335-91 vote in the House Tuesday and was approved by the Senate today by a 91-9 margin.

“For me personally, there were a few of us who voted ‘no’ on the continuing resolution… because it did not defund implementing ‘Obamacare’ because, as you know, ‘Obamacare’ will allow for taxpayer-funded abortions for the first time in history of the nation.”

The Affordable Care Act — or, as Bachmann puts it, “Obamacare” — will not allow taxpayer funding for abortion services. Numerous nonpartisan fact-checkers have called that assertion false, including FactCheck.org and Politifact.

“The next time we vote on the continuing resolution we have to insist on defunding ‘Obamacare’ and defunding Planned Parenthood,” she said. “My opinion is there is a point where you draw the line in the sand and you have a hill where you die on. I think this is our issue.”

“We control the spending, and we are going to have to have an eyeball-to-eyeball fight,” she promised. “At some point you have to have a knock down, drag down fight. This is it.”

She concluded, “It’s just morally reprehensible on its face to force people, for whom this is a violation of our moral conscience, to force people to pay for other people’s abortions.”

Federal law contrastst Bachmann’s statement, however. The Hyde Amendment forbids federal money from paying for abortion. For Planned Parenthood, federal money pays for cervical cancer screenings, mammographies and testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Bachmann wasn’t the only member of Minnesota’s congressional delegation to vote against the resolution; DFL Reps. Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison also cast “no” votes.