( – promoted by Be_Devine)

Two months ago, when Del Martin died, we all lost a beacon of light and Phyllis Lyon lost her wife and companion of 56 years.

Upon Del's death, Phyllis said, “Ever since I met Del 55 years ago, I could never imagine a day would come when she wouldn’t be by my side. I am so lucky to have known her, loved her, and been her partner in all things. I also never imagined there would be a day that we would actually be able to get married. I am devastated, but I take some solace in knowing we were able to enjoy the ultimate rite of love and commitment before she passed.” 

But that's not how those who support Prop 8 saw it. This is how they saw it, as captured by the amazing photographer Bill Wilson at Del Martin's memorial service at City Hall in San Francisco.

These people who hide behind the euphemism of “family values” protested Del's memorial with signs like “MOURN FOR YOUR SINS,” “DON'T WORSHIP THE DEAD,” and “YOU'RE GOING TO HELL.”

The public face of those who support Prop 8 is not their real face.  This is who they are.  Narrow minded, hateful bigots who interrupt a memorial service to tell an 83 year old widow that her wife is going to hell for having loved.

These are the people who want to tell Phyllis that she was never really married to Del.  The ones who want to forcibly end my marriage to Brian.  The ones who think they are wise enough to decide who other people can and can't love.

And just where do these people come from that have donated $4,499,258.05 from 10/27-10/30? It's not surprising that the vast, vast majority of the money donated to the Yes on 8 campaign is from out of state.Take a look at the donations from this week alone.  Only a quarter of the donations to Yes on 8 came from California.  The biggest chunk came from Utah.  Texas had a sizable chunk as well.  Take a look at the graph compiled my by lovely husband, Brian Leubitz.

We need to fight these out-of-state hatemongers with all of our power.  Stop the lies!  Stop the hatred!  Walk, knock, call, e-mail, tell everyone you know that we need to protect our residents and our Constitution.  NO ON 8!!!

This is very preliminary right now, and we’re still working on getting all of the details. That being said, it appears that the No On 8 website has been hit with some sort of attack coordinated with an attack on website opposing the Constitutional Amendment against marriage equality in Florida, No on 2.

Obviously, if such an attack did occur, it would be illegal and highly unethical. While nothing has been proven yet, the facts surrounding this case, with the dual attacks, points toward a hack.

We’ll attempt to get more details about this when we get them. If you have any information, please post in the comments.

UPDATE: The No on 2 Website is back for the time being. A similar pattern occurred with the No on 8 site as well, with the site coming online and then being attacked again. As of 11:26PM, No on 8 is still down.

UPDATE 2, 11:31: I’ve now received confirmation from the No on 8 campaign, that they are currently the victim of a Denial-of-Service attack.  The internet folks are working on it, but these things are tough to defend against, especially when you have a dedicated opponent.

UPDATE 3, 11:46 (Lucas): Before this attack hit, No on 8 was on pace to hit its final stretch fundraising goals. It was ambitious, but it’s required to go toe-to-toe through election day. Difficult to quantify how many dollars are being lost while the site is down, but this is simply where things are now. We must double down and keep this campaign rolling in spite of and to spite these attackers. Equality for All is on the Calitics ActBlue page. Throw in now (again). A November ramen diet is good for the mind, body and soul. Leave it all on the road.

I mean this is really getting out of hand. And before it goes any further, we need to establish a few things that the Yes on 8 campaign seems not to understand.

The current state of marriage does not make the words “bride” and “groom” hate speech. Gays are not the same as unicorns. No matter what Tom McClintock thinks, gays are not dogs either. The notion- in this country of all places- that equality would be “armageddon” should be outrageous to anyone. And most certainly, eliminating human rights would not be the same as defeating Hitler. Just stop. But hey- Yes on 8: if you’ve got an actual point, let’s hear it. No really. One that’s true.

So far there isn’t one. I’m actually a little surprised. Given the tens of millions being rushed to California by Mormons and the great monied patrons of the religious right and the lather being worked up, you’d think that somewhere there would be a reasoned argument. Even if it wasn’t front and center. There’s lying and there’s fear mongering and there’s divisiveness. I’ve gotten those messages. And it’s all capped by the evocation of the most horrific genocide the world has ever known.

And then there’s The Call. Leading untold thousands to my city on Saturday to pray for Proposition 8. You do that. I’d like to think that this will be a positive event, but nothing so far leads me to expect a break from the nonstop divisiveness and the out-and-out lying and the histrionics (not to run this into the ground, but in the world of rhetoric, a Hitler comparison is the last stop on the hyperbole express). I’m sick of it, and if that’s what I can expect on Saturday, take it elsewhere. I’m sick of the lies, I’m sick of the blackmail of my local small businesses, I’m sick of this being considered a remotely appropriate level of political discourse, and most of all I’m sick of being told that people are not created equal. That’s the entire point of this country existing. It’s the very first self-evident truth. Don’t get angry at me if you don’t like it. Take it up with the Declaration of Independence.

So while Prop 8 supporters pile into Qualcomm to pray, the Courage Campaign is joining with other allies of equality and freedom calling for volunteers to stop Prop 4 and Prop 8. When Rick Jacobs emailed Courage members earlier today, he noted that “the religious right is calling Proposition 8 its ‘decisive last stand,'” which tells you the stakes on this. If you doubt at all how seriously they’re taking it, check out the Call video on the volunteer page. It’s pretty shocking.

Look: this is how the religious right keeps winning elections. For all the (very important) stories of voter suppression and ballot box rigging and corruption, the fundamental strategy hinges on drowning everyone in so much vitriol and general negativity that they give up entirely and stay home. It can’t work this time. We can’t let it. There’s simply too much on the line. At a time that it’s almost hackneyed already to rally around hope and change, it’s all the more vital that California stand up collectively and say enough is ENOUGH. Lying to us won’t work. Trying to wear us down with the rhetoric of alienation will not keep us home. Trying to make us miserable will not keep us quiet.

6 days left. I’m spending my Saturday with Lou Engle and James Dobson because there’s some question as to whether equality is a human right in this country. How can we allow this to be a debate any longer? Enough is enough. Do something. And if you have time, do one more thing. If we don’t stop this crap now, then when?

full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

• Whoops! The drafters of Prop 11 have seemingly barred anyone who has voted in the last three elections from serving on the 14-member commission. It seems they left out the words “at least” when requiring potential members to have voted in the last three general elections. From Rick Hasen’s Election law blog:

I was struck when I read this in the text of the new law about qualifications to be on the citizen redistricting commission: “Each commission member shall have voted in two of the last three statewide general elections immediately preceding his or her application.”

By its plain text, this sentence seems to disqualify from the commission voters who voted in all three of the last statewide general elections. An apparent drafting error, or at least an ambiguity, that could have been avoided by adding the words “at least” before “two.”

Another reason to vote No on 11.

• The idiots who hung a Sarah Palin ghost in effigy by a noose in West Hollywood should really be shunned from regular society.

• Michael Rubenstein is quoted in this article about low-information voters having trouble with all the propositions on the ballot.  Which is fine, except that Michael Rubenstein POSTS HERE!  Surely you’ve seen the Calitics endorsements, msrpotus????

• Biotech Execs announce their opposition to Prop 8 in an event in San Diego. Money quote: “Biotechnology companies are supposed to be agile, flexible, creative, innovative and committed to thinking out of the box. All these things don’t line up with Proposition 8. They are exactly to the contrary.”  You might also be interested in ACLU’s Executive Directory Anthony Romero’s personal story against Prop 8. Or how about UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau saying that “Proposition 8 is in conflict with the principles of equity and inclusion to which our campus is committed.”

• A Sacramento judge has paused the statewide algebra exam for eighth graders. The exam was controversial because most eighth graders don’t currently take algebra, so far more resources would be necessary for a full algebra program.

• The jury has been selected for “America’s (Corrupt) Sheriff”, former OC Sheriff Mike Carona.

• Will they or won’t they? SDG&E is still deciding whether to cut off customers during fires. It seems that power lines become an agent of fire growth during the fires, but they also help fight fires and get people out of danger.  Ah, now there’s a rock and a hard place for you…

Yes, he went there at an official Sacramento Yes on 8 rally yesterday.  This is Brad Dacus, an official Prop 8 spokesperson speaking.  He is the President of the Pacific Justice Institute, a religious-right lawyers 501c3 organization.

Here is the transcript:

“There was another time in history when people, when the bell tolled. And the question was whether or not they were going to hear it. The time was during Nazi Germany with Adolf Hitler. You see he brought crowds of clergy together to assure them that he was going to look after the church.

And one of the members, bold and courageous, Reverend Niemand (sp?) made his way to the front and (inaudible) said “Hitler, we are not concerned about the church. Jesus Christ will take care of the church.

We are concerned about the soul of Germany.” Embarrassed and chagrined, his peers quickly shuffled him to the back.

And as they did Adolf Hitler said, “The soul of Germany, you can leave that to me.” And they did, and because they did bombs did not only fall upon the nation of Germany, but also upon the church and their testimony to this very day.

Let us not make that mistake folks. Let us hear the bell! Vote on Proposition 8!”

Dacus is the guy who was the chief architect of the movement to get an opt-out law for parents to take their child out of any school activity that violates their religious or moral beliefs.  Like say if a charter school asks the parents if they want to take their kids on a field trip to celebrate their teacher getting married.  You know, the one they are conveniently forgetting about and then lying in their ads about education and teh children.

The best way you can answer back to Dacus is to get out this weekend and election day and volunteer for the No on 8 campaign.  There is a special netroots volunteer sign-up form.  Fill it out and tell them you came from Calitics.

Heck you can even find instructions on how to get an opt-out form on his organization’s website.  This is the guy who is comparing me to Hitler in an attempt to take away my rights.

Oh and there is another outrageous clip on the flip, where another spokesman from the Prop 8 campaign says the gays are trying to recruit children.

Andrew Sullivan notes today that one of the biggest financial supporters of the Yes on 8 campaign is Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, who has pumped $450,000 into the campaign. Broekhuizen is the mother of Blackwater founder and owner Erik Prince and Bush Pioneer Betsy DeVos. She’s also quite the patron of the religious right.

At first blush, the two groups don’t have a whole lot in common besides neighboring real estate in the political spectrum. But as Blackwater continues its unwanted presence in San Diego (spawning aspirants to the throne in Hemet), Michigan resident Broekhuizen is just a big fish in the flood of out-of-state money trying to buy their way into a change to California’s constitution.

This particularly hits San Diego as the repeated recipient of unwanted outside attention. San Diego was targeted by the national GOP as a test case for turning urban areas Republican which led to the destruction of an entire progressive generation in San Diego. We’ve been battling against Blackwater’s presence and a disinterested city government for two years. And in concert with the, erm, disconcerting video on the right, The Call will be welcoming to to 100,000 peopleto Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday for “[c]orporate prayer and fasting for the protection of traditional marriage and the soul of our nation.” I’ll be there so you don’t have to be.

Look, Dave is right: This is about harming same-sex couples. But the other long-term implications are starting to show themselves. The Republican Party musters its national resources to turn San Diego red and succeeds for a full generation.

Blackwater decides to take your tax dollars- laundered through the Bush Administration, the Iraq War and the privatization of the military- and force its way into California while expanding and diversifying its portfolio to include a private navy and security contracts for Latin American governments.

And now the same national big money forces of the religious right- whether it’s the Mormon Church or Erik Prince’s mother, this has the potential to turn into a disturbing trend. That the extreme right wing of this country can nationalize an issue and force its will on California. If this keeps working, I don’t want to contemplate what’ll come next.

There’s one week to go. You can contribute to the No on 8 campaign through Equality For All at the Calitics ActBlue page and help push Equality For All past $1 million raised on ActBlue. And you can get involved through the No on Prop 8 website. For example, I know during Saturday’s “The Call” event, there are plans for doing real calling in San Diego and throughout the state.

full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

Update: SteveAudio hit this point last night as well