December 21, 2010

Virginia’s Anti-Gay-Troops Lawmaker Speaks (VIDEO)

Photo illustration by Adam Weinstein; Civil War by US National Guard/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenationalguard/4101112058/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Flickr Commons</a>, flag by obeeah13/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28876831@N02/3536708963/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Flickr Commons</a>

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Yesterday, we brought you news of Virginia state Delegate Bob Marshall and his plan to keep gays out of the state’s National Guard, no matter what the Union federal government says about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Marshall declined to return a call to his cell phone by Mother Jones, but he was happy to expand on his beliefs for DC television station WUSA. Video’s below, but here are the money quotes (h/t Washington Post). Open mouth, insert foot. But not in a gay way!:

  • “If I needed a blood transfusion and the guy next to me had committed sodomy 14 times in the last month, I’d be worried.”
  • “It’s a distraction when I’m on the battlefield and have to concentrate on the enemy 600 yards away and I’m worried about this guy who’s got eyes on me.”

[NOTE: Marshall has never been on a battlefield. Though in his youth he did take combative positions on incest and staffing the military ranks. And in the interceding years, he’s become something of an expert on power lines.]

For his part, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell—who someday might like to be president of the entire United States, not just commander in chief of the Army of the Potomac—told listeners to his monthly radio show that he wasn’t supporting this particular Marshall plan:

We can’t have two different systems in the federal and National Guard…Whatever the final guidelines of the Department of Defense I would expect the National Guard bureau in Virginia to adhere to those rules so we would have one set of rules for the entire military.

There’s a new battle of Richmond brewing! And this time it feels as if, no matter who wins, the South is definitely losing.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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