Fred Phelps story coming up on CNN News

[shaniqua6392]

I am not sure if giving this guy coverage is a good thing or a bad thing. He sure is one sick person!

[Mythsaje]

1. I'd say good

in that the vast, vast majority of Americans are going to go "WTF?"

It might back a few of them away from supporting anything remotely resembling this guy's nonsense.

[Greeby]

2. Unless he crossed one of those bikers

and is now on his way to the hospital, it can't be a good story

[MuseRider]

5. LOL

exactly. Otherwise it just keeps his motor running.

[Libby2]

3. I saw your post

and that's what I was going to say.

Why give that idiot family one moment of recognition?

[Beer Snob-50]

4. what did uncle fred do now.....

protest a nun's funeral because celebacy is wrong? jsut curious

[Orsino]

6. The first step in getting rid of cockroaches is to turn on the light.

If CNN does its usual superficial "even-handed" job, though, understanding of the Phelps disease is unlikely to be advanced much.

How about doing some investigative reporting, CNN?

[shaniqua6392]

11. Investigative reporting? What is that?

Isn't that what the media used to do in the olden days? God how I would love to see some real investigative reporting by someone wearing a trenchcoat.....Sorry I got carried away with my fantasy there!!!

[MuseRider]

14. Here you go.

This is something I have saved on my computer but EstimatedProphet posted a link to it in another thread a little while ago. It is good, investigative reporting on the topic at hand.

http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/phelps/bl_phelpsmain.htm

[terrya]

16. Thank you for posting that again.

Some time back, I was given a link to that excellent story. Very, very illuminating article on Phelps and his family. Solid reporting.

[MuseRider]

20. It gives those of you

who do not know him or do not have to deal with him daily a good insight why we here in Topeka choose to ignore him.

I have tons of stuff that is archived in our paper. It is all the same. He is truly a sick man.

[FreedomAngel82]

32. Was it from the BBC?

They did a really good doc on him a while back.

[proud2BlibKansan]

58. No it was a local reporter here in Kansas

[Orsino]

18. Please report for reeducation, Citizen. n/t

[derby378]

7. A Phelps protest is nothing that a can of pepper spray can't solve

Not advocating violence or anything, but I'm just sayin'...

[MadMaddie]

8. He and his followers are a cult...

and need to be treated as such!!

I think the * Cabal lets this go on and doesn't address because they feel that it helps them...on the gay issue...

But once again I think their poor judgement and miscalcuation is going to trip them up again...by not coming out and addressing these protests at soldiers funerals that he is directly responsible for....

I think some military type is going to have a serious problem with these protesters one day!!!

[FreedomAngel82]

33. They're just his family

[BOSSHOG]

9. Phelps is a "CONSERVATIVE"

He represents today's "conservatives" in America. Give him wall to wall coverage. Religious zealots need to have the bright lights and cameras on them 24/7.

[Scout1071]

66. Boss...he is a registered Dem.

And I fucking hate him, but I'm really fucking tired of hearing about him. I wish that DU, CNN and everyone would realize that the more they cover him, the stronger he becomes.

Nothing personal. I'm just tired of seeing new threads on Fred and family every hour on DU.

He's evil. He sucks. But he only gets more powerful everytime we fucking waste our time talking about him.

:rant:

[Kerrytravelers]

10. Caught the tail end.

phelps is orginally from Pasadena, CA. No wonder he left town, we may have a few nutty reich wingers, but he sure is outnumbered here!

[MuseRider]

17. Meridian, Mississippi is where he was born

and grew up. From a bio.

[Kerrytravelers]

21. City of Pasadena has another story.

Apparently, many of his formative years were spent out here when his family moved here.


Lets see... phelps background is apparently unclear, with multiple stories running around. Why am I not surprised?

[MuseRider]

22. As posted above

here is one of the best reports on him I have ever seen. It has been a while since I read it so I don't remember but he has been all over the place and thrown out of quite a few.

http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/phelps/bl_phelpsmain.htm

[Kerrytravelers]

25. I'm not calling you a liar. I'm suggesting phelps background is

constantly changing because he is less than honest.

Edited to add: Thanks for the website. I clicked around a bit and found it interesting! :hi:

[MuseRider]

27. Oh no, I did not take it that way at all!

No. I was just posting this since he seems to be a popular subject. I have know them all my life so I always peek in and look or respond in these threads. That is all, no problems here. I think he needs to just be ignored but then that is just me.

[Kerrytravelers]

28. Oh good! Didn't want to offend anyone!

Thanks again for the link!

[MuseRider]

30. It takes a lot more than that

these days to offend me!

No problem. He is a hazzard and the more we know the better we can respond if we choose to.

[Kerrytravelers]

40. He is terrifying.

You've seen the website, right?

godhatesfags.com

It is just gut-wrenching to read.

[MuseRider]

41. Oh yes.

And I drive by their place a couple of times a month.

They do not make me feel afraid because in all the years he has been out there doing this the only increase in membership is because all his children have many children and now all their children are having many children.

He has little apparent support, probably a few outsiders who send money that we do not know about.

He is a violent man to his family and he speaks violent language but I do not think he will ever be physically violent to the public. There have been a few incidences, one of them a friend of mine but I think they know that in order to continue unhindered they have to control that. I think that is why they sing hymns all the time.

He is not being joined by outsiders when he shows up to protest so I think even the rank and file loonies can't even go there. The main problem we have here in this town is that there are a lot of people who believe in his anti gay message but hate him. They have formed groups that essentially say the same thing but in suits and ties and with quiet, godlike messages. They are the people that are hard to fight. It makes people feel OK about hating others.

[Kerrytravelers]

42. You have way more self control than I do.

If I had to drive past that place... ever.. I would completly freak out!

[MuseRider]

44. Remember

His oldest son was in my class at school from Kindergarten all the way through part of college. A few years out when he went to a different Jr. High. My brothers each had a Phelps in their class too.

Edit Oops the point of that is I am very used to it

[sakabatou]

51. I wanna hear stories!

[MuseRider]

53. I only have a few

but they have nothing really to do with Phelps as he is now. Just childhood stories.

Here's a good one. My brother puked hot dogs in Margies long snaggly hair in 4th grade.

That good enough? :)

[sakabatou]

54. Was he always brainwashed?

[MuseRider]

56. Who Fred?

Fred is just plain nuts all on his own, he does the brainwashing.

Read this http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/phelps/bl_phelpsmain.htm

This will tell you all you need to know.

[sakabatou]

63. No, not fred

His kid that you had school with. Or was he normal?

[MuseRider]

64. Nope, he is not normal.

The one that was in my class is his oldest son, Fred Phelps Jr. I also played in several musical groups with the woman who he eventually married.

God, my history has been tied up with these people but really none of them ever was allowed to have friends outside their family and they rarely did the same kinds of after school activities. Once in a while but not very often. They were too busy selling candy for the church.

[sakabatou]

65. I bet it was tainted with potassium nitrate

and EVIL.

[Greeby]

19. awww, Pitter-pat is cute

Sorry, but since mine died last week, I've been on a cat cute-fest :loveya:

[Kerrytravelers]

23. I'm sorry to hear about your little kitty.

Just for you:

Meet Pitter-pat and Sniffles:


Sniffles loves my shoebox:


Pitter-pat right before we adopted him from the Humane Society:

[Greeby]

24. Stop man, you're sending me into cute overload

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[FreedomAngel82]

35. Aw I'm sorry about your kitty

:hug:

[proud2BlibKansan]

59. Two of his kids live in CA but he grew up in Mississippi

[proud2BlibKansan]

62. From the link Muse posted:

"Sources have disclosed the head of the college felt pastor Phelps might be clinically disturbed. Compatible with that diagnosis, Fred's next stop was Southern California. There he enrolled at John Muir College in Pasadena.

"Campaigning to change community sexual mores with a sign and a sidewalk harangue has been a four-decade effort for Fred. His implacable efforts at John Muir to root out necking and petting on campus and dirty jokes in the classroom reached the pages of TIME magazine (11 June 1951). After being forbidden to preach on campus and getting removed at least once by police from college property, Fred finally found a following that cheered his defiance of authority when he returned to harangue from a sympathizer's lawn across the street. TIME speculated it might presage a movement back to more solid values by the younger generation. Phelps cashed in on the notoriety of the TIME article to become a traveling evangelist again-this time with more success than in Vernal."

[TheWraith]

12. Seeing the video now--where's a maniac with a gun when you need one? NT

[Webster Green]

13. He's a great spokesman for "Christian" right-wing homophobes..

Gotta love it. He's out there giving a face to their twisted values.

[FreedomAngel82]

36. As a Christian he disgusts me

:( He abuses the religion for his terrorism.

[Webster Green]

43. Of course!

That's the difference between a Christian and a "Christian".

[medeak]

15. cnn running video over and over n/t

[JackBeck]

26. A counter demonstration suggestion

Phelps, et al. came to Brooklyn to protest the "fag infested" FDNY in March of 2002. With the wounds of 9/11 still smoldering in many of a New Yorker, I couldn't let this pass without figuring out how to do something constructive to counteract this hate monger. Especially since he was setting foot in Brooklyn, where I live. I was a bartender at the time and had immediate contact with many people in the gay community, so I asked everyone to donate what ever they could for every minute that the Phelps clan was protesting in Brooklyn. And then I would donate that money to a gay organization, specifically, FIRE-FLAG, a GLBT fireman's group. I ended up raising about $1600. I've confronted them in the past with screaming and picket signs, but these things don't work. I say, the next time these weirdos are in your area, maybe try and do something similar. That way, you can turn their hate on its face while helping out a community organization.

[MuseRider]

29. We did that here with our symphony.

He is always outside every time we play and he used to be around for every rehearsal too. Once we did this he got such a kick out of it he donated himself.

[JackBeck]

31. Good for you guys!

And on his website he actually brags about how we do this counter demonstration.

[FreedomAngel82]

38. Good idea!

I like that idea.

[Swamp Rat]

34. Fred Phelps Secret Fantasy

[MuseRider]

45. Leave it to you

to perfectly nail it!

[Swamp Rat]

46. Speaking of Muses...

I played in the Krewe of Muses parade last night. ;)

[MuseRider]

47. YAY!

I wish I could have been there.

How are things for you? I have not kept up but I do hope things are well.

[Swamp Rat]

48. Getting better, albeit very slowly.

I still don't have hot water in my apartment, and there are many homeless here now... thousands. Nevertheless, Mardi Gras is helping lift our spirits - it's more than just an economic necessity.

Thanks for asking. :hug:

[MuseRider]

49. Cold showers are character builders?

Just trying to help.

I do hope Mardi Gras helps with everyone's spirits and helps economically too.

I have so much sadness and undying respect for those of you fighting to repair and restore one of the coolest cities on the earth. It is your home, I hope we can keep it that way.

[proud2BlibKansan]

60. That is awesome, Swamp Rat.

LOL
:rofl:

[Initech]

37. Anyone who gets kicked out of Bob Jones University for mental instability.

Sure is fucked up in the truest definition!

And I am not making this up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Jones_University#Other_alumni

[FreedomAngel82]

39. Wasn't Al Gore a good friend of their's a long time ago?

I haven't heard if they're still friends or not though now days.

[eggman67]

52. I believe they had a falling out during the Clinton years

But it is true that they at least knew each other and Al's past on gay issues is spotty.

[proud2BlibKansan]

61. He chaired Gore's campaign in Kansas back in the 80s

I doubt they still hang out together though. LOL

[me b zola]

50. I heard cnn report on this yesterday

We have been aware of Phelps and his brand of inflamatory insanity for a while now. What struck me, though, about the report was that they said that some are considering legislation to prohibit demonstrating at funerals/military funerals. Phelps tries the patience of the 1st amendment, but I would hate to see any legislative measures to infringe upon that right.

My dil is active duty army and is currently training to be deployed overseas. If something were to happen to her and the Phelps crew showed up at her funeral, I would bet that my son's reaction would make the wing-nuts think before they ever showed up at another military funeral.

[proud2BlibKansan]

55. No, he really needs to be IGNORED

He WANTS publicity.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=515198&mesg_id=515198

[Glimmer of Hope]

57. This morning there was disturbing interpretation of the funeral protests

on a local D.C. station. After a story on Iraq, the anchor led into a story about the protests by saying that anti-war protesters have found a new way to protest the war - they are protesting funerals! I sent them this:

"This morning you ran a story regarding funeral protesters and I believe the way you portrayed this story was blatantly incorrect. Fred Phelps and his cult are not anti-war protesters but anti-gay protesters. Please note the difference."

I couldn't find the story on their web site:

http://www.wusa9.com/