Cross-posted at Blue Jersey.

Today, a bombshell article in The New Republic (TNR) exposed what many of us thought to be true?that Chris Smith's misguided priorities go far deeper than his twenty-two attempts to ban the common, everyday birth control pill.

Thanks to new investigative reporting by TNR's James Kirchick, we now know that Chris Smith is a founding member of the radical right.  A reporter at TNR, Kirchick is the author of a highly-regarded article on Ron Paul's ties to segregationists; that article changed the national narrative on Paul earlier this year.

Kirchick's new article reveals that Chris Smith has longstanding ties to religious-right hate groups; that he sat on the board of advisers of a pro-racial segregation organization in the 1980s; that he authored legislation that would bar gays and lesbians from working openly as nurses, doctors, first responders, federal employees or federal contractors; and that he played a role in a vicious disinformation campaign about HIV/AIDS that demonized gays and lesbians as "serial killers." The article also reveals that Smith concealed campaign contributions from at least two hard-line, pro-segregation groups.

The New Republic only scratched surface of Smith's bigotry. Following up on TNR's reporting, this morning, the Zeitz campaign discovered Chris Smith not only worked with segregationists; he voted with them. In 1981, Chris Smith voted to restore non-profit status to segregated private schools [HR 4121, 7/30/81] that were created as a mechanism for white Southerners to avoid the full implications of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

The Zeitz for Congress campaign also obtained a copy of Chris Smith's early college writings. In an article dated 1973, Smith accused gays and lesbians of being in league with "the Anti-Christ":

In Smith's words:

"We can live in harmony with His [God's] spiritual laws and be like the man, as Christ said, who built on an undestructable [sic] rock, or we can live in disharmony with the Anti-Christ; the devil, not the laughable, fiery and character with horns, but the evil one often spoken of by Jesus and he like the man who built his life on sand which eroded and eventually fell. God wants us happy; His laws are for our welfare, our protection, not Sin!"

Chris Smith's bigotry goes beyond his early career. In the 1990s, Smith introduced legislation that would force any company or public entity that receives federal funds to fire openly gay employees. The legislation would deny gays and lesbians the right to work as teachers, doctors, nurses, first responders, federal contractors, or state and federal workers.  It might even deny basic rights like student loans to gay college students.

What we've learned today:

Chris Smith is a founding member of the Religious Right, having sat on the advisory board of the Christian Voice. The Christian Voice strongly supported racially segregated private schools in the South and worked closely with Jerry Falwell.

Chris Smith voted to support segregation by allowing all-white private schools (which were created after forced-desegregation) to remain segregated.  

Chris Smith failed to abide by FEC rules and report contributions from openly racist, misogynistic, and homophobic groups on the radical right.  

Chris Smith introduced legislation in the 1990s to mandate that the government (or any recipients of federal funds, like local school district, fire departments, police departments and federal contractors) fire any openly gay employees. Openly gay individuals would have been barred from any receipt of federal funds such as school loans, food stamps or unemployment benefits.  

"Chris Smith is an extremist," said Steven D'Amico, Zeitz for Congress campaign manager.  "There is nothing moderate about racial segregation.  There is nothing moderate about denying jobs and education to millions of gay Americans. There is nothing moderate about taking away the right to use common, everyday birth control. These are unacceptable positions that are out of step with basic human decency."

I'm asking you to do a couple of things here. Please make a contribution. Also, if you're in or near the district, please contact ian_at_joshzeitz_dot_com to volunteer.

We can win this race, and we need to do it in order to show New Jersey and the country that this kind of extremism is immoral and unacceptable, and voters will hold such extremists accountable.

Thanks so much.

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Interesting little comment by noted Clinton Hater Noam Schreiber in the TNR where he makes the point that Obama is rapidly becoming the candidate backed by the Democratic establishment (so much for the claims of all his supporters that he was the new voice) and Clinton the candidate of the little people in the Democratic party.

     http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump /archive/2008/01/29/a-clinton-backlash-b acklash.aspx

It's hard to deny I'd say. The media as we all know are slavering to see her defeated. Another half dozen hit eds today. And that noted new voice in politics Ted Kennedy giving his support. It's become standard campaign mythology that he gets the wine sipping ultra liberals while she gets the beer drinking waitresses and construction workers. Last night in Florida the Vox Populi was clearly heard I'd say despite all the malice and spite and racist chat of Matthews, Milbank, Rich, Robinson, Dowd and all the rest of the allegedy liberal chattering classes.

The irony of all this is that I'm a bit of a wine sipper myself  but I'm disgusted by the blatant bias of the media and totally over the top partisanship of many of Obama's supporters who seem totally oblivious of the fact that this guy is certain loser in any contest against McCain. Hopefully the Voice of the People in the Democratic party will ensure that doesn't happen. I give them credit for a lot more commonsense than the Dowds of this world. So let's hope Schreiber's right.  

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John Edwards released a statement today about Hillary Clinton's newest slogan (video):

"The war in Iraq isn't even history yet, but the Bush Administration is repeating the march to war with Iran - and they're getting help from a person who should know a lot better - Senator Clinton.

"On Saturday at the Iowa Jefferson Jackson dinner, Senator Clinton unveiled her new campaign slogan to `turn up the heat' on the Republicans.

"Well, somebody will have to tell me how you `turn up the heat' by voting with Bush, Cheney and the neocons on their path to war with Iran. Because I don't believe that's turning up the heat - I think that's giving them exactly what they want.

"Senator Clinton had her chance to stand up and she chose not to use it. Our nation needs leaders who have the strength and backbone to fight the president on his march to war with Iran - not quicken the pace."

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Influential journalists with a bias against candidates can impact elections.  We saw this occur in 2003-04 when Joe Klein of Time Magazine and other journalists decided that Howard Dean was too threatening to the status quo.  The theme that Dean was a champion of "populist demagoguery" and dangerously wrong for America was developed and repeated in article after article.

In the present election, Ryan Lizza of The New Republic wrote a profile on Bill Richardson in June 2007 that has received considerable attention.  Lizza derided Richardson as the "Paper Candidate," as if all of Richardson's accomplishments were an illusion, mere words on paper.  Lizza employed techniques propagandists have used throughout history in an attempt to create a devastating critique of Richardson.

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I just found this little piece over at SecuringAmerica.com

The following was posted by Mad4Clark. I hope you take a look and think about what is being said.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/1144 3

John B. Judis has a piece in The New Republic called "Nobody running in 2008 is qualified to be president."
http://www.tnr.com/user/nregi.mhtml?i=w0 70312&s=judis031407

Someone noticed!! Well, knock me down with a feather.

Mostly behind a firewall, but the little you can read, includes this......

What worries me is the foreign policy experience of the six leading candidates. Four of them--Republicans Giuliani and Romney and Democrats Edwards and Obama--have none. Clinton's experience was largely by osmosis when she was first lady. She remained on the sidelines as a senator. Only one of the candidates, McCain, appears to have thought long and hard--and to have been in the thick of the national debate--about America's position in the world. But in his dogged pursuit of a neoconservative agenda, McCain shows little evidence of having acquired any wisdom from that experience....

more below...

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