But remember: your only going

Isn't the word "editor" somewhere in your job title?

Damn, Judah, you are a cranky bastard...first you want to annex Canada, and now this...sheesh...maybe start drinking earlier...

@1,

Dan was mocking the post written by Walters, complete with Walters' own grammatical errors.

Why can't people recognize what's screamingly obvious: people get HIV because they're careless. New Orleans drowned because of poor land management. Soldiers die in Iraq because we voted for a moron with bloodlust and were too lazy to stop him. Homosexuality and God have absolutely nothing to do with it. We bring our problems on ourselves.

From the article:
"Later Tuesday, Matt Strawn, the party's chairman, said in a statement: "Mr. Walters' comments are inappropriate and in no way represent the beliefs of the Republican Party of Iowa. HIV/AIDS does not discriminate, and our hearts and prayers go out to any Iowa family facing this disease." And "A party spokeswoman said Walters had planned to volunteer at the party's State Fair booth but will not be allowed to do so."

Well, at least the state Republican party is calling this douchewaffle out on his B.S.

Stan: Don't be gay Sparks, don't be gay.

Cartman: That dog is a gay homosexual.

Somehow I imagine this stay at home dad is an adult Eric Cartman.

"This tells me alot so should we kill them NO."
I'm sorry, all I can think about is: http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/20…

How is this guy a candidate for anything? His (archaic, hateful) views aside, he's obviously not very literate. Although I guess that probably helps some Iowans relate to him.

@3

So he was. My bad.

@2

Suburb. Of. A country.

@4

The reasons that people get HIV are somewhat more complicated than your facile analysis would suggest; likewise New Orleans, Iraq, and the rest of it. The details matter. Not just because they help us address problems more effectively, but because they affect the way people now and in the future will understand the problems.

A lot of young gay men go through a self-destructive phase if they either aren't out, or if they were rejected by their families when they came out. Others get it because their SOs cheat on them. Some do get it just because they're lazy or stupid or high. They're all being careless -- they know better -- but the reasons they're careless matter.

Here is a person who truly deserves the AIDS virus.

Religious fanatics are fucking assholes. That must be why they're all Republicans.

Parody, folks. And what a dilemma for Republican party officials: do you condemn homophobic or racist comments that alienate at least some potential independent voters, or do you avoid drawing attention to the fact that the most illiterate simpletons gravitate naturally to your ideology?

So, what about all the non-GAY people who have died from AIDS? Whose blood is upon THEM?

Religious fanatics are fucking assholes. That must be why they're all Republicans.

I had a funny conversation with a Republican friend of mine once where he said that the media had a liberal bias because most reporters were Democrats. I suggested that the data was correlative rather than causative, and that maybe what was really going on was that people who study current events for a living choose the Democratic Party because it's better.

I'm more worried about his functional illiteracy than I am about his hateful views. A clear argument for better public schools in Iowa.

@5:

They really only backed off from the "AIDS is god's punishment for sinners" statement, not the "Gays should die" part, which, really, I think is more important.

said Walters, a stay-at-home dad who works part time cleaning cars.

So he's Biblical enough to think gays deserve death but somehow is ok with inverting the gender roles so that the woman is the breadwinner and he the homekeeper? What says the Bible about that?

Given all the straight folks who get AIDS (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa), one wonders if God is really, really incompetent.

@10 - They're not ALL republicans. Loveschild voted for President Obama.

"I have dead friends" has been around since 9/11, and is an essential comedic element in the Ground Cordoba Zero House Mosque Show now playing on TV sets everywhere.

I'm friends with all the dead. Don't believe me? Ask them!

As just about anyone who was around in the '80s can say, I have a lot of dead gay friends. Religion didn't have anything to do with it then, and it doesn't have anything to do with it now. But if these idiots had ever sat by the bedside of a friend dying from AIDS, they might change their tune.

@18 Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

It's easy to demonize and take out of context what he said, and certainly he could have said it better, but for those of us who have seen dear ones ravaged by AIDS and who know how they contracted that death sentence, we understand the correlation. There are many honest and good people out there struggling with homosexuality and trying to improve their lives, such people understand the consequences of succumbing and acting upon those behaviors, and we should all be compassionate and understanding of their fight because they thru their example can help save other lives. They do not promote nor seek to portray such behaviors as something that should be emulated precisely because they realize how that could end. Those are truly men and women deserving of all of our respect and help.

And to those who love to hide their racism behind the whole "Sub-Saharan Africa" has more AIDS cases, realize (if you don't know by now) that many of those cases are precisely due to the same actions performed by those who actively engage in homosexuality. Both presently in nations with sizable white majorities like South Africa, where homosexuality has wrongly been exalted on par with race. Autochthonous African Men who erroneously and crassly don't think of the consequences of engaging in and emulating foreign behaviors and then go on and infect their women and subsequently their offspring, that unbeknown to them come into this world already infected because of them.

Does the Bible say anything about people who can't use correct punctuation and spelling?

This is not ancient times. We don't live in the Middle ages. We have the knowledge to know that diseases are caused by many things, including viruses, bacteria, genetics, etc. It's not god's wrath. Neither are earthquakes, storms, or floods. Disease has occurred as long as there have been living things, and the earth does it's thing regardless of where people live.

Why does God hate Jerry's kids? And why did God send a tornado to a Boy Scout's camp?

Really. It's 2010, can we get past the superstitious mumbo jumbo? There's no magic being in the sky taking sides.

23, Oh Lovechild, it's good to have your misinformed, uneducated opinions back in slog! You're always good for a laugh. Love you sweetheart.

Ugh. It's back.

@14,

Iowa has fantastic public schools.

#14 and #24 FTW!

So, since a lot of straight people also die of AIDS, often through no fault of their own (wife whose husband cheated, child whose parents had AIDS, patient with a careless DR., Good Samaritan who didn't have latex gloves on hand) should we assume that God's totally incompetent or just that he has bad aim?

Also, does it seem odd to anyone else that these people always bring up that the bible says we should kill the gays but they always clarify that they're not saying "WE" should kill the gays, just that god wants them to die? I think these people lack conviction. Clearly, by their reading of the bible, it says that "WE" should kill the gays, god will just judge them afterwards. If these people really believe in the strict reading of the bible they're always pushing on us then they need to stand behind it. I want to see this asshole get up and say that he stands behind murdering gays just like the bible says. If he can't do that he's just another idiot hypocrite who cherry picks what he likes out of the "good book". Not that we didn't know that already.

Hello? People do not get AIDS from being careless. AIDS is caused by a microbe.

Plenty of people ---gay straight or whatever--- are careless any NEVER get HIV/AIDS.

And ditto to everyone going on about AIDS not being god's wrath etc.

Hey LC - care to enlighten us about leprosy while you're at it?

@23 - I'm not struggling with homosexuality. I'm actually really good at it!

Hey Loveschild,

Which date did you choose to come give your testimony at Slog Happy? We are looking forward to hearing how you overcame your battle with "homosexual behaviors" and chose to become "heterosexual". Until, you share and we get it videotaped for all to see and listen to, you have to hold your tongue about your "facts".

My offer to hold your hand is still good.

[T]hose of us who have seen dear ones ravaged by AIDS and who know how they contracted that death sentence, we understand the correlation.

This is some of the most remarkable creative writing I've read in quite some time. Loveschild, unlike some I try to take some of the claims you make about your life at face value. I've never had any reason to doubt your honesty until now. If you'd actually been through the experience of losing someone to AIDS, if you'd seen a close friend die of this horrible disease, you wouldn't be here claiming to be morally superior. You certainly wouldn't be defending someone whose statements were not taken out of context but were quoted in full.

In short, Loveschild, you'd know the meaning of 'compassion'.

You can stop your claims of moral superiority now. You may think it's acceptable to lie as long as it's in the service of your warped worldview, but the end does not justify the means.

Well said, Southern Gentleman.

@23: You know one reason for the cause of AIDS at rampant rates in South Africa that is not in any way related to homosexuality? Rampant levels of AIDS coupled with roving bands of gang rapists. But God never said "Thou shalt not gang rape", so it's all good, right?

Rape is a common problem in South Africa, in a 2009 survey one in four South African men admitted to raping someone. One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information, Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year. South Africa has some of the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the world. In a related survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling', a term for gang rape, was fun.

But the math doesn't work out though, does it? With nearly 80% of the population identifying themselves as Christian, how can at least one in four of the population be raping women (and children and babies)? That would mean that there are good Christians raping women. Regularly. For fun.

Thanks for always being there to reinforce the stereotype of Christians being ignorant, condescending bigots, Loveschild.

Soo LC, does that mean you consider Lesbianism (the least risky of the orientations) the best? Or do you merely wish to exploit the death of millions to back up your preconcieved bigotry? Your god created a disease to punish gays but refrained from making it so it couldn't infect, say, babies who get it from their 12 year old mothers who were raped by men who believed that raping a virgin cures AIDS but of course "condoms don't work"?

@ Fifty-Two-Eighty,

"Religion didn't have anything to do with it then, and it doesn't have anything to do with it now." I can't say it any better, microbes do not know the: gender, nationality, ethnicity, religious affiliation or not, or sexual orientation of the host. To paint AIDS as some kind of divine punishment for sexual deviance- particularily upon homosexuality requires such a contortion of reason not to mention a vile image of their "loving" God. Ockham's razor eviscerates this savage claim as lesbians have the lowest number of cases of AIDS and other veneral disease. Not to mention the savage cruelty such a claim of divine punishment must be felt by those infected by an unlucky transfusion, needle, or in utero.

No, religion has nothing to do with it, Sweet Cheeks, but sadly, as noted above, stupidity does. Perhaps we'll see a day sometime soon when that changes. I hope so.

BTW, it's Occam's Razor. Because I love you and you should get it right.

Lay off of poor Jeremy Walters. Didn't you read the full quote? It ends "...Thats how I feel."

You may not like how he feels, but "there's no such thing as a bad feeling." Did your group therapy facilitator not tell you that?!

You jump on the poor guy now, and he won't share anymore.

I love you, too. Both are correct, though.

Ock·ham [ok-uh m]
-noun
1. William of. Occam.
Oc·cam [ok-uh m]
-noun
1. William of, died 1349?, English scholastic philosopher.
Also, Ockham.

The main ways to contract AIDS is thru blood and fringe sexual practices like sodomy. Sodomy is in fact one of the most assured ways to get infected. Due to the correlation of homosexual activities ( not the person, but those who engage in 'sexual' activities) with sodomy, AIDS is intrinsically related to homosexuality. Even pro-homosexual activists admit such because they know and have felt the consequences (some at firsthand) of it. Thats not to say that the Heterosexual activity that deviates into the same practices is exempt from being affected with the same illness, because it isn't, but that the former is more likely to produce such results due to it's nature (for lack of a better word) than the latter.

While it is true that this mainly affect the men due to the sexual organs and the uninhibited male compulsory libido that is not tempered when a female is absent from the picture, lesbian sexual activity (the activity not the persons) produces its own health risk factors that can also shorten female life tho perhaps not as rapidly and dramatic as in the case of homosexual activity, still the lifespan is also sadly shortened. I would truly think that people like kim who claim to feel so much love for lesbians and homosexuals would care to acknowledge something that could save many of their lives, but apparently that's not the case. It's me, who supposedly 'hates' them that cares enough to see them live the beautiful healthy life that we all deserve to have.

And again the places where you can see AIDS more rampant in the African Continent are precisely those where foreign intrusion and cultural impositions have been the greatest. Being the original cradle of civilization, the cultures and families that made the Continent had their own regulations and ways to keep at bay such illnesses way before the advent of foreigners. Once that happened and as time and colonialism (which is not something of the too distant past in many African nations, Zimbabwe won its independence from 'merry' ol england in 1980 for example) took hold of the culture and its aftermath as in places like South Africa where one can still see white enclaves like in the obscenely wealthy Cape, you started to see things like AIDS ravage more profusely the indigenous population. That's a fact.

Wow. Kim @43 with the massive linguistic smackdown. I learned something new today (as I do many days from her!)

Loveschild, by lying about having lost friend(s) to AIDS you've demolished what little credibility you have.

You can't make something true by saying "That's a fact" anymore than you can prove that you are a loving person by thoughtlessly and maliciously condemning others for what you personally consider to be failings.

If you'd actually lost someone close to you to AIDS you would not be here saying that, essentially, some people who die of AIDS get what they deserve.

@46 Excuse you, please quote me where I said my loved one deserved it ? I'm not seeking your validity, I know what my family went thru, and the important person we lost.

@47 Loveschild, please read carefully. I know you've been asked that frequently, but, like facts that you don't like, you consistently ignore it. Let me repeat what I said: you are saying, essentially, that some people who die of AIDS get what they deserve. I never said that you said your fictional loved one deserved it. Unlike you I would never imply that anyone who had contracted AIDS deserved it.

When you say, "Sodomy is in fact one of the most assured ways to get infected" you are suggesting that people who engage in what you call "fringe" behaviors are getting what they deserve.

If you'd really lost someone to the disease you wouldn't wish the experience on anyone no matter how much you dislike what they do in private.

@48 Wrong, I'm not perfect neither are you nor anyone else. We all make mistakes, and as such it's incumbent upon those of us who have gone thru them (whether directly or thru others close to us) to let others know what can happen when they engage in certain things. By no means does that mean that those who fall victim to such an illness deserve it. You are arriving at that conclusion to silence those of us who actually care enough to tell the truth about it. I would never, never ever wish AIDS on anyone. and I don't know anyone who believes in preserving traditional marriage and morality who believes otherwise.

@ LC i would like to know what these mysterious life shortening forces are. i have never heard this. please enlighten us...

that should have said "lesbian life shortening forces." my bad. i was curious particularly about the lesbians. men have shorter lives in general, gay or straight, so we'll just blame testosterone for that one.

@49 I never claimed to be perfect, Loveschild. You're the one who's arriving at conclusions.

While I appreciate your (admittedly dishonest) attempts to back away both from what you've said and your defense of Jeremy Walters, who, in a quote you claim--falsely--was taken out context--calls AIDS a Biblical punishment, you're still suggesting that AIDS is the result of what you claim are "fringe" behaviors.

Please spare us your nonsense regarding "traditional marriage" and so-called "morality". Aside from the fact that we've been through this before, you can't claim to be preserving morality when you're attempting to garner sympathy for your twisted worldview by lying.

No one is trying to silence you, Loveschild. That defense doesn't work for Dr. Laura and it doesn't work for you either. You're free to say whatever you like, but others are just as free to criticize what you say.

@30: NO! NO! BAD Hartiepie! Viruses are not microbes!!!
/RAEG

@49: You obviously didn't read what Southern Gentleman wrote that time either. Just for reference, here's a list of big words you've used incorrectly in this thread so far:
-crassly
-intrinsically
-compulsory
-rapidly
-validity
-incumbent
DAMN, Loveschild, those words aren't even very big! And that's not even including the grammatical errors, misspellings, and mechanical problems. You just pulled a Vizzini. You keep using these words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.
And about your theory that AIDS has been somehow caused or exacerbated by the influence of white people? HIV FIRST JUMPED FROM OTHER APES TO HUMANS VIA CONTACT WITH INFECTED BUSHMEAT. How is bushmeat (especially eating chimpanzee flesh) at all a European idea?

@53 Uh... yah they is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microorgani…

The point is that actions, behaviors and attitudes themselves aren't the cause of disease.

@54: Uh... nah they ain't.
From the Wikipedia article: "Some microbiologists also include viruses, but others consider these as non-living."

Viruses do not metabolize in any way. Most microbiologists aren't going to call them life.

@55 --- (Pssst: I'm in the "some do" camp)

Stop messing up my bigger point goddammit......

" I would truly think that people like kim who claim to feel so much love for lesbians and homosexuals would care to acknowledge something that could save many of their lives, but apparently that's not the case."

I love it when you get bitchy, Loveschild @ 44. You always think that you can kick me and attention will be drawn away from your previous statements. Look, look everyone at Kim the bad girl and let me lie about her and insinuate to all that she promotes unprotected sex and needle sharing! Which I don't and never have, nor believe that I ever will. And, we are to believe that you're here for love? That is what you're trying to make us all believe? Good luck.

Please don't forget that Kim actually worked with the virus. We won't go into the science again, as it flew over your head last time. That virus, like all other microbes, does not have a "mind". HIV does not "think". It does not "care" how it enters the host or who its host is. And, because the HIV virus does not "care", then, the disease it causes AIDS does not "care". A virus replicates itself. Your claim that "AIDS is intrinsically related to homosexuality" is a false statement it makes as much sense as claiming that AIDS is intrinsically related to India or Africa or North America. You spatch-cock ideas together and pronounced it fact to support your opinion. AIDS is a human disease.

Your poorly worded comment above @ 23, you're repeated advocation of prison rape as a form of punishment on other threads, and your frequent character slams-lies about me, calling Fnarf a pedophile, etc.- tell us all we need to know about your "morals". You are free to say what you wish, and we are free to call you on what you say.

Speaking of lies and personal opinions you present as fact...

When are you coming to Slog Happy to give your testimony? I'll still hold your hand, too if you find the courage.

@ 55- We are going for words that are understandable. Bye the way, I'm in the "non-living" camp.

i have dead friends too, bertha don't you come around her anymore.

@Loveschild,

You had me at

...nations with sizable white majorities like South Africa...

I'm just "gay homosexual", no caps. Where does that fit in?

Would "STRAIGHT homosexual" mean "on the down-low"?

I hope this pinhead grows an ulcer in his belly for each marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in his otherwise-pleasant state of Iowa.