Thomas Menino, Scumbag Politican or Scumbag Grandstanding Politican

[Strike For The South]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78765.html

So brave. Please try to block the licensees and watch the cluster that becomes of it.

HuffPo has this guy so far down their throat, I'm surprised they can get a word in edgewise.

Meanwhile the Muffesbro mosque gets 10 scathing editorials a day

I realize HuffPo has a slant, I just thought it crystallized the definition of "rigths" for most people.

Hint: they are both wrong

[drone]

I hear Chick-fil-A refuses to serve homosexuals on Sunday! :yes:

[Major Robert Dump]

A mayor cannot keep a company out, its gonna take a vote of the council or the people

Towns have successfully done this with wal mart in the past

He should also ban the boy scouts

[Major Robert Dump]

STFS, pls explain to me what the mosque has to do with anything. That is in Tennesse, right? My drunk azz is not seeing the correlation

[Papewaio]

Chick-fill-her whilst not catering for gay men is pro lesbians as long as they either have big hands or a notorized receipt for a strap on.

The president later commented that their business was in there to help fulfill chicks in everyway possible.

[Xiahou]

I hear Chick-fil-A refuses to serve homosexuals on Sunday! :yes:
It's true! They won't even let homosexuals in the place on Sundays! :yes:

[PanzerJaeger]

Chick-fil-ehh is getting exactly what it asked for. If the company wants to play in the political arena, it can expect some pushback.

[Xiahou]

At the same time, if you oppose a mosque being built in your town you're a close-minded bigot. Anyone want to remind us what Islam teaches about homosexual marriage?

Whether it's a restaurant or a place of worship, government has no business picking or choosing who can set up shop. (Unless there is clear evidence of criminal activity- which in both cases, there isn't)

I wonder if Menino thinks the Boyscouts and Catholic churches also need to be banned from "his" city?

[PanzerJaeger]

This Chick-fil-A story is really heating up (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chik-fil-sandwiches-political-symbol-16864677), no pun intended.


All of a sudden, biting into a fried chicken sandwich has become a political statement.

Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain known for putting faith ahead of profits by closing on Sundays, is standing firm in its opposition to gay marriage after touching off a furor earlier this month.

Gay rights groups have called for a boycott, the Jim Henson Co. pulled its Muppet toys from kids' meals, and politicians in Boston and Chicago told the chain it is not welcome there.

Across the Bible Belt, where most of the 1,600 restaurants are situated, Christian conservatives have thrown their support behind the Atlanta-based company, promising to buy chicken sandwiches and waffle fries next week on "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day."

The latest skirmish in the nation's culture wars began when Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." In a later radio interview, he ratcheted up the rhetoric: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'"

That fired up gay rights advocates, including a group that waged a campaign against the company in recent years by publicizing $3 million in contributions that the Cathy family foundation has made to conservative organizations such as the Family Research Council.

"This solidifies Chick-fil-A as being closely aligned with some of the most vicious anti-gay voices in the country," said Carlos Maza of Equality Matters.

A Chicago alderman vowed to block a Chick-fil-A proposed in his district, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel supported him, saying, "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values." Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote in a letter to Cathy: "There is no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it."

In announcing it was pulling its toys, the Jim Henson company said it has "celebrated and embraced diversity for over 50 years." It directed its revenue from the Chick-fil-A toys to GLAAD, a leading gay rights organization.

On the other side of the debate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, declared next Wednesday "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" to support a business "whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values." Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who like Huckabee ran for president as a darling of social conservatives, joined the cause along with religious leaders.

"As the son of a dairy farmer who milked many a cow, I plan to 'Eat Mor Chikin' and show my support by visiting Chick-fil-A next Wednesday," the Rev. Billy Graham said in a statement, referring to the slogan in the company's ads, which feature cows urging people to eat poultry.

The Rev. Roger Oldham, spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, said many Christians want to support businesses owned by fellow believers, and the loyalty intensifies "when Christians see a fellow Christian being persecuted."

"They will come out of the woodwork when a theologically based position is being politicized by individuals for their own purposes," he said.
The Cathy family has never hid its Southern Baptist faith. Since Dan Cathy's father, Truett, opened the first Chick-fil-A in 1967, the restaurants have been closed on Sundays, and the company refused to reconsider during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, sacrificing profits. It also boasts that the Chick-fil-A Bowl is the only college football bowl game with an invocation.

Chick-fil-A posted more than $4.1 billion in sales last year, most of it below the Mason-Dixon Line. Just 14 of its restaurants are in the six states and the District of Columbia where gay marriage is legal. Massachusetts has just two locations, both more than 10 miles from Boston. Illinois, which does not have same-sex marriage, has around a dozen, though only one in Chicago.

The company is well-positioned to come through the criticism relatively unscathed, even if it loses new markets in the North and elsewhere, University of Georgia marketing professor Sundar Bharadwaj said. He said that is because Chick-fil-A basically reflects the politics of its customers.

At a downtown Atlanta Chick-fil-A on Thursday, customers were divided over the company's stance.

"If you're a Christian, you believe in the Bible. The Bible says homosexuality is wrong. (Cathy's) absolutely right," Marci Troutman said over her breakfast.

Her business partner, Steve Timpson, said he chose not to eat at Chick-fil-A: "You've got to be more tolerant if you're going to operate in the wider market in this country."

Nearby, Dustin Keller offered another view of Cathy: "It's his opinion. He's entitled to it. I'm just here to eat."

I wish I could say that I do not eat at Chick-fil-A because of their support of hatred and bigotry, but its really because they serve fried poison dipped in butter and covered in BBQ sauce. :puke:

[Lemur]

I didn't think mayors were supposed to dictate what business may or may not start up in their city. Isn't that a bit ... gah, I hate zoning laws. If you disagree with a business, the best thing is to not spend your money there. Simple as that.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I have never eaten at a Chick-fil-A. I guess I won't ever eat there.

[Papewaio]

They have a right to state their views.

To put in place economic penalties without go through the courts for opinions is IMDHO an attack on freedom of speech & overstepping the functions of a (mini-me) executive branch (mayor).

If the company has done something wrong then let it be prosecuted by the law.

Private citizens and companies should likewise have the ability to support or boycott organizations that do not align with their ideals. Of course the law trumps acts of prejudice so they still need to make sure discrimination doesn't occur.

[Major Robert Dump]

And meanwhile, there is a rash of gay bashing in DC and it gets ignored completely. Gee, I wonder why

Instead, douchers protest chicken sammiches that give money to a religious charity

[PanzerJaeger]

And meanwhile, there is a rash of gay bashing in DC and it gets ignored completely. Gee, I wonder why

Instead, douchers protest chicken sammiches that give money to a religious charity

The Family Research Council is not a charity. The politicos pretending like they can ban Chick-fil-A from their cities are blowhards, but gays (and sane people everywhere) have reason to boycott the restaurant.

[Major Robert Dump]

My bad, I knew it wasn't a charity.

I am not disagreeing with peoples right to boycott. I could give two craps what they do. But if someone gives me guff for eating at Chic Fil A (which I have no immediate intention of doing) they can kiss my pastey white butt.

Chicfil A coming out for or against something is what all kinds of comapnies do. Personally, I think Cathy is an amatuer. As soon as his donations went public he should have backed off and shut up and stopped giving the donations, just brush it under the rug and find something else to support. Instead he pops off at the mouth. Is CFA public or private? I think its private, a dont think a publicly held company CEO would be quite so foolish

My point was that people are wasting their breathe. They need to go to DC instead, but they might get shot

[PanzerJaeger]

I agree with you. Boycotting is one thing, but the shaming going on back and forth, especially on Facebook, is ridiculous. "You're against gays!", "You're against free speech!". Leave it to Americans to get hysterical up over fast food.