The fascists are here

I’ve been doing this a long time, bringing you the issues of the day through my prism of conservatism. It’s what’s known as an opinion. We all have them. We take for granted that, in the United States, we’ll always have the freedom to express them. We can no longer take that for granted.

The case of Brendan Eich at Mozilla is one of the most frightening examples of fascism that I’ve witnessed in my long career of voicing my opinion. The fact that many of you are

learning of this for the very first time is even more startling.

You may not have heard of Mozilla but you may have heard of their primary product. They make the web browser Firefox. Brendan Eich was one of the founders of that company. Eich also invented the computer programming language JavaScript. It’s the language that allows you to browse the Internet.

It seems back in 2008 Mr. Eich made a $1,000 contribution to Proposition 8. That’s the California proposition that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Radical, right? The state constitutional amendment was passed by the people of California but later ignored by state officials.

In March of this year Eich was elevated from Chief Technical Officer to Chief Executive Officer. It’s not clear when his contribution to Prop 8 came to light but upon his appointment as CEO the radical gay dating site, OKCupid.com, went nuts and launched a boycott of Mozilla and Firefox. The board of directors caved and fired Eich. Well, they claim they didn’t fire him, that he left because of the controversy, but that’s nearly impossible to believe.

Here’s an excerpt from the company’s statement on the Eich affair:

You need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to 

stand for both at the same time can be hard.

Figuring out how to stand for free speech and equality can be hard? Actually, it’s quite simple. When you fight for equality, fight for everyone’s equal opportunity to be free. Ironically, the Eich incident came the same week the Supreme Court ruled that campaign contributions constitute free speech.

Apparently it’s the free speech part Mozilla is having a hard time with.

What’s frightening is so many people think it’s perfectly appropriate for Mozilla to sack its CEO over a campaign contribution. This is the primary reason leftists want the courts to grant them access to contributor information. It’s to exact their punishment on those who contribute to organizations they don’t like.

I wrote in The Conservative’s Handbook that political correctness is the liberal version of fascism. This is exactly the kind of fascism I was referring to. 

There’s a group in Hollywood called Friends of Abe. It’s an organization of conservatives and right-leaning independents. They get together and hear speakers and gather information about various issues. They had grown to a point where they needed office space, thus they needed to be able to accept donations from their members. They applied for 501(c)3 status with the IRS. The IRS dragged it’s feet, as we famously know they do, but finally approved the status.

During the approval process, the IRS insisted on access to a password-protected section of their website that included a list of members. They refused and ultimately won that argument.

It’s sad that those of us in favor of full disclosure find ourselves insisting on secrecy in order to protect people from the new American fascists.

If that list is ever made public it’s only a matter of time before they ‘Eich’ someone else.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

A lesson in tolerance

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year last year in the NFL.  This year he may once again be the NFL’s offensive player but not in the way he intended.  In the ever-growing politically correct climate of professional sports Peterson’s views on gay marriage are being deemed offensive.

The Vikings recently cut punter Chris Kluwe who has been an outspoken supporter of gay marriage which becomes legal in Minnesota on August 1.  Peterson told Sirius XM NFL radio, “I have relatives who are gay.  I’m not biased towards them.  I still treat them the same.  I love ‘em.  But again, I’m not with that.  That’s not something I believe in.”

Peterson was excoriated on Twitter.  One Tweeter wrote, “It’s called equality, bro.  Get with it.”  Another wrote that Peterson was “less demi-god and more semi-troglodyte.”  JustZoe wrote, “He should’ve kept the anti-gay opinions to himself.”  As I’ve often said, the left is always about diversity except for diversity of thought.

They love to make gay marriage into an equality issue.  You’ve seen the equal signs on the backs of cars and posted on Facebook.  It’s as if to say that if you support traditional marriage then you’re somehow treating people unfairly.

Let’s take a look at the restrictions already on marriage.  You can’t get married until you reach a certain age.  Does that mean anyone supporting traditional marriage is engaging in ageism?  (And, yes, that’s actually a word)  There’s a prohibition in every state against brothers and sisters marrying, against having more than one spouse, against marrying your father or your mother.  Does that make those who want to break those rules victims of discrimination?

I know, there I go using logic again.  The simple fact is you don’t see these same gay marriage proponents standing up for polygamists and sibling marriage even though a case can be made that they’re just as much in love as two men could be.

It’s time we had a frank discussion.  It’s easy to think of the gay issue in terms of wonderful, caring neighbors or a co-worker who does such an exemplary job but that’s not being gay.  Being gay is two men having sex.  Let that image sink in for a moment.  That’s not an image that sits well with most people.  If you just cringed when you read those words you’re not a homophobe, you’re not a bigot or someone who hates.  You’re a completely normal heterosexual and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you.

Heterosexuals have a natural aversion to gay sex.  If you don’t then you’re either bisexual or gay.  Our culture today is brainwashing us into believing that if we don’t completely embrace homosexuality on the same level as heterosexuality that we’re somehow evil people.  We’re not.  There’s a huge difference between tolerance and acceptance.  I tolerate all sorts of things I don’t believe in because we live in a free country.  That doesn’t mean I have to accept everything as being just fine.

That’s not to say that we don’t love people who are gay.  When I learn someone is gay it doesn’t change my love or admiration for them.  But it also doesn’t mean that just because I love them I have to love what they do.  That’s the distinction that needs to be made.

If I’m to accept that you’re a person of worth even though you’re gay then you should be willing to accept that I’m a person of worth even though I don’t believe your marriage should be legally recognized.  Tolerance is a two-way street.