Why 'Family' is a Dirty Word

The WaPo finally got around to explaining exactly why Leader DeLay is such a dirty dirty little boy, (See It Now) basically recapping what Al Franken has been saying since his show went on the air. Franken fans know that DeLay called Marianas Islands sweatshop owners, who were basically slave traders and pimps, (See It Now) fine examples of American ingenuity and "a shining light for what is happening to the Republican Party, and you represent everything that is good about what we are trying to do in America and leading the world in the free-market system"

(For those who didn't know, the Marianas Islands are an "American Protectorate" which means that clothes made there can carry the Made in the USA label even though the workers are not afforded the same protections you have in your job. Or any protections, for that matter. Abramoff and DeLay made a lot of money fighting to keep it that way.)

There's enough stink to go around on this one that we will not dig any deeper into it here, (the WaPo article is well worth a read,) but the WaPo did note something that conforms to a prejudice we've held for a long time:

Political organizations with the words "Family" and/or "Values" in their names are evil.

DeLay "had close ties" to the "US Family Network", which purported to be a nationwide grassroots organization, but was actually funded entirely by corporations "linked to" Abramoff. (Interesting Tidbit: fake grassroots organizations that are actually funded by one or two rich jerks are known as "Astroturfing" organizations, a new piece of jargon that deserves a late-entry Standy.) And of course James Dobson's "American Family Association" would be more appropriately named "Queerbashers Less-than-Anonymous" or what have you. And we were particularly struck when in the heat of the campaign last year, the "Traditional Values Council" started propagating the story of some democrat circulating an anti-Bush flyer that was also an anti-special-Olympian flyer, which story was revealed to be not just a hoax, but a republican dirty trick (no one believed us then, but we have it solid now.)

We are willing to be proved wrong on our "Family" and "Values" thesis, but we doubt you can name three undeniably good organizations using those words. And don't try The Family Circus, because those ghosts the kids see are definitely satanic icons.