Hutch: Upgrading from Lying to Extortion

Wow, just… wow. 

Warning: Lies, scare quotes, race and religion baiting, fallacious logic, narcissism, child exploitation, and outright extortion ahead.

After what I can only guess was a deep psychotic break, Pastor Ken Hutcherson put out a “Press Release” to his Prayer Warriors titled “Microsoft Supporting Intolerance?”  I can’t find any sign of it anywhere else online and this begs the question – if you put out a press release and you don’t send it to the press, is it really a press release at all?

Here’s the awesome craziness. All emphasis is mine:

Redmond, WA -November 19. Dr. Ken Hutcherson challenged Microsoft and the board today at the annual stockholders meeting by asking how Microsoft in their charitable giving can continue to support the group that has been proven to be intolerant, hateful and prejudiced toward those who do not think or vote the way they do. Since the passage of Proposition 8 in California, the homosexual community has stated publically that they believe that the 70 percent of African American people who voted for Proposition 8 are ignorant and discriminatory because they voted for traditional marriage. They have publicly called African Americans the ‘N’ word and have been seen on TV attacking Christians verbally and physically for voting for traditional marriage.

Dr. Hutcherson pointed out that since the board and Microsoft have voted to continue their process of charitable giving to organizations that promote and support the homosexual agenda, “One can only conclude that the board and Microsoft are also intolerant, hateful, prejudiced and think that it is acceptable to call the African American community the ‘N’ word.” “The Microsoft company must think it is okay to give millions of dollars of funding to groups that have been proven to be haters and intolerant toward anyone and any group that does not think the way they do,” he said. Dr. Hutcherson, representing thousands of stockholders, does not believe that Microsoft has thought through their charitable contributions policy. Dr. Hutcherson believes that Microsoft is very hypocritical in their stand. As an example, he cited the fact that he has helped reform the adoption laws in the state of Washington and founded an adoption agency which provides homes for orphans at no charge to the adoptive families. Yet Microsoft, located in the same state and right down the street from Antioch Adoptions will not contribute even one dollar to defray the costs to place children in loving homes because the founder has been labeled intolerant and hateful. “The fact of the matter is that Microsoft withholds support from children because I have been ‘labeled’ intolerant but ironically gives millions upon millions of dollars to the proponents of homosexuality who have been ‘proven’ to be intolerant,” said Dr. Hutcherson.

Since I’ve addressed the initial lies and misrepresentations in my earlier post, let’s focus on what’s new. 

1. Talking about “The Homosexual Community” like they are one monolithic group is about as credible and useful as talking about “The Black Community” in the same way.  If a single person does something the entire “group” did it?  Any rational person would object to painting millions of blacks with the actions of just a few.  Why is the standard different for lesbians and gays?  Oh wait, it isn’t.

2. Implying that Microsoft thinks it’s acceptable to use the “N” word because they allegedly send “millions and millions” (Carl Sagan lives!) of dollars to “Teh Gays” (They don’t) when a few gays got upset that their Civil Rights were stripped from them is almost the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.  Don’t you guys read back the text to see if it makes you sound completely insane?

3. Anyone who voted for Proposition 8 and clearly understood that it would take rights away from a minority was discriminating against that minority.  That black people would do this given their journey is shameful and hypocritical in the extreme.  I feel for my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in the black community and I begin to understand how their challenges are different from my own.

4. Stating that Microsoft doesn’t give money to Hutcherson’s adoption organization because Microsoft thinks Hutcherson is intolerant and hateful, and he is, is so wildly narcissistic that it doesn’t pass the red face test. The most important question people should be asking is why does Hutcherson think everything, even objectively charitable work, is so entirely about *him*. 

5. Attempting to bulldog Microsoft into supporting one of Hutcherson’s pet projects by stating that Microsoft is “withholding support from children” and that Microsoft is spending “millions and millions” on “homosexuals” rather than placing children in homes is laughably unsubtle and sophomoric.  It also ignores the fact that Hutcherson and all those like him who oppose marriage equality are withholding far more crucial support from children who are being raised by same-sex couples (nationally 18% of same-sex couples are raising one or more children) by preventing their parents from being married and providing them the rights, protections, and security that it confers.

6. Finally, the inept use of the scare quotes.  You are either claiming to have been labeled intolerant or you’re not – either way it makes no sense to place it in quotation marks.  And when you are clearly struggling to make the case that oppressed gays and lesbians are actually the oppressors, it helps when making your accusation if you don’t say they “…have been ‘proven’ to be intolerant…”  You are challenging your own credibility (integrity at last?) by placing proven in quotes. 

Are their any people with messaging or PR skills working with Hutch at all?  It certainly doesn’t appear so.

Hutcherson Scam is DOA

Today is November 19th and Microsoft’s Annual Stockholder Meeting was held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.  As promised, Reverend Ken Hutcherson turned up to speak his truth challenged and barely coherent piece in favor of Thomas Strobhar’s Shareholder Proposal No.3 (Proposal 7) which would require that Microsoft “list the recipients of corporate charitable contributions of $5,000 or more on the company website.” 

In contrast to previous outings he seemed more in command of himself but he didn’t make any clear argument that spoke to the proposal.  Due to some, err, “logistical challenges” I only have a partial transcription of his remarks from today’s meeting until the official transcript comes out later today (UPDATED with full transcript):

Mr. Hutcherson: Thank you, I appreciate the opportunity to speak towards this.  We believe that there is an opportunity, ah, to correct a process that this company is not, should I say, not being very open minded to who we support, why we support because we are supporting the issue that we believe, especially as an African American, that there are problems in where you are sending your charitable gifts towards the homosexual community.  I do not believe our company would ever support a group of people that is very prejudicial in their views, that is very intolerant in their views, that is very hateful in their views and I think that you gentlemen and the rest of the stockholders if you watch television have seen the example […] of many of the homosexual, ah, groups and activists that this company is putting millions of dollars in supporting and,  ah, I don’t think this company and the stockholders, and myself, is pretty excited about a group of individuals that will run around and call the African American community, especially 70% of the traditional black church that voted to help pass proposition 8, have been called the “n” word on national television.  This company is saying that we will continue to support groups like that.  Have attacked groups - you’ve seen it on television, if you have a television, if you watch the news at all, what has taken place towards the African-American church, ah, what has happened to evangelical churches that has stood and just voted, and exercised their freedom in voting and they have been attacked by these groups.  One old lady was taken and a cross was taken out of her hands, stomped, and she was pushed around, one woman had her bible taken out of her hand and was hit across the head and knocked down and if it was a white supremacy group that was doing exactly the same thing, this company would be the first to stand up and, ah, and deny that we’re going to support any group that was doing such things.  Yet still I’m asking this company to make sure we vote down putting this kind of money, millions of dollars, in a group that is not good for the family, millions of dollars in a group that is proven intolerance (sic), millions of dollars in a group that has proven that they - do not - like - anyone - that does not think the way they do.  And I think this company has a right and a responsibility not to put millions of dollars in an intolerant, hateful, group such as this.  That is why we are having this resolution, that is why we would like for the stockholders to vote it down and the board not to support this group. Thank you.

Mr. Liddell: Thank you, Mr. Hutcherson.  The board recommends a vote against this proposal for the reasons set forth in the companies proxy statement.

Here is what Hutcherson said, and what it really meant:

Hutch-Land: Microsoft gives millions of dollars to gay groups! 

Reality: I call bullshit.  Microsoft gives money to many different community groups but I don’t know of *any* that get “millions”.  Corporate Risk Management means that companies like Microsoft have a very narrow set of things that they can fund.  Political contributions are just too risky. 

Bottom-Line: Put up or shut up, Hutcherson, you pathetic liar. What specifically is Microsoft funding and for how much and how is it “anti-family”? 

_______________________________________________

Hutch-Land: Teh Gays called Teh Blacks, especially Black Churches, the ‘n’ word.

Reality: Err, no, that never happened.  A distraught individual who was angered when the right to marry was stripped from us used the taunt at an otherwise peaceful and orderly protest.  Perhaps they were overcome with the injustice that calling someone the “n'” word is a taboo considered so terrible that we don’t repeat it, but calling us hateful names like “fag” and “dyke” is so normal and accepted that it’s regularly used in every city and town in this nation.  Hardly a week goes by when we don’t see and hear “God Hates Fags” or something similarly hateful being flung at us. 

Bottom-line: Until you shut down the entrenched homophobic speech and violence in your religious communities, spare me your faux f*cking outrage at isolated incidents like these. 

_______________________________________________

Hutch-Land: The African-American Church is under attack by teh Gays.

Reality:  It’s the Mormon Church who has been on the receiving end of peaceful and positive nationwide protests since the passage of Proposition 8 in California.  Black Churches didn’t have as great an impact on Proposition 8 – Mormons did.  Don’t get me wrong, the rampant homophobia in the African-American community is a big problem but it’s not just isolated to churches. 

Bottom-line: Get your community on the right side of history or get out of the way.

_______________________________________________

Hutch-Land: Millions of dollars are going to teh gays and they are not good for families.

Reality:   There are no millions.  Gays and Lesbians come from families and they want to create their own families.  You, and people like you, are making it harder for gays and lesbians to be accepted by their original families and to create their own families. 

Bottom-Line: YOU ARE THE PROBLEM.

_______________________________________________

Hutch-Land: OMG! Teh Gays are just like White Supremacists!

Reality:  Voters in California, including a majority of voters over 65 and African-Americans, just voted to remove rights from a minority group.  Congratulations to your minorities for this minority gutting precedent!  Unless the gay and lesbian minority submits meekly to the tyrannical will of the majority without protest, they are exactly like white supremacists.  Except that they aren’t trying to take anything from anybody. And the protests are overwhelmingly peaceful and many of the people marching aren’t even gay or lesbian.  Can’t we all just get along?

Bottom-line:  You don’t get to take rights away from a minority group and get to make them the bad guys for not liking it.

_______________________________________________

Hutch-Land:  Millions and Millions and Millions of Dollars for an intolerant hate group!  ZOMG!

Reality: A description better used to describe groups that use their fund raising, tithing and other activities to remove minority civil rights rather than expand and protect them.  Gays and lesbians cross all ethnic, religious, social, and economic boundaries so we are no groups natural enemy.  Take your primitive Jets vs. Sharks thinking somewhere else.

Bottom-line: No Millions.  No Hate.  No “Us vs. Them”.

_______________________________________________

There was no great suspense in the outcome, as the Board of Directors opposed the Proposal.

At the close of voting Shareholder Proposal 3 failed to be adopted with only 4.5% of shareholders voting in it’s favor.  Hutch didn’t seem too phased by what he has known from the beginning would be the outcome. 

Perhaps he was comforted by all the money he got from scamming the faithful.  They probably don’t even know that in typical Hutcherson style, his much ballyhooed proxy scam web site AGNFINANCIAL.ORG quietly fell of the internet sometime after the end of August.

He showed up at the Product Fair after the meeting (see above photo) looking very interested in Microsoft’s Surface and Zune hardware and software products.  He asked for cards from some of the demonstrators so he can’t be that opposed to all things Microsoft.

It just goes to show that shameful shilling and shopping go together just fine.

The more things change, the more they stay the same…

In the wake of this historic election there is a new story that many children will begin to hear from their parents, their schools, and the community from this morning.

 

It’s a story that tells them they really can be anything they want to be, even the President of the United States.  They can point to the example of President-Elect Barack Obama as a resounding proof.

While I rejoice in the reaffirmation that any child can reach for the very highest office in these United States, I’m sobered by other consequences of this election season.

Other children are learning that much more ordinary goals remain bewilderingly beyond their reach.  They won’t be able to marry the person they love and adopt children, they won’t be protected from bullying at school and hate crimes in the streets, they won’t be delivered the full measure of their citizenship promised in the constitution. 

All because they are different.

Other children are finding out that their parents marriage is no longer legal, or that their parents wedding has been cancelled or indefinitely postponed.  They are finding out that their parents can’t adopt them, they are learning once again that they are unequal and stigmatized. 

All because their families are different.

So many children are hearing a reaffirmation of the American promise in the refrain “Yes, you can.”

But so many others are hearing the hollow sound of that promise denied to them in the echo “No, you can’t.”

Senator McCain invoked the turbulent racial history of America in his gracious concession speech:

“A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to visit -- to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States.

Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.”

It’s exhilarating to be reminded of the significance that this advance holds for black and biracial people in America, but the backbeat of this election is a harsh rebuke for a freshly minted citizen like me. 

At the same time we are exhorted that this country is “a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time” and that there is “…no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth”, gay, lesbian and bisexual people are grappling with the freshened reality that they are still denied the full rights of citizenship by the cruel and prideful bigotry of this time.  

While we celebrate the election of Barak Obama and the narrative that any child can become President of the United States, spare a thought for the children who are hearing louder than ever that simple things like falling in love, getting married, and having children are unacceptable and out of their reach.

Voting at Meany Middle School

We headed on down to our Polling Place this morning at about 8:15am and found a moderately long line.

Everyone came prepared this year with reading materials and technology to pass the time.

People seemed in fine spirits and waited patiently for their turn in the voting booth.

And it didn’t hurt that these spanky fellows were handing out cookies, granola bars, and water to the intrepid voters. 

HWMBO was surprised by the line as he’s never seen one here when he’s voted in previous elections.

We had a chance to chat with a neighbor who has lived in our neighborhood for 31 years and she said that she has never seen lines like those first thing this morning to vote at Meany Middle School. 

She has family in Alaska, her daughter, which explains the sweatshirt, and a nephew who is a survivor of a fishing vessel (The Katmai?) that sank recently which claimed the lives of other crewmen.  We’re a chatty neighborhood, don’t you know.

Ignoring the challenges some of us faced when we finally got to the voting booths, it was a very neighborly affair and seemed well organized if you ignore the voters who were surprised to find they were not on the voter roll and would have to take a provisional ballot. 

If only the Spanky Boys had been serving coffee it would have been perfect.

Clusterf@ck to the Polls

On the day I was naturalized and became a U.S. Citizen, we came home from the citizenship ceremony and I registered to vote online.

I’d researched what I needed to do online, bookmarked the registration site, and called the King County Elections office to confirm that, as a first time voter, I was doing what I needed to to ensure I’d be on the voter roll for this crucial election.

It seemed so simple and straightforward.  I register online at the state site and the registration is sent to my local county office where it is checked and then added to the voter database. 

With the voter registration deadline approaching I checked each day to see when my name appeared in the voter database.  After 13 days checking the online site and no sight of my registration, I called the King County Elections office.  They checked the voter registration system and sure enough they hadn’t seen my registration.  They recommended that if I wanted to vote in this coming election (duh) I head down to their office in Renton to register in person tout de suite.

I left work early that same day and headed down to Renton, anxious that I not miss my chance to vote in this most extraordinary election.  The place was humming with activity and I spoke with a pleasant but clearly overworked woman about my situation. 

I told her that I’d just become a citizen and had registered to vote online the same day.  I explained how important is to be able to vote in person since this is the last chance I’ll get given that we are transitioning to mail only voting.  She took my drivers license and confirmed that I was not in their system and told me I’d need to fill in another voter registration form.

I filled in the new registration form and returned it to the counter and was told that I’d get an absentee ballot in the mail.  I reminded the elections official that I didn’t want an absentee ballot and was told that I didn’t have a choice. The Poll Books had already been printed so I was just too late. Disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to vote in person I shrugged my shoulders and consoled myself that it’s the vote that counts, no how you make it.

Having already had my registration go missing once, I asked for some kind of paperwork to show that I’d registered before I’d leave their office.  The elections official looked at me with an exasperated expression normally reserved for recalcitrant teenagers and conceded to print me a Voter Registration card which would take 20 minutes.  I agreed and, I think, annoyed that the additional wait didn’t deter me, she set about getting me my voter registration card.   In the fullness of time, and card in hand I headed home.

In a few days the absentee ballot arrived and a few days after that I received another Voter Registration card.  Comparing them I noted that they had the same registration number, so it wasn’t a duplication, but some of the details were different.  Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I called King County Elections to check.

The woman I spoke to took told me that my original (online) registration didn’t get into the King County system until 15 days later – just a few days after I trekked to Renton to register in person.  I wasn’t registered twice as they had matched the two registrations up but I was still down as an Absentee Voter despite my preference to the contrary. 

I explained the whole tale and she said that I didn’t have to be an absentee voter for this election and could have voted at the polls. The other elections official had given me incorrect information.  According to her, the poll books hadn’t been printed at that stage and even if they had been my name would turn up on the supplemental sheets.

She updated my voter registration to show that I was voting in person at my local polling place and told me to shred the absentee ballot I’d been issued telling me that the changes she had made had invalidated it.  I checked one more time, asking if she was sure that I’d be on the voter roll and able to vote at my polling place – I didn’t want to be stuck with a provisional ballot.  She assured me that I would be on the roll.

I thanked her, hung up the phone and took a deep breath… and exhaled trying to expel the disquiet I felt.  

Time passed.

This morning I presented myself at my polling place and after a pleasant wait of 30 minutes or so the line snaked forward and I checked in with a decidedly cranky woman in a knitted cap (cause and effect?) to find … that I was not on the voter roll and would have to cast a provisional ballot.

You have . to be f*cking . kidding me.

After spending 7-8 hours of my time to ensure that I’d be registered to vote by today, it appears I may not be.

According to the Elections Division of the Secretary of State I am registered, but I have to take it up with King County.

Now I’m left to wonder if my vote will be counted at all.

Vote NO on Prop 8 in California

Because this isn’t who you are…

Mormons Against Marriage

This is what some married couples in California are facing this November 4th…

While the physical home invasion is (hopefully) hyperbole, the invasion of privacy and the actions depicted show exactly what Proposition 8 will do to same-sex couples and families.  It also shows the one group who is most focused on doing it – the Mormon church.

I thought that the Courage Campaign showed great restraint not showing the impact of a home invasion in one of the 32% of same-sex households in California raising children under the age of 18.   

What it doesn’t show is the impact that eliminating the right to marry in California will have on same-sex couples who hope to marry in other states.  California is a bellwether for civil right progress throughout the United States and is the 6th largest economy in the world.

If you have family, friends, or colleagues who are in same-sex relationships or just hope to be, whether they want to marry or whether they think marriage isn’t for them, I think we all agree they deserve the right to choose for themselves.

Please call everyone you know in California and ask them to vote NO on Proposition 8 and donate any amount you can to support the No on Proposition 8 campaign.

And for those of you wondering why you should care, perhaps paraphrasing the Reverend Niemoller is appropriate:

First they came for the Gays,
  and I didn’t speak up,
    because I wasn’t Gay.
[…]
Then they came for the Californians,
  and I didn’t speak up,
    because I was a Washingtonian.

Then they came for me,
  and by that time there was no one
    left to speak up for me.

Adapted from Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

Just as Niemoller’s original rationalizations for inaction failed the test of history, so does any justification for doing nothing at this pivotal moment in the history of this country.

Call.  Donate.  Volunteer.

Skyhooks alum Red Symons country music ode “Palin”

While I certainly wasn’t expecting to see a country music ode penned for Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin…

…I have to say I’m much more surprised to see it put together by Red Symons who I remember best from Skyhooks and “Hey Hey It’s Saturday”.  Man, saying that makes me feel old.

It’s a pretty slick effort seamlessly merging debate visuals and audio with a country groove.  I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Apart from his music and media resume, he also studied pure mathematics and computer science at university.

Hat tip to Joe My God who has no idea the wealth of Australian cultural context Red carries with him.

Waiting for Hutcherson’s Flameout…

If it’s Autumn, it must be time to check in on Pastor Ken Hutcherson’s loopy Microsoft Proxy scam. 

As expected, the Microsoft Stockholders Meeting has been scheduled for November 18th 2008.  The big questions were whether Hutcherson, Strobhar and company had submitted a Shareholder Proposal and pulled together sufficient Proxy Votes to pass it at the meeting.  Based on the Proxy Materials on the Microsoft web site they have lodged a proposal but have veered away from attacking the benefits of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees benefits directly and instead are looking to highlight corporate support of anything that doesn’t agree with their Christianist ideology.

Proposal 7 (Shareholder Proposal No. 3) on the Proxy document proposes “that our company list the recipients of corporate charitable contributions of $5,000 or more on the company website [sic].” 

The supporting statement is vintage Strobhar insanity – part plea for self-serving transparency and part ideological tirade dressed in it’s Sunday Best:

The more people know of our support of philanthropic activity the better it is for our company. For example, if we should decide to give money to the American Cancer Society we might garner good will from the millions of people touched by cancer. Similarly, should we decide to give money to Planned Parenthood, the nations largest abortion performing organization, we might be expected to win sympathetic praise from many who support the choice of abortion. Possible contributions to organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation or other organizations that focus on the interest of people who choose to define themselves by their interest in homosexual sex, would likely engender positive feelings among potentially millions of people who enjoy engaging in sex with members of their own sex or simply those who support same sex marriage. If we gave money to the Boy Scouts of America we might expect the plaudits of potentially millions of their past members, even though they refuse to allow homosexuals to be scout leaders. Contributions to the American Heart Association or a myriad number of other worthwhile cultural and educations charities could be a source of ongoing public approval. Proper disclosure of charitable contributions would cost us little and should only serve to enhance our corporate image. For these reason and others we urge your support for the above resolution.

It almost goes without saying that the Microsoft Board of Directors recommends voting AGAINST this proposal.

While we all remember what a dada barn-burner Hutcherson’s last Microsoft Stockholder Meeting performance was, we also know that there is no chance of their proposal being successful.  What will be interesting to hear is how many proxy votes Hutcherson, Strobhar et al. have mustered in support of their proposal. 

Anyone willing to bet that number is never disclosed?

It’s still curious that Hutcherson was driving his supporters to acquire MSFT stock and Proxy votes based on a mid-March deadline rather than the actual deadline during the first week in September.  I’m looking forward to seeing the annual report for AGN Financial, the non-profit that Hutcherson established for this doomed scheme, to see how effective the March deadline was and whether the shares are still being held by the non-profit.

When Hutcherson ultimately fails in each of his schemes, he always has a new definition of success or another project he’s been working on that is much more important to distract from his failure.  At the close of my Hutcherson 2007 Year in Review post I wrote:

I'm going to be keeping an eye and an ear out for Hutcherson's "Oh, no! I have something *much* more important that I'm doing" excuse for failing to follow through on his threats to Microsoft. 

Perhaps we should take odds on what it will be when the Microsoft Shareholders meeting rolls around again in November 2008.  I think he'll say he's "focusing on getting pro-traditional family candidates elected".

It's got to be better than his tired "The dog ate my boycott" canard, surely.

Hutcherson has been very quiet on this scam for several months, no doubt excited by this month’s cruise with the faithful. 

Now it seems that the web site he and his supporters launched with such self-congratulatory fanfare earlier in the year, AGNFINANCIAL.ORG, has quietly fallen off the Internet.  It still appears in Google’s August 24th search cache but the site is no longer live. 

His failure is a certainty and the disappearance of this web site is most likely a step in a plan to make us forget he ever even engaged in it.