Politics - 5 July 2007

Also,
how has Bush restricted or limited opportunities for freedom in the USA?

2007-07-05 15:55:26 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

Romney criticized for hotel pornography By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jul 5, 5:01 PM ET



BOSTON - Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, who rails against the "cesspool" of pornography, is being criticized by social conservatives who argue that he should have tried to halt hardcore hotel movie offerings during his near-decade on the Marriott board.

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Two anti-pornography crusaders, as well as two conservative activists of the type Romney is courting, say the distribution of such graphic adult movies runs counter to the family image cultivated by Romney, the Marriotts and their shared Mormon faith.
"Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading conservative group in Washington, said: "They have to assume some responsibility. It's their hotels, it's their television sets."

During a recent Associated Press interview, Romney said he did not recall pornography coming up for discussion while he was on the Marriott board from 1992 to 2001. Despite being chairman of the board's audit committee, he also said he was unaware of how much revenue pornography may have generated for the hotel chain.

Romney said his current concern is not about pornography per se, but children unwittingly stumbling upon it on the Internet or television.

"I am not pursuing an effort to try and stop adults from being able to acquire or see things that I find objectionable; that's their right. But I do vehemently oppose practices or business procedures that will allow kids to be exposed to obscenity," the former Massachusetts governor said.

Pornography is a lucrative business for various hotel chains. Estimates vary widely, up to $500 million annually industrywide by one opponent, John Harmer, who served as California's lieutenant governor under Ronald Reagan.

Marriott and other major hoteliers say they offer pay-per-view pornography because their customers demand it and entertainment service contracts require it to underwrite first-run movies and free television.

"It certainly would have been wrong to impose his own personal beliefs if they were contrary to the financial interests of the company," Marriott spokesman Roger Conner said of Romney.

Marriott had a contract with On Command Corp. for its television and movie services during Romney's board tenure. Conner said the contract was signed in 1991 — the year before Romney joined the board. He served until 2001 and was paid $25,000 annually, plus stock.

When Romney left to take over the 2002 Winter Olympics, a Marriott statement described him as an "active, hands-on director."

Marriott refused to say if its contract with On Command was ever discussed or voted upon by the board, saying the directors' votes and meeting minutes are proprietary.

Marriott now contracts with LodgeNet Entertainment Corp., which bought On Command last year.

Gary Glenn, president of American Family Association of Michigan, a conservative group, said: "The Marriott Corporation may be tap dancing around this subject, but a candidate for president should not be able to."

Marriott International has more than 500,000 hotel rooms and annual revenues exceeding $10 billion. While the Marriott name is on more than 2,800 buildings, the corporation owns only about a dozen hotels. The rest are owned by franchises, lessening corporate control over their activities.

Romney, 60, has close links to the corporation, which opened its first hotel in 1957. Not only did he serve on its board of directors, but his given first name — "Willard" — is in honor of the hotel chain's founder, J. Willard Marriott. Marriott and Romney's father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, were friends and rose through industry together.

In June 2000, J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr., the son of Marriott's founder, defended the distribution of pornographic movies, saying they were inseparable from the rest of the chain's TV offerings.

"The in-room entertainment operators who provide our systems rely upon a certain volume of movie types in order to be economically viable," Bill Marriott wrote to Bill Johnson, executive director of the Michigan-based American Decency Association. "If we were to eliminate the 'R' and non-rated offerings, the systems would not be economic."

No all hotel chains have the same policy. Omni Hotels announced in late 1999 it would no longer offer pay-per-view movies in its rooms. Ritz-Carlton, the hotel name synonymous with luxury, also does not offer in-room pornography — even though it is owned by Marriott International.

Daniel Weiss, media analyst for James Dobson's "Focus on the Family," said this week in a radio broadcast to Focus members: "If (Romney) made money off pornography in the past, is he going to turn a blind eye to it if he's president? Because as chief executive of the nation, it's his responsibility to make sure our nation's obscenity laws are efficiently and vigorously enforced."

Romney linked the prevalence of pornography to the Virginia Tech shooting spree that left 33 dead.

"Pornography and violence poison our music and movies and TV and video games," Romney said May 5 during a commencement address at Regent University, the evangelical Christian school run by Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson.

"The Virginia Tech shooter, like the Columbine shooters before him, had drunk from this cesspool."

2007-07-05 15:49:10 · 8 answers · asked by ὀκτάπους 5

Am I the only one!?!? Why are all but one of the Republican candidates neo-cons??? Why are all the Republican talk show and radio hosts all neo-cons??? (Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Larry Kudlow)

Thanks to the neo-cons and Mr. Bush, the image of us Republicans is ruined. America will be paying higher taxes after the next election thanks to the neo-cons who ruined everything. Thanks a lot.

2007-07-05 15:39:59 · 16 answers · asked by RockiesFan 2

It's Sen. Pete Domenici, REPUBLICAN member of the defense appropriations committee. Suddenly he became a liberal, and French too, apparently. He follows Republicans Richard Lugar, John Warner, and George Voinovich in calling for withdrawal. How many more Republicans are secretly liberal traitor bed-wetting commies who hate America?

2007-07-05 15:39:07 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous

Nobody that Clinton pardoned was covering up for any Clinton administration misdeeds.

HUUUGE difference.

2007-07-05 15:33:23 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous

(True conservatives follow their moral message)

2007-07-05 15:26:48 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous

I asked a question in the past that has lead me to ask this.... I wanted to have something clarified with the saying of an old liberal with no brains.
From my past answers, it sounds like something along the lines of because (reality kicks in) and you realize the world will not change and you focus mainly on your family as you get older, one might tend towards conservatism over time. I don't mean to offend anybody by saying these things, and I know this perception from my past answers is probably off some, but I don't know how else to put this. What is that implying-liberalism is not exactly realistic? Does that mean programs to help people should be cut or..? Am I getting the wrong impression from this or associating the wrong things together? What about liberalism would be unrealistic-everything? I am simply searching for clarification. Again, not trying to offend anybody or start something- I am genuinely just confused and I don't understand!

2007-07-05 15:14:09 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

the government, they tell what university they attended? What in the world does that have to do with anything?

I never see them do that with liberals.

2007-07-05 15:13:52 · 7 answers · asked by egg_sammash 5

Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta.Wahabism is the radical teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad agiainst the western world.Since it is politically expedient to be a christian when seeking Major public office in the United States,,Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. The Muslims have said thay plan on destroying the US from the inside out,What better way to start than the highest level?

2007-07-05 15:13:24 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-05 15:11:51 · 10 answers · asked by ? 2

and you agreed with all other points of their platform?

2007-07-05 15:11:39 · 17 answers · asked by wooper 5

2007-07-05 15:10:24 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-05 14:59:12 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-05 14:59:00 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

If the war ends while Bush is still in office that will mean the muzzle he has kept on US troops will be removed & the truth about the Iraq debacle will come flooding across the news wires which would most likely mean the end of President Bush.

So that's why he doesn't want to bring the troops home. It's not so much about cutting & running it's about him losing all his power as 1st dictator of the US.

2007-07-05 14:57:03 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1497wmv&ak=null

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! These BASTARDS must pay!!

2007-07-05 14:55:59 · 13 answers · asked by thealligator414 3

2007-07-05 14:46:13 · 4 answers · asked by ? 2

So just because some people think same sex marrige is gross,immoral and unnatural means we can deny those people the right to be married? Just because it imposes on your personal values should mean you should be able to tell two people who are in love that they cannot get married? " I don't like it because it is gross and the bible says so...so now I will deny you the right to get married." It that right?

2007-07-05 14:43:49 · 14 answers · asked by Lindsey G 5

Or maybe its the radical religious ideology that makes the terrorist, not the economic condition he/she has experienced?

Doctors trying to blow up cars and driving jeeps into airports. These folks aren't poor, downtrodden muslims with no way out. Like Bin Laden (wealthy heir), Zawahiri (Doctor), Kalid Sheik Mohammed (Engineer), Mohammed Atta (engineer), Satam al-Suqami (law student), Waleed al-Shehri (Teacher), Mohammad Sidique Khan (studied at Leeds), Abdulaziz al-Omari (college degree), Marwan al-Shehhi (university with a military scholarship), Ziad Jarrah (studied aerospace engineering), I can go on and on, these are educated men some from middle class to wealthy families.

It is not their supossed poverty that drives them to do what they do. The sooner we dispense with this phony "poverty" excuse for Islamic terrorism, the sooner we can begin to eradicate it.

2007-07-05 14:39:46 · 17 answers · asked by thealligator414 3

You know' don't make them mad and they will leave you alone" I'm a neocon and they call us 'stupid get rid of them etc' if they feel this way,maybe if we use the same tactics they wil leave us alone? Got any kids you don't like?

2007-07-05 14:37:23 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

I think its almost funny that some people who oppose same sex marriage take a less harsh stance (probably for political reasons) and say they will support civil unions for same sex couples. They say that civil unions could have all the legalities of marriage, but it would not be called marriage.

At least, that's what I have observed.

Is there any difference between 'Civil Unions' and 'Marriage' for same sex couples?

Or is it just semantics?

2007-07-05 14:34:52 · 15 answers · asked by Zezo Zeze Zadfrack 1

I'd like to have a few collectables in 10 years when the GOP has faded away.

2007-07-05 14:34:00 · 5 answers · asked by Remember the GOP? 2

I believe that same sex marriage is lawfull for any same sex couple in Canada and Great Britian, as well as other countries. In these countries same sex couples have all of the same rights and responsibilities in thier marriage as any other couple does. And their marriage is fully recognized just like any marriage is.

In the USA, same sex marriage is available only in some states and cities, and even then its validity is questioned.

When do you think that same-sex marriage will be the law of the land in the United States?

And will you/would you support it?

2007-07-05 14:25:42 · 35 answers · asked by Zezo Zeze Zadfrack 1

2007-07-05 14:17:00 · 13 answers · asked by Joshua S 1

Ithe Jihadists WANT to die for their cause. There is no reasoning with them.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0d6d1bda-2b22-11dc-85f9-000b5df10621,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0d6d1bda-2b22-11dc-85f9-000b5df10621.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2Fe628b512-2b20-11dc-85f9-000b5df10621.html

Britain’s new prime minister is eschewing talk of “a war on terror”. The attempted bombings in London and Glasgow have also seen Gordon Brown’s government avoid references to “Islamist terrorists”. Instead, ministers have denounced the attacks as acts of criminality. The talk is of a need to win hearts and minds in the wider Muslim community.

2007-07-05 14:11:41 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-05 14:04:19 · 43 answers · asked by ucitychuck 1

Don't blame me, I'm not gonna vote for the warmongerer.

2007-07-05 13:51:58 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

Someone call whine one one for the whaaambulance. They spent so much time whining that they choked on their sob-marine sandwich and french cries. Everytime I come to this website, another one of them is up in arms and I'm so tired of these hypocrites.

2007-07-05 13:39:11 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous

I dont understand what the terrorists in iraq reasons for death and destruction is. When America took Sadam out of power the people of Iraq could have had alot. You know like food water electricity medicine etc. But now its just a big mess. Whats up with that. America was going to help the people and now all the insurgents from everywhere have just destroyed everything.

2007-07-05 13:38:06 · 4 answers · asked by kolorz 4

......gotten on her knees to serve Bush if she had been an intern during his presidency?

2007-07-05 13:27:38 · 23 answers · asked by Jotolon 1