There's a storm coming. A storm of people making fun of the National Association of Marriage's terrible anti-gay marriage ad. They are afraid. So they're kicking critics off Facebook.

See a tipster's friend posted a negative response to the NOM ad, and was rewarded for his troubles with a Facebook ban and an email from NOM asserting that their ad has been a "huge success" by the modern metric of "getting a shitload of negative attention." This is the same metric unpleasant reality show contestants and regular everyday assholes use to justify their antisocial behavior and come to grips with the fact that no one likes them.

So, yes, they answered his criticism with an email celebrating the amount of time everyone's spent mocking it and then begging for a donation.

The whole email is very long but it is actually pretty hilarious, especially in its characterization of Human Rights Campaign's utter terror that Americans will see the ridiculous ad and be convinced by its nonsensical arguments. Did you know that those HRC thugs stole some tapes or something?

Unfortunately, HRC is not only willing to lie, but they're also willing to mock, ridicule, and even steal. Still, the best they can do? "NOM hired professional actors." . . . . Um, it's a professional ad, folks, what did you think we would do?

And why do I say steal? Well, HRC has distributed supposedly "secret" audition tapes of the commercial. They're not secret, but they were never distributed or released so however HRC got them, they did so unethically. Further, having done ads of their own in the past, HRC knows that (a) such materials are copyrighted and (b) the actors in the audition tapes did not sign consent forms. HRC is violating both their rights and our own through the publication of the audition tapes . . . and they can be sure we will take appropriate action.
The controversy stirred up by HRC has a dark and ugly side as well.

Yes, it is dark and ugly when hilarious audition tapes are leaked to the internet.

Did you know that "behind HRC's posturing of ridicule is an utterly serious concern"? HRC is apparently very worried about Iowa, where gay marriage was just legalized, and where it can't be rolled back without a constitutional convention, and where the head of state legislature just recently decided to bow to the wishes of his kids and support gay marriage. "They're worried about the Northeast where they thought that they were set to pass same-sex marriage in legislature after legislature, but are now seeing that there will be a response." That "response" is apparently the legislature in Vermont passing gay marriage, and the governor of New York trying to reintroduce it here.

Most importantly, they're worried about US. How do I know? All the opposition same-sex marriage blogs are talking about NOM and the "Gathering Storm" ad. They're talking about how well-produced the ad is. How they need to fight back. How they're concerned that people will believe what we have to say. Ultimately, they're concerned that the American people will realize that redefining marriage has real consequences for real people — and that our new ad will help make that happen.

Hah, you idiots are on the wrong side of history and in retrospect you will all look like people making the earnest argument that letting the Negroes vote will lead to them getting uppity and marrying our women. Except of course that won't actually hurt your privileged lives and cushy careers any because, hey, William Buckley got pretty friendly obits from everyone but Gore Vidal. But hopefully when you all die comfortably rich, and old, your disowned gay kids will make sure the sermons at your funerals are read by married lesbian bishops.

Your audition tapes are still all over YouTube, assholes.

Here is the email, from NOM NOM NOM:

Dear mike,

The launch of our new "Gathering Storm" television ad has been a huge success, and our opponents are scrambling. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's leading gay marriage advocacy organization, has made NOM public enemy #1 over the past week and is doing everything they can to discredit our ads.

But we have no intention of backing down. In fact, the controversy HRC created has given the ad more exposure than I ever thought possible.

The ad obviously struck a nerve with our opponents, and is resonating with the American public. Please read below how breathtakingly effective the ad has already been, and consider an extra donation to NOM so that we can press our advantage while we have our opponents scrambling to respond.

Millions Watch NOM "Gathering Storm" Ad

In less than a week our new television commercial has been seen by millions on national television as the ad was replayed over and over again in segments on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and CBS. As of today, nearly 350,000 viewers have watched it on YouTube, making it one of the top 30 most watched YouTube videos of the past week. (If you're one of those who still hasn't seen it, click here to watch the 60-second ad.)

More importantly, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been alerted, most for the first time, to the threat that same-sex marriage poses to the religious liberties of individuals and faith groups. And as a result, we have gained thousands of new supporters to our cause as people continue to sign up on our redesigned website at www.nationformarriage.org.

Human Rights Campaign Targets NOM

In the end, we owe the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) a huge thank you. Why? Because our nation's leading supporter of same-sex marriage, with an annual budget of over 43 million dollars, has spent the last week devoting almost all of its efforts to attacking "Gathering Storm," screaming "lies" at the top of its lungs, all hype without any real facts to buttress their claims. Our ad is prominently featured on the HRC website, and NOM is now the latest addition to the HRC "EndTheLies" website.

That tells me they're nervous about what this ad might accomplish.

But in the process, they've helped get us get more coverage than we ever imagined, and allowed millions of American's to see our ad . . . so we must emphatically say, "Thank you, HRC!"

Last week, our president, Maggie Gallagher, went head-to-head with HRC's president, Joe Solmonese on Hardball and she utterly devastated Joe's baseless claims. Think I'm exaggerating? You decide. Check out the full, uncensored interview here.

Those of us familiar with the marriage debate know that every single story on the ad is real. But many Americans did not know before this past week. Now they do.

While HRC screams "lies", hundreds of thousands of Americans now know the facts.

And here they are:

In New Jersey, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist church group, did lose part of its state property tax exemption because they could not in good conscience host a same-sex union ceremony in their beachside pavilion property.

A California doctor was successfully sued for refusing to artificially inseminate a lesbian in a same-sex union.

Massachusetts schools do teach about same-sex marriage, over the objections of parents who have requested to have their kids opt out of such classes.

These are the facts. (For more details, please visit our website.)

HRC knows that we are not lying, but they are terrified — yes, terrified — that our message will get out: There are real consequences that will follow if we redefine marriage. And not just for same-sex couples — redefining marriage will affect all of us who believe that marriage is the union of a husband and wife.

Unfortunately, HRC is not only willing to lie, but they're also willing to mock, ridicule, and even steal. Still, the best they can do? "NOM hired professional actors." . . . . Um, it's a professional ad, folks, what did you think we would do?

And why do I say steal? Well, HRC has distributed supposedly "secret" audition tapes of the commercial. They're not secret, but they were never distributed or released so however HRC got them, they did so unethically. Further, having done ads of their own in the past, HRC knows that (a) such materials are copyrighted and (b) the actors in the audition tapes did not sign consent forms. HRC is violating both their rights and our own through the publication of the audition tapes . . . and they can be sure we will take appropriate action.
The controversy stirred up by HRC has a dark and ugly side as well.

In the wake of the hubbub over the ad this past week, NOM has received some of the most vile and hateful messages — some of them direct physical threats. We're saving each and every one of them as a witness in black-and-white to the hatred motivating some of our opponents. We don't wish them any harm, and honestly pray the best for them, but all threats of physical violence to anyone on our staff will be handed over to the proper authorities.

These folks can count on one thing — we won't be intimidated, silenced, or threatened. There's a new group in town, and we believe in standing up for our rights, come what may. We will cheerfully, forcefully, and relentlessly take our case directly to the American public. We will, in the immortal words of Churchill "never, never, never give in."

We know that behind HRC's posturing of ridicule is an utterly serious concern — they're deeply worried about what this means for the future.

They're worried about Iowa, where with the help of Congressman Steven King, we spent last week calling over 250,000 homes identifying our supporters throughout the state. They're worried about the Northeast where they thought that they were set to pass same-sex marriage in legislature after legislature, but are now seeing that there will be a response. They're worried about California and how a loss in the nation's most populace state will affect them.

Most importantly, they're worried about US. How do I know? All the opposition same-sex marriage blogs are talking about NOM and the "Gathering Storm" ad. They're talking about how well-produced the ad is. How they need to fight back. How they're concerned that people will believe what we have to say. Ultimately, they're concerned that the American people will realize that redefining marriage has real consequences for real people — and that our new ad will help make that happen.

And that's why I'm asking you: Can you make a contribution to support our Gathering Storm ad today?

Though we have received a bump in our funding in the wake of the launch of our ad, we are in for a real dogfight. We must get our message out in more markets and build what we have never had before — a dedicated army of millions of marriage activists to volunteer, organize, and VOTE for marriage.

Will you help us make this a reality? We need you now to consider making a gift to keep our ad on the air and to allow us to launch new ads. Next week, with your help, we will roll out a new ad in a new market that is sure to get the same reaction that Gathering Storm did. (We're not telling you where — we know we have folks on the other side on our e-mail list and we'd prefer to leave them guessing.)
But we won't be able to do it without the proper funding. We now have roughly 50,000 online NOM activists. If you and everyone else who gets this e-mail gives just $30, that would raise an additional $1.5 million immediately to fund this new ad buy — just like that. Getting our ads up is expensive — but we must do it if we are to stop other states going the route of Vermont or if we are to help reverse the ruling in Iowa. Please use this link to make a secure, online contribution of $30 or more to help keep these ads on the air today!
As you know from our past efforts, we're going to passionately fight for you, because marriage is worth fighting for. I'm asking you to right now prayerfully consider what this fight is worth and to make a gift online today.

God bless,
Brian S. Brown
Executive Director