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SALT LAKE CITY — Zombified protesters gathered Friday in a counter-demonstration against the Westboro Baptist Church.
Church members had gathered at a DuPont, Wash. military base "for a public demonstration/outdoor religious service regarding the judgment of God with respect to the dangers of promoting homosexuality, and the rest of the filthy manner of life and idol worshipping of this nation," the News Tribune reports.
About 300 participanted in the counter-demonstration, including family members and friends of those who have served in the military.
"We wanted to turn something negative around, into something people could laugh at and poke fun at," Melissa Neace, the organizer of the demonstration, told the News Tribune. "It was the easiest way to divert attention from something so hateful."
There have been multiple successful counter-protests against the Westboro church, the Chatham Daily News reports, including a group at Texas A&M University and at a soldier's funeral in Columbia, Missouri.
Romney's new Newsweek coverThe cover of this week's Newsweek got attention Sunday for portraying presidential candidate Mitt Romney as a wimp.
The Wimp Factor: Is he just too insecure to be president?" the headline asked.
Romney responded to the cover on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, laughing and saying he had never been called a wimp before.
"If I worried about what the media said, I wouldn't get much sleep, and I've been able to sleep pretty well," he said.
Other political news:
- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" that he is not a "big fan" of President Barack Obama — and that the president is worse than Jimmy Carter. ""I think he's been one of our weakest presidents. I fundamentally disagree with him, philosophically," he said. "You'd be hard put to find any Democratic president that I've disagreed with more."
- A new poll found that presidential candidate Mitt Romney has a small advantage with voters over Pres. obama on issues of leadership, personal values and honesty. The poll was conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research. The Hill suggests voters see little difference between Obama and Romney on character issues that the Obama camp has been citing as the key to Obama's appeal.
A CBS/Vanity Fair survey found the majority of Americans don't know how many justices sit on the Supreme Court. Only 40 percent knew the Supreme Court has nine justices, although that was a plurality of respondents. Thirty-five percent of respondents said 12 justices sit on the court.
The poll also found that more Americans would be embarrassed to be seen reading Obama's memoir over Romney's, at 16 percent versus 11 percent, respectively.- Palestinian leaders are outraged after Mitt Romney told Jewish donors on Monday that the Jewish culture is part of what has allowed Israel to be more successful than the Palestinians. "It is a racist statement and this man doesn't realize that the Palestinian economy cannot reach its potential because there is an Israeli occupation," Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told the Associated Press.
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An Idaho billboard is getting national attention for drawing comparisons between Pres. Obama's foreign policy and the alleged crimes of accused Colorado shooter James Holmes. Above a picture of Holmes, the billboard reads: "Kills 12 in a movie theater with assault rifle, everyone freaks out."
And above a picture of Obama: "Kills thousands with foreign policy, wins Nobel Peace Prize."
The electronic billboard, in Caldwell, is known throughout the area for frequently controversial statements, the Idaho Statesman reports.
