National Journal articles from April 2001

National Journal archives from April 2001

Everyone Wins.(evaluation of teachers' unions)(Brief Article)
April 7, 2001... One of the many fallacies spouted by opponents of teachers' unions is that unions are obstacles to improving education. This suggests that when teachers win, students lose. But to say that the interests of students and teachers are in conflict...

CORRECTION.(Correction Notice)
April 7, 2001... A recent story (3/24/01, p. 876.) misidentified the source of a voting guide the National Republican Congressional Committee used in its Silicon Valley presentations. The source of the guide was the Information Technology Industry Council.

JUST A FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT PRO-CHOICE DOGMA.
April 7, 2001... On the evening of Tuesday, March 27, at the Columbus Club in Union Station, Home Box Office hosted a premiere of a documentary it had produced, called Soldiers in the Army of God. The "soldiers," the most extreme fringe of the anti-abortion...

PAYING REPARATIONS FOR ANCIENT WRONGS IS NOT RIGHT.
April 7, 2001... Most Americans have an instinctive (if self-serving) feel for why it would not be a good idea to pay reparations to the descendants of slaves. As victims of one of history's great crimes, the slaves themselves surely deserved reparations. So,...

EARTH TO NEW YORK TIMES: YOU CALL THIS REFORM?(editorials on campaign finance reform)
April 7, 2001... Like all discerning readers, I'm a particular admirer of the editorialists of The New York Times. It takes real skill and application to write a 500-word essay that is harder to get through than the manual that comes with a Korean-made VCR....

Gobbled Up!(mergers and acquisitions of public relations firms)
April 7, 2001... EAT--OR BE EATEN. THAT'S THE WAY OF LIFE THESE DAYS IN WASHINGTON'S INFLUENCE COMMUNITY. BUT IN THE LONG RUN, WILL THE INDUSTRY BE BETTER OFF? When Mark Schannon saw the numbers last May, he knew what he had to do. Schannon's public...

A TURBULENT MERGER FOR CASSIDY AND SHANDWICK.(Cassidy Companies Inc. and Shandwick International)
April 7, 2001... Ask any Washington lobbyist about the mergers-and-acquisitions game, and you're sure to hear the name of one firm that has been especially roughed up: Cassidy Cos. This is ironic, because many have long regarded the lobbying and PR domain...

Redrawing the House.(redistricting)
April 7, 2001... WITH HOUSE CONTROL UP FOR GRABS, THE NATIONAL PARTIES ARE PUMPING UNPRECEDENTED AMOUNTS OF MONEY INTO A QUINTESSENTIALLY STATE-LEVEL PROCESS. Despite their obvious partisan differences, Reps. Martin Frost, D-Texas, and John Linder, R-Ga.,...

FORBIDDEN TERRITORY'S FUZZY BORDERS.(racial aspects of redistricting)
April 7, 2001... What is "retro" in 2001? If you're going clubbing, it's "old school music," the tunes played at dance clubs on "Eighties Night." But if you're a Democratic or Republican attorney who's going to be involved in congressional redistricting,...

TRANSLATING A GROWTH SPURT.(political activity of Hispanic Americans)
April 7, 2001... Amid the hubbub and splashy headlines that accompanied the release of the 2000 census data showing that the nation's Hispanic population has surged 58 percent since 1990, Hispanic leaders began constructing a strategy to translate population...

PONDERING A DEMOCRATIC SENATE.
April 7, 2001... Just outside the Senate chamber recently, in a noisy hallway near a bunch of elevators, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., excoriated Republican efforts "to subvert" the budget process. "It's really quite bizarre," said Conrad, who pointed out to...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.
April 7, 2001... Campaign Reform Clears First Hurdle Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., had little time to savor the passage of their campaign finance reform legislation this week. Even as the Senate approved the McCain-Feingold bill...

SHORTER ODDS ON LONG-TERM CARE.
April 7, 2001... Although Medicare reform and prescription drug benefits still top Washington's health care agenda, a lower-profile and less politically charged issue is gaining momentum and showing promise for legislative success this year. The issue is...

A VIEW TO A KILL.
April 7, 2001... Much has been made of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay's warning that he'll "try anything" to block new election laws that, in his view, stifle free speech. But the forceful Texas Republican known as "The Hammer" may pose less of a threat to...

STARTING TO SWEAT AT THE FBI.
April 7, 2001... Special agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation arestill reeling from the disclosure that one of their own allegedly spied for Russia. On March 16 they heard from FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, who explained in a lengthy memo that the...

IN THE BUSH SCIENCE BALLPARK: NIH 14, NSF 1.
April 7, 2001... Medical researchers were pleased when the Bush Administration outlined a fiscal 2002 budget that would give the National Institutes of Health its biggest funding boost ever. But beyond the health community's elation lies concern that the lack...

Poll Track.(public opinion polls)(Brief Article)(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
April 7, 2001... Looking to 2002 NO TO CYBERPOLLS More than half of Americans aren't too keen on the idea of casting their votes on the Internet, despite the well-publicized problems posed by antiquated polling machines or nonstandard ballots. In a...

BIG OIL'S WHITE HOUSE PIPELINES.(petroleum industry lobbying)
April 7, 2001... The weather was wet and blustery in Washington last month, but Archie Dunham, the chairman and chief executive officer of Conoco, wasn't about to let a spring squall keep him from a meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney. Dunham looked forward...

FAMILY DYSFUNCTION AT THE FRC.
April 7, 2001... Kenneth L. Connor's tenure at the Family Research Council is stirring up turbulence in the ultraconservative community. Since Conner became the FRC president in January, two top aides have left, both citing unhappiness with the council's...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2001... Estate-Tax Foes Bulk Up on PR Advocates of estate-tax repeal expect a tough Senate battle despite the House's approval on April 4 of a 10-year phase-out of the tax. Because of the upcoming fight, one pro-repeal coalition has hired...

INSIDE THE PENTAGON'S NEWEST WAR GAMES.
April 7, 2001... There are the games people play to pass the time on a rainy Sunday afternoon. And then there are the games the military plays to prepare for the next war. Once upon a time, these two were the same: Chess, after all, was invented some 1,400...

Aerospace Shakeout Forges Uneasy Alliances.
April 7, 2001... ST. LOUIS--You wouldn't think that Thomas Chapin, a union machinist earning $46,000 a year at the Boeing aircraft assembly plant here, would have much in common with Philip Condit, Boeing's $15.5 million-a-year chief executive. But they do--up...

THE TOUCH OF EVIL.(Brief Article)
April 7, 2001... ON THE MEDIA Reading the press this week, it was almost possible--almost, but not quite--to see what really makes the journalism business go. "The great day has finally arrived," exulted The New York Times editorial page on the day the...

Hotline Extra.
April 7, 2001... Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., "lately is positioning himself as a possible" contender for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. Lieberman has taken the lead in pushing the Democratic alternative to President Bush's tax cut and has been an...

SILVER-BULLET PRESIDENCY MAY MISS THE MARK.
April 7, 2001... There are as many ways to look at how George W. Bush's presidency is faring as there are people looking. Most public opinion surveys have been pegging Bush's job-approval ratings in the high 50s and low 60s. But a Gallup Poll released in late...

People.(appointments)
April 7, 2001... At the Bar After a rejuvenating three-month break and regular sessions at the gym, Steven F. Reich is returning to private practice as a partner at the Washington office of law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Until January, Reich, 39, had...

WHITE MEN CAN JUMP.
April 7, 2001... Now that we're in the post-Cold War era, the President's principal responsibility is to be commander in chief of the economy. The problem is, a President doesn't command the economy. Nevertheless, he has to create the impression that he has at...

Letters.
April 14, 2001... Regarding William Powers' naive belief that opinions on climate change are divided into two neat "camps" [3/24/01, p. 894]: If Powers had a better understanding of the science that provides the basis for fears about climate change, he would...

A MISERABLY MARRIED COUPLE THAT BENDS, NOT BREAKS.(United States relations with China)
April 14, 2001... My 75-year-old mother thinks that President Bush is a wimp. She thinks this, of course, because of the U.S. government's "very-sorry" approach to gaining the release of the 24 American military personnel detained by China after their...

BAN RACIAL PREFERENCES, BUT KEEP AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
April 14, 2001... One of the toughest issues ever to face the Supreme Court is back on its doorstep, propelled by a deepening split among lower federal courts, and seemingly destined to produce a climactic ruling by 2003: Does the Constitution, which bars...

IN PRAISE OF SELF-INTEREST: FOR A SAFER WORLD, LET'S HAVE MORE.(US foreign policy)
April 14, 2001... In the history of Western political thought, the idea of rational self-interest was pivotal. It separated enlightened modern man, with all his hopes for liberty and progress, from his benighted predecessor, slave to the tyrannies of hereditary...

The Power of Negative Thinking.(economic forecasting)
April 14, 2001... ECONOMIST SAY WE ARE ALL RATIONAL BEINGS WHO MAKE FINANCIAL DECISIONS BASED ON HARD FACTS. BUT MAYBE WE'RE SIMPLY HUMAN, AND WE TAKE TO HEART A PRESIDENT WHO TALKS DOWN THE ECONOMY. CHICAGO--At the vast financial supermarket known as the...

THE SLOWDOWN COMES TO WASHINGTON.
April 14, 2001... Never underestimate the ability of Beltway mavens to turn something in the headlines into an argument for what they want. So it has been with the economic downturn, as lawmakers, lobbyists, and advocates muster financial facts to suit their...

Brazil's Brush-Off.
April 14, 2001... EXPECT MUCH DRUMBEATING FOR REGIONAL TRADE AT NEXT WEEK'S GATHERING OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE LEADERS. LOOK FOR MORE SHRUGS FROM BRAZIL, AN ECONOMIC POWER WITH AN ATTITUDE. SAO PAULO, Brazil--"The first thing in a negotiation is to step in the...

STRIKING CONTROVERSY IN MICHIGAN.(proposed petroleum drilling)
April 14, 2001... At a time when Washington is vigorously debating whether to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, one lawmaker is trying to get the public stirred up about a little-noticed plan to allow new oil and natural gas...

NOW A DEBATE, IN TRIPLICATE, OVER CLONING.
April 14, 2001... Despite polls showing overwhelming public opposition to the cloning of human beings, several scientists have made it clear that they are on a quick path toward the birth of the world's first human clone. That has given rise to a fresh push in...

THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS.(2002 budget)
April 14, 2001... The new President came to Washington promising to change the way that Congress spends money. In his first budget, he targeted what he considered to be "pork" projects championed by individual House members and Senators, and he vowed to veto any...

A VICTORY BY ANY STANDARD.(President George W. Bush's tax cut proposal)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2001... On his 77th day in office, President Bush wrangled a $1.25 trillion, 10-year tax cut out of the Senate. Because the House had already passed Bush's proposed $1.6 trillion tax cut, the final number figures to be somewhere in between. By any...

Poll Track.(domestic and foreign relations)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2001... Views on policy and politics * Foreign Affairs A GREAT WALL? This week, the United States and China reached an agreement to end their standoff over the April 1 midair collision of a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter...

FOR THE BIG 10, INCOME KEEPS RISING.(top 10 lobbying firms)(Statistical Data Included)
April 14, 2001... Another year, another record. Washington's 10 top lobbying firms finished 2000 in grand style, as they reported total combined income of $146 million, according to a survey of the firms' latest Lobbying Disclosure Act reports filed with the...

MAKING A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN.(standards for lobbyists)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2001... When President Clinton lifted a five-year lobbying ban he had previously imposed on former White House officials and top Administration appointees, James J. Albertine sent a blast fax to the media slamming the January action as "unfortunate and...

From the K Street Corridor.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2001... A New Shtick For Schwartz For tort-reform-meister Victor E, Schwartz, life is beginning again at 60. Schwartz is leaving the law firm of Crowell & Moring after 21 years to join the Washington office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, a Kansas...

RACE, ADMISSIONS, AND THE COURTS.
April 14, 2001... Now that its admissions policies have been declared simultaneously constitutional and unconstitutional, the University of Michigan is at the crossroads of conflict over affirmative action. In December, a federal district court ruled that the...

NOTHING TO TOUT ABOUT.(media coverage of stock market)(Brief Article)
April 14, 2001... The news media didn't create the bull market. We never forced an investor to buy a single share of stock. What we did was give a platform to a bunch of touts. The touts impressed us. They had nice clothes and business cards printed up with the...

IS BUSH POISONING HIS WELL?(President George W. Bush)
April 14, 2001... While George W. Bush continues to focus on his tax-cut proposal and other key legislative initiatives, an array of regulatory rollbacks by his Administration have been grabbing headlines and defining the President as more conservative than...

ROLE REVERSAL JOLTS BLACKS, HISPANICS.(Hispanics as nation's largest minority)
April 14, 2001... Suddenly, black and Hispanic leaders are grappling with the political and social implications of the reality that Hispanics have vaulted ahead of blacks to become the nation's largest minority group. The long-anticipated change in rankings...

Hotline Extra.
April 14, 2001... Who's Minding the Gore? Is former Vice President Al Gore priming the pump for a rematch? Newsweek's Howard Fineman writes that when Gore told Newsweek that he backs President Bush's demand that U.S. crew members in China be returned, the...

People.
April 14, 2001... Interest Groups The end of the Vietnam War in 1975 marked the beginning of a new career for Lavinia Limon. Limon, who was recently named director of the National Immigration Forum's Center for the New American Community, remembers it well....

POPULATION SHIFTS FAVOR GOP.(Brief Article)
April 14, 2001... Talk about shifting power from Washington to the states. It's happening this year, just as it does every 10 years, in redistricting--a process in which the states have all the power and members of Congress turn into lobbyists. With the...

RACIAL POLITICKING: LIKE SNOW FLURRIES IN THE SPRING.
April 21, 2001... Monday, April 16 marked the African-American Family Celebration Day at the National Zoo. The day was chalk gray and frigid, and felt more like February than April. In one sense, though, the weather was perfect: It dovetailed exactly with my...

ENACT A CIVILIZED CRIME BILL, FOR A CHANGE.
April 21, 2001... Congress and the President have a chance this year to show that they care as much about avoiding the execution (and imprisonment) of innocent defendants as they do about punishing the guilty ones. They can adopt the Innocence Protection Act, a...

NOW IS THE TIME TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT RWANDA.
April 21, 2001... Seven years ago this month, more than three-fourths of the Tutsi population of Rwanda was murdered in one of the bloodiest barbarisms of humanity's bloodiest century. Hutu extremists' campaign of genocide began on April 7, 1994; by April 21,...

Tax--Cut Kings.
April 21, 2001... As the Senate slogged its way toward the passage of a budget resolution during the first week of April, one certainty emerged: There are no certainties in this body that is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. On any major issue--be...

Fast Train on a Slow Track.
April 21, 2001... Texas is one of the last places you would ever expect to find Amtrak passenger trains. Texans, after all, prefer pickups, SUVs, and Cadillacs. Big ones. But running through the heart of the state is Amtrak's daily Texas Eagle service, which...

A STRATEGIC OPENING MOVE ON PRIVACY.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... Now that President Bush has approved Bill Clinton's privacy regulation on medical data, unpleasantly surprised health care industry officials say they will lobby the Administration for clarifications and amendments. The first amendments may...

THE FUTURE MEGAWATT FACTOR.(evaluation of current electric power plant construction and management)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... Energy consultant Chris Seiple has some startling numbers concerning the nation's electricity supply. At a time when the Bush Administration is warning that the United States could face crippling electricity shortages, Seiple argues that 90,000...

Views on policy and politics.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 21, 2001... Foreign Affairs WHO IS THIS MAN? President Bush is off to Quebec City, Canada, this weekend to attend the Summit of the Americas. Earlier this month, CBS News conducted a poll on Canada and discovered just how little Americans know...

ROUND ONE IN THE ABORTION FIGHT.
April 21, 2001... For the first few months of the new Congress, there was something of a guessing game among activists about which abortion-related bill would have the honor of being the first to be scheduled for a vote this year. Some activists were...

HITTING DELETE ON EXPORT CONTROLS.(policy planning on computer export controls)
April 21, 2001... In today's global computer market, a hacker can buy a few laptops from a non-American computer-maker and link them together into a machine capable of designing a nuclear weapon. Despite stiff controls on computer-related exports to certain...

KILLING BANK EXAM FEES, AGAIN.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... For seven years, the Clinton Administration proposed that state-chartered banks begin paying a new fee for federal regulatory examinations. And each year, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors led the opposition that killed the proposal in...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... Was Equale Edged Out? Insurance lobbyists are abuzz about what prompted the recent and unexpected departure of longtime industry veteran Paul A. Equale from his perch as chief executive officer at the Independent Insurance Agents of...

FLASH! ZAP! BOOM! LASERS COME OF AGE.
April 21, 2001... H.G. Wells dreamed up death rays in 1897. His idea of making weapons out of light has been a pop-culture fantasy for a century, a laboratory curiosity for 40 years, and a political punch line for 20, ever since President Reagan's scheme for...

ARE THESE SPYING MISSIONS NECESSARY?
April 21, 2001... Was this trip necessary? That question--phrased in many ways, in many languages, over many years--has again been pushed front and center following the collision between a Navy EP-3E electronic eavesdropping plane and a Chinese fighter plane...

THE CUTTING EDGE.(media coverage of layoffs)(Statistical Data Included)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... Are media jobs more important than other jobs? Spend a little time reading the recession news, and you might start to think nobody is as valuable to society as a journalist. All kinds of companies have been making news lately by cutting jobs....

MAYBE TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.(trans-Atlantic policy network meeting on U.S.-European relations)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... SOTOGRANDE, Spain--Nary a cloud darkened the azure skies of the Costa del Sol when members of the trans-Atlantic policy network met recently for their twice-yearly sizing up of U.S.-European Union relations. But storm clouds hung ominously over...

Hotline Extra.(legal fees owed by Bush team for Florida recount litigation; includes other items)
April 21, 2001... First, We Still All the Lawyers Apparently the Clintons aren't the only ones facing huge legal bills. President Bush raised "more than $7 million to fight the Florida recount battle," but four months later, "millions of dollars in legal...

CHINA CRISIS HALTS SLIDE OF BUSH'S POLL RATINGS.(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... Ironically, foreign policy, which was George W. Bush's weakest spot during his presidential campaign, may have given him a real boost in the polls, at least temporarily repairing damage caused by his stands on domestic issues. During the second...

People.
April 21, 2001... At the White House It may come as a surprise to some that Nao Matsukata, 37, a former staffer to Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., recently started work for the Bush Administration. But he can explain. As the new special assistant for policy...

BUSH WINS `LET'S MAKE A DEAL'.(resolution of standoff between United States and China over spy plane incident)(Brief Article)
April 21, 2001... As a result of the 11-day standoff between the United States and China, we learned something about President Bush and something about the American people. We learned that President Bush is not a confrontation-seeker. He's a deal-maker....

GOOD DEEDS CAN MISFIRE: CONSIDER A GUNMAKER'S TUMBLE.
April 28, 2001... I never thought I'd feel sorry for Smith & Wesson, but I do now. It's a long story. In a letter dated March 1 (and co-signed by nearly 100 colleagues), Rep. John Hostettler R-Ind., wrote to Mel Martinez, Housing and Urban Development...

PSST! PASS IT ON. THE SUCCESSOR TO REHNQUIST WILL BE ...
April 28, 2001... As George W. Bush passes the 100-day mark, he faces an unusual problem for a new President: Time is already running out on his ambition--advertised during last year's campaign--to make the Supreme Court more conservative. Washington has...

CAN YOU HAVE TOO MUCH FREE TRADE? BUSH SEEMS TO THINK SO.
April 28, 2001... In Quebec City last weekend, sad to report, the anti-capitalists scored another in a series of propaganda successes. For this, as they know, all they really need to do is turn up in numbers and arrange a little violence and intimidation. Then,...

Blowout.(public relations and product defects of Bridgestone Firestone Inc.)
April 28, 2001... BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE AND FORD WERE UNDER FIRE LAST YEAR OVER AUTO SAFETY. ONE HAD A TEAM IN PLACE. THE OTHER DID NOT. IT WAS A CASE STUDY IN HOW CORPORATIONS HANDLE A WASHINGTON CRISIS. Was this really happening at one of America's oldest...

THE FIREMAN FOR BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2001... Tour company has just recalled more than 14 million defective tires, the government's safety regulators say your product is linked to more than 100 highway deaths, a Senator implies that your corporate executives may be guilty of second-degree...

Faith, Hope, and Charity.(federal aid to religious social services)
April 28, 2001... GEORGE W. BUSH'S TEXAS HAS BEEN THE MOST AGGRESSIVE STATE IN GIVING PUBLIC MONEY TO FAITH GROUPS TO RUN SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS. BUT EVEN AFTER FIVE YEARS, THE PROGRESS IS SLOW, THE QUESTIONS MANY, AND SUCCESS STILL UNCERTAIN. SAN...

LIMELIGHT SCORCHING `CHARITABLE CHOICE'?
April 28, 2001... Ironically, President Bush's enthusiastic support for "charitable choice" is perhaps the worst thing to happen to religious organizations seeking federal financial assistance for their social service projects. By focusing a gigantic spotlight...

THE SON ALSO RISES.(John E. Sununu follows his father's footsteps)
April 28, 2001... Young upstart Congressmen usually abandon any grand thoughts of challenging their state's senior Senator in a primary. After all, party activists could view the House member's challenge as disloyal, and he could find himself without a job. But...

PIVOTAL EVENTS IN CONGRESS.(various articles)
April 28, 2001... Senate Postpones Education Debate With major issues unresolved, the Senate postponed floor debate on its education bill until next week at the earliest. Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle, D-S.D., said on April 25 that remaining money...

SMOOTH TAKEOFF, BUT TURBULENCE AHEAD.(Transportation secretary saves airport construction bill)
April 28, 2001... After just a couple of days on the job, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta--the Bush Cabinet's sole Democrat--faced his first big test. In its preliminary budget outline in January, the Bush Administration planned to cut $331 million from...

THE MAKING OF A BUSH LOYALIST.
April 28, 2001... Sandy Kress got an early start in Democratic politics. The son of local civil rights activists, he watched the 1952 conventions on his television rooting for Adlai Stevenson. He was 3 years old. A few years later, he took to trotting around his...

IN HIS OWN (MIXED) WORDS.(Brief Article)
April 28, 2001... President Bush is chafing at Washington's fixation with the 100-day accountability test. Sure, he came out ahead after an unpleasant face-off with China, but to date, Bush has signed just seven bills, only one of which--Republicans' erasure of...

BIG OIL'S OVERSEAS PUSH.
April 28, 2001... Oil industry lobbyists weren't particularly fazed on April 19 when President Bush downplayed news reports that his energy task force might soon recommend that U.S. companies be allowed to do business in Iran and Libya. They're hopeful that...

FROM THE K STREET CORRIDOR.(lobbying for gun control and trademark law)(Brief Article)
April 28, 2001... Roundtable Taps New Prez, and Chair The Business Roundtable has tapped veteran Washington lobbyist John J. Castellani as its new president, according to lobbying sources, who say that Castellani will take over on May 1. He succeeds Sam...

THE BIBLE BELT LOOSENS UP A NOTCH.(gay church in Greenville, South Carolina; religious diversity)
April 28, 2001... GREENVILLE, S.C.--It's mid-morning on a Sunday, and the Metropolitan Community Church of Greenville is filling up to the sound of hymns. Pastor Marty Luna stands on the steps of the sun-dappled church and welcomes parishioners one by one. Once...