Chick-fil-A controversy shifts to 'kiss in' set for Friday

The next chapter in the national debate over Chick-fil-A and its chief executive's opposition to gay marraige comes Friday, when gay rights activists are planning a "kiss in" event.

Activists are planning a "National Same-Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A" on Friday. As part of the event, couples are encouraged to go one of the chicken restaurant's locations and take a photo or video of themselves kissing.

"Let's show Chick-fil-A thanks for their support of Love, Equality, and the Real Definition of Marriage! Invite your friends!" organizers said on its Facebook page.

The move comes after thousands of restaurant supporters came out to back the CEO's stance. In some cases, there were long lines at locations.

Vicki Parsons, a Tustin resident who runs a small Internet technology company in Santa Ana, stood in line with her daughter for an hour and 10 minutes at a Costa Mesa location but said it was well worth the wait.

"The ability for a company to be able to believe what they want to believe and still have their doors open to whoever wants to or chooses to give their business -- that's why I'm here," she said. "Yes, I am a Christian, but my strongest support stems from being a business owner. I want to believe what I want to believe and not be condemned for what I believe, and give people the freedom of choice, if they want to do business with us."

Newport Beach resident Ian Conger cited both business and religion as his reasons for dining Wednesday at the relatively new Costa Mesa location.

"This company is family-owned, and they're putting their money where they want to, and that's their right," he said. "Nobody should tell someone how they should spend their money. God is very good to my wife and I, and I feel God's going to be with us through this and he'll be with the opposer as well. He doesn't hate anybody."

Lake Forest resident Deanna Kirchen stood in line with her children to support the restaurant for religious reasons.

"I've been in line for over an hour, and I'm only about three-quarters of the way through," she said. "I'm hungry and yes, we came here for lunch, but I wanted to support Chick-fil-A for having the cojones to stand up for biblical values."

Chick-fil-A drew criticism after Chief Executive Dan Cathy recently said he and his company were against gay marriage. The comments drew strong reactions, with customers pledging to boycott the chain and some mayors proclaiming they would not allow Chick-fil-A to open in their cities.

In response, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee declared Wednesday to be Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, calling on people to eat at the restaurant to show support.

Obama and Romney trade barbs over economic plans

Mitt Romney promised Thursday that his economic program will create 12 million new jobs in the next four years, and likened President Barack Obama to a "dog trying to chase its tail" when it comes to strengthening the sluggish recovery.

Firing back instantly, Obama said his rival favors "trickle-down fairy dust" that has failed to fix the economy in the past, and unleashed a new television ad with a scathing summation of Romney's tax plans: "He pays less. You pay more."

The two men campaigned in battleground states hundreds of miles apart, the incumbent in Florida, his challenger in Colorado, both on a mission to convert undecided voters to their side in a race dominated by the economy and high joblessness.

Nor was there any summer lull in the television ad wars. Americans For Prosperity, an independent group that backs Romney, intends to launch a $25 million ad campaign beginning next week, according to officials familiar with the arrangements. The organization was founded by David and Charles Koch, billionaire brothers, and has spent about $15 million in swing states this year on ads attacking Obama.

For Romney, the day meant a return to domestic campaigning after a weeklong overseas trip. Aides say he intends to disclose a vice presidential pick before the Republican National Convention opens on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla., but the former Massachusetts governor told reporters: "I've got nothing to give you" by way of information on his decision.

Instead, he unveiled what aides called Romney's plan for more jobs and more take-home pay, backed by an eight-page paper arguing that the economic stimulus and other policies backed by Obama "exacerbated the economy's structural problems and weakened the recovery ... At the present rate of job creation, the nation will never return to full employment," it said, on the eve of the release of the government's official report on July joblessness.

Friday's jobs report, Obama planned to use the backdrop of the White House and surround himself with families who would benefit from the election year middle-class tax cut he's pushing Congress to adopt. "As dysfunctional as Washington can be, this fight is far from hopeless," White House senior adviser David Plouffe said in an email.

In remarks in Golden, Colo., Romney said his economic policies would lead to creation of 12 million jobs in the four years of his term, if he is elected, and help make North America energy independent, a pledge that aides said included Canada and Mexico as well as the United States.

Romney pledged expanded international trade, particularly with Latin America, and vowed to confront China over its own policies. "I'm finally going to sit down with the Chinese and they're going to understand that if they cheat there are going to be consequences, because we're not going to let them walk all over us," the former Massachusetts governor said.

He said he would help small business owners, improve the education system and cut spending to reduce the deficit, but he offered relatively few specifics.

Romney previously has said he wants to extend the tax cuts due to expire on Dec. 31 and grant a new 20 percent cut in tax rates, in addition, to stimulate growth. He has also said he will reverse some of Obama's proposed defense cuts, and simultaneously reduce spending on other programs in a way that deficits would gradually subside.

But he so far has refused to identify which existing tax breaks he would curtail to accomplish his goals, and generally avoided naming individual programs he wants to cut or eliminate.

In his remarks during the day, Romney said he wants federal education funds that aid the disadvantaged and disabled to be tied to the student rather than flow to school districts, as is now the case. But he did not specify how much he would cut from them to achieve his goal of reducing federal deficits.

He also criticized Obama for signing legislation that cut $500 billion from Medicare over a decade. Aides said he would restore the funding, which was reduced as part of the president's health care bill. But they had no additional details.  

Romney said Democrats have a different view. "They think we should just raise taxes. ...The problem is when you raise taxes you lower growth," he said.

Obama's approach is "like a dog trying to chase its tail, you just don't ever get there," he added. "So the right answer is not to raise taxes. The right answer is to cut taxes and cut spending."

Obama and other Democrats support extending existing tax cuts except for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples with incomes over $250,000—and their disagreement with Romney and the Republicans on this point has emerged as arguably the most fundamental one of the campaign.

It's an argument that Obama seems eager to have—using campaign appearances and paid television advertising to do so.

For the second day in a row, Obama cited a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that says Romney and other millionaires would receive a tax cut of approximately $250,000 a year if the former Massachusetts governor gets his way.

"This analysis also found that if Gov. Romney wants to keep his word" about reducing deficits, "the average middle-class family with children would be stuck with a tax increase of more than $2,000," he added.

The president's new campaign ad was delivering the same highly personalized message. It says Romney has paid a lower proportion of his income in taxes than many people of lesser means and adds:

"He pays less, you pay more," the ad says.

Romney's personal wealth has been estimated as high as $250 million, but he has not so far made public a detailed disclosure of his holdings. His aides have sought to dismiss the report as a partisan attack by former aides to the president.

But Obama, picking up on what his own campaign staff said Wednesday, told an audience near Orlando, Fla., that the Tax Policy Center was headed by a former aide to President George W. Bush.

Romney, too, rolled out a new ad, giving a less-than-warm welcome to Obama on a day Air Force One touched down in Florida. It notes that the state still suffers from high unemployment, record home foreclosures and an increase in poverty.

"Barack Obama: What a disappointment," it says.

The president's stop in Florida reflected his campaign's efforts to build support among Hispanic voters, particularly Puerto Ricans. He was greeted on the tarmac of Orlando International Airport by Kenneth McClintock, the lieutenant governor of Puerto Rico and Alejandro Garcia-Padilla, a state senator in Puerto Rico.

Romney, meanwhile, appeared with a group of Republican governors at an event near Aspen, Colo., some of them mentioned as potential running mates. That teased speculation about Romney's vice presidential pick, as some of the attendees—New Jersey's Chris Christie, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Virginia's Bob McDonnell—have been mentioned as possible Romney running mates.

Frustrated Annan quits as Syria peace envoy

As battles raged on Thursday in Syria's second city, Aleppo, between rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he would go at the end of the month.

"Kofi Annan deserves our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments," Ban said. Talks were under way to find a successor.

Annan's mission, centered on an April ceasefire that never took hold, has looked irrelevant as fighting has intensified in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere.

Annan blamed "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit but suggested his successor may have better luck.

Russia, the United States, Britain and France began pointing fingers at one another over who was responsible for Annan's sudden announcement he would depart. One senior council diplomat said it was now time to acknowledge the "utter irrelevance of an impotent Security Council" on Syria.

Syria expressed regret that Annan was going.

Annan suggested that the continued arming of all sides in the conflict and the Security Council deadlock had undermined his ability to pursue a diplomatic solution.

"The increasing militarization on the ground and the clear lack of unity in the Security Council, have fundamentally changed the circumstances for the effective exercise of my role," Annan told reporters.

In an editorial published on the Financial Times' website, Annan said Russia, China and Iran "must take concerted efforts to persuade Syria's leadership to change course and embrace a political transition" -- meaning the departure of Assad.

"It is clear that President Bashar al-Assad must leave office," Annan said.

Annan wrote that Western powers, the Saudis and Qatar must start "pressing the opposition to embrace a fully inclusive political process - that will include communities and institutions currently associated with the government."

Ban's spokesman, Martin Nesirky, declined to comment on who might replace Annan but said a decision could come soon.

BLAME GAME

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong supporter of Assad, said he regretted Annan's decision to step aside and referred to him as a "brilliant diplomat.

Moscow's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, suggested to reporters in New York that Western powers that had opposed "reasonable and balanced proposals" in the Security Council had undermined Annan's peace efforts from the start.

The White House pinned the blame squarely on Moscow and Beijing, which together vetoed three resolutions intended to increase the pressure on Assad, thereby undercutting Annan.

"Annan's resignation highlights the failure at the United Nations Security Council of Russia and China to support resolutions, meaningful resolutions, against Assad that would have held Assad accountable," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague echoed that view.

"We understand Annan's frustration that, due to vetoes in the Security Council, the international community was unable to give him the support that he needed and requested," Hague said in a statement.

Hague reiterated that Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria was still the best option for securing an end to the conflict. French Ambassador Gerard Araud, Security Council president this month, shared that view.

Washington, U.N. diplomats say, has been convinced that the Security Council cannot play a meaningful role in the Syria crisis since Russia and China first vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution in October. But it reluctantly supported European efforts to try to get the council to take action.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice issued a statement that made no mention of the United Nations playing a role in resolving the Syria conflict.

"We will continue to work urgently with our partners in the international community — including the over 100 countries in the Friends of the Syrian People — to accelerate the transition, provide support to the opposition, and meet the increasingly grave humanitarian needs of the Syrian people," Rice said.

Council diplomats have said privately the United States and Gulf Arab states have become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks with what they saw as Annan's dogged commitment to diplomacy at a time when they believe all avenues for dialogue with Assad have been exhausted.

France's U.N. envoy, Araud, said the council appeared to be "irreconcilably" deadlocked but that it would be dangerous for countries to go outside the United Nations to resolve the Syria conflict.

But that is already happening. The United States, other Western powers, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are increasing support for the rebels, U.N. diplomats say, and are reconciling themselves to the view that Syria's civil war will be long and bloody.

Separately, Araud said the U.N. observer mission would likely "disappear" on August 19, the day its recently renewed mandate expires.

BATTLE FOR ALEPPO RAGES

In Syria, the fight for Aleppo, the latest battlefield, intensified. Rebels turned the gun of a captured tank against government forces, shelling an air base north of the city.

Assad's troops bombarded the strategic Salaheddine district in Aleppo itself with tank and artillery fire supported by combat aircraft, while rebels tried to consolidate their hold on areas they have seized.

In the capital, Damascus, troops overran a suburb on Wednesday and killed at least 35 people, mostly unarmed civilians, residents and activist organizations said.

The fighting for Syria's two biggest cities highlights the country's rapid slide into full-scale civil war 17 months after the peaceful street protests that marked the start of the anti-Assad uprising.

The head of the U.N. peacekeeping department, Herve Ladsous, confirmed to reporters on Thursday that Syria's rebels now had heavy weapons.

World powers have watched with mounting concern as diplomatic efforts, including Annan's mediation effort, have faltered, and violence that has already claimed an estimated 18,000 lives worsens.

About 60 people were killed in Syria on Thursday, 43 of them civilians, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Also on Thursday, activists and residents in the central city of Hama said Syrian forces killed at least 50 people during clashes with rebels there.

The rebels' morale was boosted when they turned a government tank's gun on the Menakh airfield 35 km (22 miles) north of Aleppo, a possible staging post for army reinforcements and a base for war planes and helicopter gunships.

Reuters correspondents heard heavy weapons fire on Thursday morning from Salaheddine in southwest Aleppo, a gateway to the city that has been fought over for the past week.

Heavily armed government troops are trying to drive a force of a few thousand rebel fighters from the city in battle whose outcome could be a turning point in the conflict.

Aleppo had long stayed aloof from the uprising, but many of its 2.5 million residents are now caught up in battle zones, facing shortages of food, fuel, water and cooking gas. Thousands have fled and hospitals and makeshift clinics can barely cope with casualties after more than a week of combat.

The U.N. World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization said up to 3 million Syrians were likely to need food, crop and livestock aid in the next 12 months as the conflict has prevented farmers harvesting crops.

In New York, the U.N. General Assembly was expected to vote on Friday on a resolution drafted by Saudi Arabia that backs the rebels.

Russia, which has consistently supported Syria at the United Nations, said it would not back the resolution because it was unbalanced and would encourage rebels to keep fighting.

American Nathan Adrian wins photo finish in 100 free to beat ‘The Missle’

For the second straight Olympics, an American swimmer won a race by the narrowest possible margin.

Nathan Adrian stormed past defending world champion James "The Missle" Magnussen of Australia with a furious final stroke to win the 100-meter freestyle by .01 seconds on Wednesday night at the Aquatic Centre in London.

The 23-year-old Washington native finished in 47.52. He became the first American man to win the 100 free since Matt Biondi in 1988.

He and Adrian were in third and fifth, respectively, at the midway point of the race. Both accelerated off the turns, with Adrian pulling slightly ahead of the pack at the 75-meter mark. Magnussen, an Australian superstar who had lofty expectations entering London, powered past Adrian as they approached the wall. They went stroke for stroke into the flags and the Aussie looked in control. But on the final lunge, Adrian's fingertips shot past Magnussen's to hit the touchpad first, a sight that looked like a freestyle version of Michael Phelps' .01-second win over Milorad Cavic in the 100 butterfly in Beijing.

It's the second time at the Olympics that Adrian has gotten the best of the heavily-favored Aussie. In Sunday's 4x100 relay, the two men swam leadoff for their respective countries. Adrian won that matchup by a comparatively huge margin -- .24 seconds. The Americans went on to win silver after Ryan Lochte was passed by France's Yannick Agnel. Hurt by Magnussen's slow leg, the Australians finished out of the medals.

Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels

Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.

This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.

The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.

But U.S. and European officials have said that there have been noticeable improvements in the coherence and effectiveness of Syrian rebel groups in the past few weeks. That represents a significant change in assessments of the rebels by Western officials, who previously characterized Assad's opponents as a disorganized, almost chaotic, rabble.

Precisely when Obama signed the secret intelligence authorization, an action not previously reported, could not be determined.

The full extent of clandestine support that agencies like the CIA might be providing also is unclear.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined comment.

'NERVE CENTER'

A U.S. government source acknowledged that under provisions of the presidential finding, the United States was collaborating with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its allies.

Last week, Reuters reported that, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey had established a secret base near the Syrian border to help direct vital military and communications support to Assad's opponents.

This "nerve center" is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 60 miles from the Syrian border, which is also home to Incirlik, a U.S. air base where U.S. military and intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence.

Turkey's moderate Islamist government has been demanding Assad's departure with growing vehemence. Turkish authorities are said by current and former U.S. government officials to be increasingly involved in providing Syrian rebels with training and possibly equipment.

European government sources said wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing significant financing to the rebels. Senior officials of the Saudi and Qatari governments have publicly called for Assad's departure.

On Tuesday, NBC News reported that the Free Syrian Army had obtained nearly two dozen surface-to-air missiles, weapons that could be used against Assad's helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Syrian government armed forces have employed such air power more extensively in recent days.

NBC said the shoulder-fired missiles, also known as MANPADs, had been delivered to the rebels via Turkey.

On Wednesday, however, Bassam al-Dada, a political adviser to the Free Syrian Army, denied the NBC report, telling the Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya that the group had "not obtained any such weapons at all." U.S. government sources said they could not confirm the MANPADs deliveries, but could not rule them out either.

Current and former U.S. and European officials previously said that weapons supplies, which were being organized and financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were largely limited to guns and a limited number of anti-tank weapons, such as bazookas.

Indications are that U.S. agencies have not been involved in providing weapons to Assad's opponents. In order to do so, Obama would have to approve a supplement, known as a "memorandum of notification, to his initial broad intelligence finding.

Further such memoranda would have to be signed by Obama to authorize other specific clandestine operations to support Syrian rebels.

Reuters first reported last week that the White House had crafted a directive authorizing greater U.S. covert assistance to Syrian rebels. It was unclear at that time whether Obama had signed it.

OVERT SUPPORT

Separately from the president's secret order, the Obama administration has stated publicly that it is providing some backing for Assad's opponents.

The State Department said on Wednesday the U.S. government had set aside a total of $25 million for "non-lethal" assistance to the Syrian opposition. A U.S. official said that was mostly for communications equipment, including encrypted radios.

The State Department also says the United States has set aside $64 million in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, including contributions to the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other aid agencies.

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury confirmed it had granted authorization to the Syrian Support Group, Washington representative of one of the most active rebel factions, the Free Syrian Army, to conduct financial transactions on the rebel group's behalf. The authorization was first reported on Friday by Al-Monitor, a Middle East news and commentary website.

Last year, when rebels began organizing themselves to challenge the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Obama also signed an initial "finding" broadly authorizing secret U.S. backing for them. But the president moved cautiously in authorizing specific measures to support them.

Some U.S. lawmakers, such as Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have criticized Obama for moving too slowly to assist the rebels and have suggested the U.S. government become directly involved in arming Assad's opponents.

Other lawmakers have suggested caution, saying too little is known about the many rebel groups.

Recent news reports from the region have suggested that the influence and numbers of Islamist militants, some of them connected to al Qaeda or its affiliates, have been growing among Assad's opponents.

U.S. and European officials say that, so far, intelligence agencies do not believe the militants' role in the anti-Assad opposition is dominant.

While U.S. and allied government experts believe that the Syrian rebels have been making some progress against Assad's forces lately, most believe the conflict is nowhere near resolution, and could go on for years.

Republican-led House rejects Democratic tax plan

Republicans in the House of Representatives approved the extension of all Bush-era tax cuts, including deeply polarizing cuts for the wealthiest Americans, in a mostly symbolic presidential election year move Wednesday

Republicans said the cuts could help shore up a still-frail U.S. economy, while the Obama administration warned that threatened budget cuts could send some of America's troops into battle with less training.

For all the action and talk, however, both taxes and spending were deeply enmeshed in campaign politics, with no resolution expected until after the November elections. The House measure has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate or surviving an Obama veto.

The vote was more about political messaging three months before the election than a genuine attempt to resolve longstanding differences that threaten to hit Americans with a tax increase if the deadlock isn't broken in a post-election session.

Democrats are demanding that any compromise to avoid the $110 billion in budget cuts that are scheduled to kick in Jan. 2 include a tax increase on high-income earners, returning tax rates on the richest Americans to pre-President George W. Bush levels.

Republicans reject the idea of raising rates on anyone as the economy struggles to recover fully from recession. Democrats said Republicans were holding the middle class hostage by insisting on renewing tax cuts that go to the top 2 percent of earners. Polls show most Americans support the Democrats' position.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told the committee that if Congress fails to come up with a compromise, nearly all elements of the military will be affected by cuts mandated by a deal struck last year to reduce the deficit. Training would be scaled back and flying hours for Air Force pilots would be reduced. The Navy would buy fewer ships and the Air Force fewer aircraft.

"Some later-deploying units (including some deploying to Afghanistan) could receive less training, especially in the Army and Marine Corps," Carter said. "Under some circumstances, this reduced training could impact their ability to respond to a new contingency, should one occur." Military personnel would be exempt from job cuts, but furloughs might be issued and commissary hours reduced, he said.

Later, Republicans moved to renew the Bush tax cuts for every working American. The cuts will otherwise expire Dec. 31, part of a combination of effects along with major spending cuts that have been characterized as a "fiscal cliff" for the economy. The bill passed by a 256-171 vote. Nineteen Democrats joined with Republicans.

There is no expectation that the Democratic-led Senate will even consider the House measure, at least before the elections.

Democrats in the House countered with a plan backed by President Obama to extend the tax cuts for all but the highest-earning Americans. Their plan would raise the marginal top tax rate on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples from 35% to 39.6%. It failed, 257-170, with 19 Democrats breaking with Obama.

Two years ago, the Bush tax cuts were renewed in their entirety with the support of Obama and many Democrats as part of a bargain in which Obama also won a Social Security payroll tax cut and an extension of unemployment benefits.

Now, the White House promises Obama will veto the extension if it includes the highest earners. Obama instead supports a plan that passed the Democratic-controlled Senate last week.

Republicans said that measure would hit 1 million small businesses — and more than half of small business income — with a tax increase.

Chick-fil-A fans and critics take to the streets

The chicken sandwich became a political statement for a day as supporters of the Chick-fil-A president's stance against gay marriage caused traffic jams at the fast-food chain's restaurants nationwide.

Baking in the Southern California summer heat, lines of Chick-fil-A fans snaked around the eateries and down streets Wednesday as patrons ignored gay rights advocates armed with "Cluck Off" signs and vuvuzelas urging them to eat elsewhere.

Crammed drive-throughs caused traffic jams on nearby streets, often requiring attendants to direct cars. At several locations in Orange County and Long Beach, lunchtime crowds swelled to more than 100 people.

Similar crowds converged across the country at Chick-fil-A, which has more than 1,600 branches. In Madison, Ala., police were called to maintain order. Some customers waited outside Chick-fil-A restaurants carrying 8-foot crosses or dressed as Superman, according to users on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum tweeted about his Chick-fil-A lunch. "OK leftists go crazy," he wrote.

The huge crowds were responding to a call from another former presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, who had dubbed Aug. 1 as Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day after the chain's president, Dan Cathy, publicly spoke out against same-sex unions two weeks ago.

Cathy's comments, as well as revelations that the chain has donated millions of dollars to anti-gay marriage groups, have sparked a furor from several big-city mayors, actors Mia Farrow and Roseanne Barr, Muppets creator Jim Henson Co. and thousands of consumers who have pledged to boycott the chain.

Rival burger chain Wendy's ordered a North Carolina franchisee to take down signs he had posted at dozens of locations that read "We Stand With Chick-fil-A." In a statement, Wendy's said it is "proud to serve customers of varied races, backgrounds, cultures and sexual orientation, with different beliefs and values."

On Wednesday, popular West Hollywood bar the Abbey unveiled its new sandwich, the Chick-For-Gay, which it plans to serve to its largely gay and lesbian clientele through the November elections.

Still, more than 600,000 people RSVPed on Facebook for Huckabee's appreciation event. He wrote on the social networking site that he was "incensed at the vitriolic assaults" on the chain, which he described as "a great American story that is being smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left."

Huckabee, now a radio show host, posted photos on Facebook of his visit Wednesday to a Chick-fil-A in Destin, Fla.

Not all customers eating at Chick-fil-A sympathize with Cathy's stance against same-sex unions. Many said they were backing the company's right to free speech. Others arrived to voice their displeasure with liberal values in general.

"I'm not against gay rights by any means, but I think this guy is getting a bad rap," Beaumont resident Ed Vatter, 57, said over a plate of chicken nuggets and waffle fries at the Chick-fil-A in Laguna Niguel.

"Plus," he said, "the food's pretty good."

He was one of more than 150 customers who jostled for seats as employees shouted out orders and people waited 30 minutes in lines that stretched out the door at lunch time.

Retirees Susie Kendall, 78, and her husband, Tom, 82, had never been to a Chick-fil-A before, but they swung by to show support for Cathy's beliefs.

"We're afraid America is doing the political thing instead of the right thing," said Susie, a homemaker, of the shift toward gay marriage acceptance. "Political correctness can be done away with as far as I'm concerned."

Outside, a single protester, Laguna Niguel resident Tamara Lindner, 47, wore a shirt with a "No H8" logo and referred to people who patronize Chick-fil-A as "sheep-le."

"This is the silent protest," she said.

Chick-fil-A, a privately held company in Atlanta, refused to comment on the effect of the appreciation day on its sales.

In a statement, it noted that the event "was not created by Chick-fil-A" but said it appreciated "all of our customers and are glad to serve them at any time."

The company, which operates under Christian beliefs that include being closed Sundays, reiterated its "simple" goal of providing "great food, genuine hospitality and ... a positive influence on all who come into contact with Chick-fil-A."

It sent out a similar statement after Cathy was quoted in a small Christian publication, the Baptist Press, that the chain was "guilty as charged" of supporting "the biblical definition of the family unit."

The story quickly went viral. Soon, Cathy went on the Ken Coleman talk show, a syndicated radio program, and reiterated his stance.

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,'" Cathy said. "I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about."

In more gay-friendly Hollywood, dozens of Chick-fil-A critics crowded outside one restaurant waving signs as diners munched on the outdoor patio.

Even People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals showed up to protest the treatment of chickens before slaughter.

Police officers hung out by the counter, watching for disturbances. A large rainbow flag fluttered from a Jeep that was blaring its horn. The small parking lot and the drive-through lane were overflowing, causing a traffic backup on nearby Sunset Boulevard.

One customer, Roy Simmons, 60, said he ditched his habit of packing a lunch so he could cheer on Chick-fil-A's right to an opinion. He also opposes gay marriage, he said.

"With the left, if you don't toe their line and say what they want you to say, they shut you down as a hater, a bigot or a homophobe," said the La Crescenta construction manager.

But protester Brian Hamilton, an actor, said Cathy's comments had alienated many consumers — himself included.

"We are well aware of the repercussions of hate speech when it is directed at [gay and lesbian] people," said Hamilton, 48, a West Hollywood resident who said he is gay. "It's not good business. It's not smart."

Gay rights sympathizers said they will gather again Friday outside Chick-fil-A locations for National Same-Sex Kiss Day, where they plan to publicly embrace in so-called kiss-ins to draw attention to the company's donations to anti-gay marriage groups.