Here’s a video treat from ALL HAT NO CATTLE…

…the one blog I try to view every day. This is a video that Lisa put together Called “Back in the Good Old Days” which is a good indicator that Romney will bring Bushiness back to us.

 

Hope you enjoy it. I sure did!

 

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Interviews with Supporters at Ohio Romney Rally

Life seems to be very hard for these folks. Listen to the big amount of Romney lies they have ingested like vitamins:

Wow! This is the first time I’ve heard that Obama has brought Buddhists into the country to take over.

How do you live with these people… these utterly stupid an misinformed people?

Related articles

• Ohio Mitt Romney Supporters Don’t Know Mitt Romney (bungalowbillscw.blogspot.com)
• Obama goes after Romney’s Jeep ad (cbsnews.com)
• NBC’s Ohio Poll: 45% of Likely Voters Conservative, 23% Liberal–And Obama’s Up 6 (cnsnews.com)

 

What in hell is it about Republicans and rape?

A new television ad in Indiana has Romney endorsing Richard Mourdock for Senator in that state. Mourdock, however, has displayed the Republicans‘ opposition to women and the right to choose. In a televised debate with his Democratic opponent Representative Joe Donnelly, he opposed abortion as a choice after rape… why? because God says so:

“Life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something God intended to happen.”

— Richard Mourdock 

So this is a new and compelling reason (if you are a Republican) to leave raped women pregnant whether they want to bear a rapist‘s child or not. And, of course, Romney’s support indicates his actual neoconservative leanings, despite having tried to seem moderate in the last debate.

It’s hard to believe that any of these candidates would top Todd Akin, but Mourdock certainly has.

Related articles

• Ind. GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock: Pregnancy from rape can be ‘something that God intended to happen’ – @washingtonpost (washingtonpost.com)
• Richard Mourdock under fire for rape remarks (politico.com)
• Mourdock: God at work when rape leads to pregnancy (news.yahoo.com)
• Video: Indiana Senate Candidate Richard Mourdock Says Pregnancy is a “Gift From God” Even in Rape (opposingviews.com)
• Indiana Republican: When life begins from rape, “God intended” it (reuters.com)
• GOP U.S. Senate Candidate Calls Rape Pregnancies A ‘Gift From God’ (thinkprogress.org)
• Mourdock: God at work when rape leads to pregnancy (sfgate.com)
• Indiana GOP U.S. Senate candidate Mourdock: rape pregnancies “something that God intended to happen” (blogs.suntimes.com)

Did you know that converting “Frenchies” to Mormonism is equivalent to military service in wartime?

If you are interested in Ann Romney‘s response to Whoopi Goldberg on The View (which Mitt avoided making an appearance on… scared of Whoopi apparently) when she brought up the fact that Mitt hadn’t served his country in the Viet Nam War, take a look at this statement:

“Mitt certainly did serve his country during the war. He just served in a different way than most during that period. Sure, while many poor and minority young people were involuntarily drafted and soon found themselves knee-deep in cholera-infested rice paddies, you must remember that Mitt was also in a difficult spot serving Jesus, who as everyone knows made a special trip to America.”

“He roamed around the mean streets of Paris, riding a bike, and looking like a royal imbecile. You think he looks ridiculously uncool now, you should have seen him then! And it was a real hell-hole. Of course, he wasn’t being shot at or tripping any landmines, but he had to eat at 3 star restaurants! And he was doing just as important of a job as the Army was when they were fighting for Jesus and America.”

“He was out trying to baptize people in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Do you know how hard it is to get anyone to swallow this ridiculous shit? Especially French people! They’ve got all of this good food, wine, and they just LOVE to smoke and have sex all of the time. And you have to tell them to give that stuff up! Darn near impossible! Well, you don’t tell them that right away, only after you get them baptized. We aren’t idiots, you know!”

“So I’d like everyone in the media to stop pretending that Mitt didn’t serve during the war. He baptized 103 Frenchies by all by himself. How many conversions did any of those so-called “soldiers” perform? I rest my case.”

Hey… did you ever think of how dangerous it is to eat in 3-star restaurants?

Thanks to Ye Olde Soapbox for leading me to this one.

Related articles

• Whoopi Goldberg faces Twitter hate after Ann Romney ‘View’ interview (thegrio.com)
• Whoopi shut down by Ann Romney on ‘The View’ (abc4.com)
• Ann Romney Thinks a Mormon Mission is the Same as Serving in the Military (politicususa.com)
• Whoopi Presses Ann Romney On Sons’ Lack Of Military Service: Does Mormonism Not Allow It? (mediaite.com)
• Whoopi Goldberg to Ann Romney: Hey, isn’t it true that Mormons don’t serve in the military? (hotair.com)
• Ann Romney: Mormon missions and U.S. military are ‘different ways of serving’ (rawstory.com)
• Awkward Moment Between Ann Romney and Whoopi Goldberg on “The View” (newstalkcleveland.com)

Romney’s right-wing religious supporters have a terrifying view (and a disgusting one) of liberals:

 

Here is why we have to keep Romney and his buddies away from controlling America:

 

So liberals are Nazis and are going to gas Christians like Nazis did Jews in WWII era. Also, I don’t think Christians in America are a minority… hopefully only the ones who share Pat Robertson‘s obscene attack. And Robertson sees Romney as his buddy.

Related articles

• Romney campaigner Pat Robertson tells man to beat his wife (americablog.com)
• Pat Robertson to humiliated hubby: ‘Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her’ (rawstory.com)
• Jews Must Be Converted | American Right Wing Nuts’ Hates Fest (theageofblasphemy.wordpress.com)
• FRCWC Says Shame on You Pat Robertson (peacemattershere.wordpress.com)
• Mitt Romney’s new economic message: Keep the word ‘God’ on coins (dailykos.com)
• Romney/Ryan 2012: Pallin’ around with terrorists (dailykos.com)

 

How about a foreign policy statement from Mitt…

That video from the secret fundraiser is sure providing tons of revelations of the presidential talents of Mitt Romney – or the fact that there are no such talents present.

Here is a statement that gives us a real view of how he sees tyhe middle east:

“If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, “Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb. I mean this is where we have – where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we don’t have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”

– Mitt Romney

Hey… I’ll bet he’ll start another war if he gets the chance. Let’s not give it to him.

Related articles

• Magazine: Romney suggested Iran could threaten Chicago with ‘dirty bomb’ – Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com)
• Romney Wants To Attack Iran To Prevent A Dirty Bomb (thedailybeast.com)
• Hidden Camera Video Shows Mitt Romney Is A Dangerously Gullible Mark (mediaite.com)
• Mitt Romney does not understand how one creates a “dirty bomb” (boingboing.net)
• Hidden Camera Video: Romney on Iran, Israel-Palestine (antiwar.com)
• SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution (motherjones.com)
• Magazine: Romney suggested Iran could threaten Chicago with ‘dirty bomb’ (suntimes.com)
• Mitt Romney struggles to keep on track as further video revelations emerge (telegraph.co.uk)

An article you must read: Romney and Ryan – The Haters in Chief

 

This article by Hrafnkell Haraldsson is in PoliticusUSA today. I’m giving you the first couple of paragraphs, but this is a long, well-thought out piece which continues the thinking I started earlier about religion and politics. In fact I was startled to discover a quote from Jefferson from the same document!

As you read it you discover that in a Romney America, “my god is bigger than your god. And your god doesn’t get any First Amendment protections because, well, it really isn’t a religion in the first place, is it? It’s a cult. Cults aren’t protected.” That certainly puts Islam in the gut bucket.

Anyway – here’s the start:

Can you imagine a United States where the president and vice president hate the world’s second largest religion and invite into White House councils those who advocate military action against whoever we feel might be a threat, including, particularly, Iran.

That’s the scenario being faced, incredibly enough, by the people of the United States. President Obama’s pragmatic, sober approach to diplomacy has restored the reputation of the United States and we are on the verge of escaping both long wars embarked upon by the Bush administration.

But Mitt Romney wants to abrogate control of America’s foreign policy – to Israel – which wants to attack Iran. He may have noticed we just got done with a nearly-ten-year-long-war in Iran’s neighbor, Iraq. He may have noticed that we are still engaged in Afghanistan, a place even Alexander the Great could not entirely subdue, a place that was a graveyard and charnel house for the mighty Soviet Union.

And now he wants to involve us in an attack on Iran.

OK… read the rest of it HERE. You’ll be glad you did.

Related articles

• Liberal Smear: Romney’s War for the Jews (commentarymagazine.com)
• Romney campaign quickly distances itself from Mitt’s statement of support for Obama’s Iran policy (dailykos.com)
• Romney and Obama Share Iran ‘Red Line’ (abcnews.go.com)
• Romney Struggles to Distinguish Iran Red Line From Obama’s (nytimes.com)

 

Looking at the current relationship of religion to government I am returning to Jefferson:

 

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

– Thomas Jefferson

Perhaps we could have on our coins “In Jefferson We Trust”… or adapt the Pledge of Allegiance to “One Nation, under the ideas of Jefferson, with liberty and justice for all.”

Let’s also look at how religious differences world wide are working against us. I don’t think control of the Muslim Brotherhood is in our purview… but having extreme right Baptist preachers pushing anti-Muslim sentiments worldwide is bound to cause an extreme response.

Related articles

• Romney ratchets ups God rhetoric (tydicea.newsvine.com)
• Adams vs. Jefferson: The Birth of Negative Campaigning in the U.S. (mentalfloss.com)
• Conservative Congressman Blasts Bachmann’s Anti-Muslim Allegations, Stands Up For Religious Liberty (thinkprogress.org)
• Recalling Revisionist History (kennysideshow.blogspot.com)
• ‘Historian’ David Barton’s book on Thomas Jefferson pulled from stores (rawstory.com)
• President Taqiyya misrepresents “Jefferson’s quran” at White House iftar dinner (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Thomas Jefferson Asks: Liberty or Economy? (powerorliberty.wordpress.com)

 

Bill Nye the Science Guy is a true hero…

… but he did not, as a mischievously placed article put out by the Daily Currant stated, use foul language and push science versus creationism arguments challenging Todd Akin to a debate.

This happened after a video was released on You Tube saying evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. According to Bill Nye, aka “the science guy,” if grownups want to “deny evolution and live in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them.”

Here’s the video:

See. Pretty damned specific.

Just for your entertainment, however, here is Bill Nye on Seattle’s “Almost Live” in his superhero guise as Speed Walker:

Thanks, thanks, thanks to Bill Nye. It’s good having him around.

Related articles

• Bill Nye the Science Guy says don’t teach your kids Creationism. (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)
• Ken Ham Wants To Debate Bill Nye (sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com)
• Creation Museum’s Ken Ham: ‘Bill Nye Really Doesn’t Understand Science’ (patheos.com)
• Bill Nye is a science guy who knows what he is talking about (kbrooksjournalist.wordpress.com)
• Bill Nye: Americans who believe in Creationism hold the rest of us back (dangerousminds.net)
• Bill Nye the Humanist Guy vs. Ken Ham the Creationist Man (marccortez.com)
• Bill Nye Blasts Todd Akin, Challenges ‘Fucking Idiot’ to Debate | The Daily Currant (2012indyinfo.com)

Bill Nye the Science Guy says don’t teach your kids Creationism.

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Scientist and children’s television personality Bill Nye, in a newly released online video, panned biblical creationism and implored American parents who reject the scientific theory of evolution not to teach their beliefs to their youngsters.

“I say to the grownups, ‘If you want to deny evolution and live in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we’ve observed in the universe that’s fine. But don’t make your kids do it,'” said Nye, best known as host of the educational TV series “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”

If I were a professional educator, I would give Bill Nye my thanks for coming out with this video:

Evolution is the fundamental idea in all of life science, in all of biology. Creationism is not.

Related articles

• Bill Nye: Please don’t teach your kids creationism, because it is crazy (rawstory.com)
• Bill Nye Believes One Day the Creationism Theory Won’t Exist (fox4kc.com)
• Bill Nye: Americans who believe in Creationism hold the rest of us back (dangerousminds.net)
• Bill Nye “The Science Guy” Slams Creationism (wreg.com)
• Bill Nye the Science Guy says creationism not good for kids (vancouverdesi.com)
• Bill Nye to Creationists: Save Your Children! (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• Bill Nye Blasts Creationism (sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com)

 

Boy Chased By Priest in Underwear Saved by Saintly Neighbors

 

This frightening piece from Cafe Mom. Why stories like this are popping up more frequently leads me to suspect religion even more…

This story almost sounds like a parody, like some twisted SNL skit, but unfortunately, it’s real. Around midnight last Sunday, some people were out in their yard, wrapping up a barbecue, when a 12-year-old boy came barrelling down the street, begging for help, saying that a man was chasing him. A few moments later, a man did, in fact, appear in his maroon underwear, no less, trying to get the boy to come back with him. Heather Rodriguez and her brother-in-law knew better than to hand over a scared, shaking boy to a suspicious man in his underwear, and decided to get the cops involved. It’s a good thing they did, too, because the “suspicious man” who was chasing the boy was a priest who had just allegedly sexually abused the pre-teen on an air mattress in his house.

Related articles

• Near-naked priest chases 12-year-old boy (freethinker.co.uk)
• Priest in his underwear chased 12-year-old boy down neighborhood streets after the boy ran from abuse (dvorak.org)
• Speedo Wearing Priest Seen Chasing Boy Down Street After Alleged Molestation (dreamindemon.com)
• OREGON: Catholic Priest In His Underwear Chases Boy Down Street After Abuse (joemygod.blogspot.com)
• Boy told sister: “Father Angel touched me in my privates,” court affidavit said (oregonlive.com)
• Police: Boy says Woodburn priest fondled him, took pics (kgw.com)
• Collared: “Father Angel” Arrested After Reportedly Chasing A 12-Year-Old Boy Down Street In His Underwear (jonathanturley.org)

 

Report from the Field in the Republican War on Women.

 

All the discussion in the last couple of days about Abortion as a response to rape has raised so many women’s issues and shown the true face of the Republicans.

First take a look at the overall view of the 112^th Congress, it is impossible to miss the big picture that Republicans have used a multi-faceted approach in their war on women, especially in their right to choose their own health coverage. For the past couple of days, there has been a firestorm over comments made by Representative Todd Akin regarding what he calls “legitimate rape,” and although it is a big story, it is just a small part of the entire GOP’s view of women.

Akin

Republicans – even Rush Limbaugh –  abandoned and condemned Akin over his remarks on legitimate rape and conception, especially when the Republican congessmen trying to make him quit the race, have voted with him to eliminate a women’s right to choose throughout the 112^th Congress.

The Romney campaign team swtated in writing: “Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape,” but critics began connecting Paul Ryan to Akin. It became glaringly obvious that Ryan and Romney have also promoted his twisted pro-life position. Ryan co-sponsored, with Akin, a national personhood bill that defines a single-celled zygote as having all the rights of an American citizen, and Romney tapped him for vice-president.

Romney said he would scrap the Title X program (Medicaid coverage that handles contraception and abortion) entirely to cut costs. But, according to the Guttmacher Institute, every dollar spent helping women avoid pregnancy saves $3.74 in Medicaid spending. The issue is not cutting costs, but ending women’s right to choose when they give birth. And what is the basis of Ryan, Romney, Akin, and the rest of the Republicans’ pro-life stance? It is based entirely on the Christian bible and not fiscal conservatism.

If any woman in America has not yet figured out that Republicans, all Republicans, hold them in contempt and believe their place is on the birthing table, then they better take a better look at more than just Todd Akin.

Related articles

• Paul Ryan pretends he doesn’t agree with every ‘outrageous’ thing Todd Akin said (dailykos.com)
• Reps. Todd Akin And Paul Ryan Co-Sponsored Bill Using Term “Forcible Rape” (alan.com)
• Do You Get It? (talkingpointsmemo.com)
• Parker: Todd Akin’s words about rape aren’t the problem (newsday.com)
• Akin Intimates That Women Fake Rape to Get Abortions (news.firedoglake.com)
• Eight staggering GOP comments on rape and women (salon.com)
• Ryan backed more than one ‘forcible rape’ abortion bill (firstread.nbcnews.com)
• Paul Ryan Is No Friend Of Women Who Were Raped (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Akin Concedes, No Illegitimate Rape, It’s Just That Women Lie About It (alan.com)
• Republican Todd Akin: Don’t Worry, You Won’t Get Pregnant From Rape (triing2survive.wordpress.com)

 

Musical Theatre Fans… Here’s the best political parody I’ve heard so far this year…

If you’re a Les Mis fan like me, you’ll love this piece, “One Term More”, based on “One Day More.”

Here are the lyrics if you want to sing along:

One Term More!
A time to celebrate democracy,
Repeal Republican hypocrisy.
This man who would unseat Barack’s
A bleak choice at the ballot box.
One Term More!
A G.O.P. perdition-bound,
All sense of right & wrong eroded.
One Term More!
With laws that let ‘em stand their ground,
Republicans are locked & loaded.

Contraception’s now a sin,
Screwing G.M. in the clutch.
Incivility’s a virtue,
Homophobic. Out of touch.
Filibusters. Budget scrums.
Ultrasounds & speculums.
To the Dark Side they’ve succumbed.

Soon Election Day will dawn,
We were meant to hold this seat!
At the ballot box of freedom,
Unemployment’s in retreat!
Now the battle lines are drawn,
And Detroit’s back on its feet!
Will you take your place with me!

The time is NOW the vote is NEAR!
One Term More!
One more day to re-election,
And until the music stops,
We will fight to save the jobs of
Teachers, firemen & cops!
One Term More!
One more day to resolution,
We’ll defeat those fetid nuts,
We are fed up with pernicious
Talk of prostitutes & sluts!

Watch ‘em throwing up,
Minting malcontent,
Drinkin’ all that tea’s
Made them incontinent!

Dissembling persists,
Divisiveness prevails,
Calling colleagues Communists
Is OFF the rails!

Listen to them spew,
“Femi-Nazi” rage,
Misogynistic rants
From the Jurassic Age!

To Obama’s second inning,
He’ll drive home another run!
Norma Rae let sisters sing,
Rosa Parks let freedom ring!
For Obama’s just beginning,
Yes! The West Wing WILL be won!

AND we’ll get the Dream Act DONE!

My place is here, I vote with you!
One Term More!
Emboldened by Star-Spangled myth,
We want a JEDI…NOT a SITH!!!

Petty partisan obstruction’s
Why we’ve gridlock on the Hill!
One Term More!
Healthcare is a right,
Medicare’s a must,
Don’t let rogue Republicans
Betray that trust!

Speaking of betrayal,
Bullied by his peers,
Tackled to the ground,
Screams turned into tears.

Hunting down the queer,
Cutting off his hair,
SPIKED the ball, yet… “Can’t
Recall” if he was there???

It’s his character we question!

Mom, apple pie & Chevrolet,
Don’t let ‘em down Election Day!

That’s when we will determine
What our God in Heaven has in store!

ONE MORE TERM!

OTRA VEZ!
(One More Time!)

ONE TERM MORE!!!

 

Related articles

• STAGE TUBE: LES MIS Gets Political Parody with ‘One Term More!’ (broadwayworld.com)
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Would Sally Ride have eaten at Chick-fil-A?

 

The revelation at her death that Sally Ride, an American Hero, was also a Lesbian who had a 27 year relationship with a female partner, brings me back to the anti-gay marriage statements by Dan Cathy, President of that detestable fast food empire.

It is time to re-think ALL our values…EVERYBODY… because this is the 21st Century and we should no longer be tied down by religious or ultra-conservative regulations and ignorance.

Here’s a view of what the radical right thinks and how those thoughts are defined:

Can we now realize that there are great people and ordinary people and all kinds of people who are gay or straight and they all have the right to live equal lives!

Related articles

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• Boston Mayor: Anti-Gay Chick-fil-A Not Welcome in This City (newstalkcleveland.com)
• The Jim Henson Company Cuts Ties With Chick-Fil-A Due To Their Flagrant Homophobia (pinkisthenewblog.com)
• Will Chick-fil-A Pay a Price for Its Anti-Gay Marriage Stance? (dailyfinance.com)
• Is Chick-fil-A Anti-Gay? ‘Guilty As Charged’ Says Its President (patheos.com)
• Boston Mayor: Chick-fil-A, Move Along (towleroad.com)

 

AFA News Director Says Liberal Churches, Media Share Responsibility for Colorado Shooting

From Right Wing Watch:

Fred Jackson, American Family Association

Fred Jackson, the American Family Association’s news director, while discussing the Colorado movie theater shooting today said that liberal Christian churches and liberal media helped contribute to violent incidents by supposedly deemphasizing the fear of God and the Bible.

During AFA Today, Jackson had on as his guest Jerry Newcombe of Truth in Action Ministries to discuss his column on the AFA’s OneNewsNow blaming the shooting on a waning fear of God and Hell, and blamed the American Civil Liberties Union for destroying the public school system by supposedly forbidding students from reading the Bible. “You wonder why all these terrible things are happening to us when there is no fear of God,” Newcombe said.

Jackson maintained that unlike in the communities of forty years ago, liberals in the media and churches, along with movies and the internet, have “have come together to give us these kinds of incidents.”

Later in the program, Jackson and co-host Teddy James of AFA Journal said the shooting is a sign of God’s judgment for the failings of the public education system and liberal, mainline Protestant churches that affirm gays and lesbians.

Maybe you understand why I have so little respect for right wing Christianity. What mystifies me is that there are people who believe this bullshit.

Related articles

• Evangelical radio host: ‘Tax the atheists who don’t go to church’ (rawstory.com)
• Lawrence O’Donnell Pokes Fun at AFA’s Buster Wilson for Mulling Google Boycott (rightwingwatch.org)
• A prayerful response to the Colorado shootings (prayerfullivingnewsblog.wordpress.com)
• AFA Blames Gays For Penn States’ Coverup Of Sandusky Crimes (lezgetreal.com)
• AFA Wants To Boycott Google. Good Luck With That, Fellas! (queerty.com)

Why I will never eat at Chick-fil-A…

 

Because of it’s management’s consistent push of fundamentalist Christianity upon it’s customers, whether they are Jews, or Buddhists, or Muslims, or atheists like me, I have stayed as far away from Chick-fil-A as I could. If I were starving I would still avoid it. Restaurants should be concerned with making food and not making converts.

Recently, the President of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy,  came out as radically anti-gay… from opposition to gay marriage as well as opposition to gay employees. Does McDonalds do this? Burger King? Boston Market? Well, no.

Let me recommend that you avoid these guys, too. If you really feel a need to eat at the Rush Limbaugh of fast foods, just think about how every buck you spend there is supporting an ignorant society.

Related articles

• Chick-Fil-A Faces Gay Marriage Backlash on Twitter, Facebook (mashable.com)
• Chick-fil-a Faces Fury Over Gay Marriage Stance (judgementofamerica.wordpress.com)
• Is Chick-fil-A Anti-Gay? ‘Guilty As Charged’ Says Its President (patheos.com)
• Chick-fil-A goes public with opposition to gay marriage (marketday.msnbc.msn.com)
• Mayor Menino on Chick-fil-A: Stuff it (bostonherald.com)
• The President Of Chick-Fil-A Thinks Gay Marriage Is Inviting God’s Judgment (buzzfeed.com)
• Chick-Fil-A’s anti-gay stance sparks online outrage (with poll) (vancouversun.com)
• The Left’s War On Chick-Fil-A (VIDEO) (radio.foxnews.com)
• Chick-Fil-A Admits To Supporting Hate Groups (queerlandia.com)

 

It’s hard to believe that Paul LePage is Governor of a State in America…

The other day, Gov. Paul LePage (R) of Maine said that the Internal Revenue Service was not far from the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police. Really said it. In public.

Perhaps he’s got a distorted sense of humor…how could anyone think he really believes what he said?

Then he attempted to clarify his comment, but added to the controversy instead. His quote:

“What I am trying to say is the Holocaust was a horrific crime against humanity and, frankly, I would never want to see that repeated. Maybe the IRS is not quite as bad — yet.”

A reporter asked LePage if the IRS was headed in that direction, and he said it was.

When asked if he thought the IRS was going to kill a lot of people like the Nazis, LePage said:

“Yeah.”

When do gubernatorial elections come up again in Maine? This guy has really got to go. In one small set of statements he has offended Americans, Maine voters and Jews everywhere…and he doesn’t even know it.

Related articles

• LePage tells Vt. reporter IRS is not as bad as the Gestapo – yet (bangordailynews.com)
• Maine Governor: IRS Is ‘Headed’ In The Direction Of Killing A Lot Of People (huffingtonpost.com)
• Maine Governor Paul LePage Acknowledges That It Is Possible the IRS Is Not Quite As Bad As the Nazi Secret Police at This Very Moment (nymag.com)
• Maine gov: IRS ‘headed’ in Gestapo’s path (content.usatoday.com)
• Maine Republican Gov. Paul LePage says the IRS is going to kill a lot of people – seriously (dailykos.com)
• An open letter to Governor Paul LePage: (thenewquakeragitator.wordpress.com)
• Maine Governor Calls Obamacare’s IRS Agents the “New Gestapo” (thegatewaypundit.com)
• Maine governor draws ire with new IRS ‘Gestapo’ comments (vancouverdesi.com)
• Maine gov calls IRS ‘new Gestapo’ in radio speech (sacbee.com)

Quote of the Day – Good Question

If we were made in God’s image, why aren’t we invisible?

– Mrs. Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian

I haven’t thought of this before… but it certainly has a solid assumption.

Quote by a Crazy Christian – His solution? Vote for Jesus!

Televangelist Bill Keller (said by some to be the most popular televangelist in America), is adamant that a vote for either Obama or Romney is a vote for Satan, resulting in condemning the voter to a life in Hell. Ordinarily, one could say to any American voter that this guy is completely insane. However, we don’t seem to be living in ordinary times.

Keller became an extreme, conservative Christian while serving a prison term as an insider trader in the stock market. Upon getting out, he went to Liberty University under the tutelage and right wing influence of the late Jerry Falwell. Like Falwell, he doesn’t separate religion from politics.

Here’s what Keller has stated on television about Obama and Romney:

“A Christian is faced with a difficult dilemma this November. It is literally Satan flipping a two-headed coin with his head on both sides. How can a Christian in good conscience vote for President Obama, who has proven to be the most pro-baby killing, pro-radical homosexual, pro-enemy of Israel President in our nation’s history.”

“On the other hand, how can a Christian in good conscience vote for Mitt Romney, a 5th generation member and priest of the Satanic Mormon cult. His Presidency would give his cult the mainstream acceptance they have always wanted since being founded 200 years ago by a documented con-artist, racist, pedophile, polygamist, and murderer named Joseph Smith. Conservative estimates are that Romney’s cult will add at least 1 million converts in the US alone. For a Christian, that means 1 million souls who will buy into a false Gospel and burn in hell for all eternity!”

Keller’s solution for his followers is a denial of government altogether – vote for Jesus:

“Jesus will never get elected, but if we can get a million people writing in the name ‘Jesus’, it is not only going to impact the election, it is going to make a statement that Christians aren’t going to just take whoever they are offered anymore.”

Here’s what I think: getting people to vote for Jesus makes them disown their identity as Americans. It also gives an advantage to Romney, since many Christian organizations are recognizing Mormons as Christians, despite what Bill Keller says, and a vote for Jesus would most likely to be a vote against our first black president.

Religion should not be part of our government and wasn’t intended to be by the Founding Fathers. Sarah Palin has raised the same issue… and she is just as wrong:

Frankly, I’d agree with John Adams before I’d consider the religious misdirection of Keller and Palin.

And you?

Related articles

• J.C. For President! (patheos.com)
• Keller: ‘Write in the Name of Jesus for President’ (secularnewsdaily.com)
• Liberty University Here We Come (godshammer.wordpress.com)
• Pat Robertson: Vote Romney because ‘you don’t have Jesus running’ (rawstory.com)
• Obama’s Gayloed & Romney’s Rewarded: Both Satanic to Evangelicals (bilerico.com)
• Christians should repent and vote for Ron Paul, says pastor (jeenyuscorner.com)
• Mormonvoices Explains Mormons Are Christians, Just Not Evangelicals (prweb.com)

So, according to John Boehner, voters need not love Mitt Romney:

From a longer article at Roll Call:

…at a June 30 fundraiser in Wheeling, W.Va., Speaker John Boehner offered a surprisingly frank assessment of the dynamic that surprised some in the audience.

Aside from Romney’s “friends, relatives and fellow Mormons,” Boehner said, most people will be motivated to vote for him in opposition to Obama.

The Ohio Republican made the remarks when an unidentified woman asked during a question-and-answer session: “Can you make me love Mitt Romney?”

“No,” Boehner said. “Listen, we’re just politicians. I wasn’t elected to play God. The American people probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney. I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama. 

So Republicans have a candidate they are not particularly fond of (and neither, for that matter are Democrats), but they are expected to vote for. One would think Boehner’s motivation in speaking for his party would be to get everyone to admire Romney and not stress that he appeals only to “friends, relatives and fellow Mormons.”

Combine that with what Bill Kristol said the other day and the puncturing of Romney’s lies about his business and gubernatorial background vis-a-vis job creation and cutting out unemployment (he succeeded at neither) and it’s not really clear if Republicans will work up the energy to come out to the polls.

Related articles

• Republicans pin blame for flat jobs report on Obama (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• John Boehner: Americans ‘Do Not Want To Vote For A Loser’ (huffingtonpost.com)
• Romney, Boehner Interrupted By Protesters (huffingtonpost.com)
• John Boehner Says He Hasn’t Talked to Mitt Romney (rollcall.com)
• Quote of the Day: Conservative Bill Kristol on Romney’s Campaign (themoderatevoice.com)
• Boehner pushes repeal, wants health law ‘ripped out by its roots’ (thehill.com)
• Romney and Boehner to campaign together in Ohio (firstread.msnbc.msn.com)
• Bill O’Reilly Mocks John Boehner On Health Care (goodolewoody.wordpress.com)

Choices, choices… the Religious Right or the Rights of Women?

Here’s what I base my choice on:

The Religious Right’s agenda is not about being good to each other, showing forgiveness, sharing prayer or believing that all men are created equal. It’s about being utter idiots.

Cartoon(s) of the Week – Do the Republicans keep us focused on their issues?..

M. Wuerker in Politico:

Who knew the Koch Brothers were so dominating?… Oh, we did!

– and –

Jim Morin in the Miami Herald:

… and who knew Republicans would limit their concern for life to pre-birth?… Hey wait, we did!

– and –

Lee Judge in the Kansas City Star:

… and who knew that voters could be manipulated to fear certain issues?… Gee, we did!

– and –

Clay Bennett in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

… and did you know that Obama is objected to by the stupid?… We certainly did!

– and –

Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune:

Fortunately, we have the Republicans’ view of History.

 

Related articles

• Politico’s Matt Wuerker on His Pulitzer-Winning Cartoons (washingtonian.com)
• Editorial Cartoons Are Stale, Simplistic, and Just Not Funny (slate.com)

Is beard length a police department requirement or religious persecution?

An Orthodox Jew who was weeks away from becoming a New York City police officer says he has been kicked out of the police academy for refusing to trim his beard.

Former recruit Fishel Litzman of Monsey said he was fired on Friday after multiple confrontations with the department over the length of his beard.

“As an Orthodox Chasidic Jew it is absolutely forbidden in my religious beliefs to cut or trim my beard in any way.

“I am being disciplined only because I maintain my religious beliefs and observances.”

According to the NYPD, Litzman had been notified about the beard on two other occasions. Although he rocked the police tests with scores of 99, 100 and 96, he also got written up for minor mistakes like being in the locker room too early and forgetting his gym gear.

Isaac Abraham, an activist in Brooklyn’s Hasidic communities, said it was a shame that allowances couldn’t be made for Litzman’s beard. The NYPD’s chief spokesman insisted they made every attempt to accommodate Litzman.

Litzman’s lawyer, Nathan Lewin, is convinced it is religious discrimination:

“They knew from when he took the exam and applied that he would not trim his beard. He said from the outset it was a matter of religious observance. He never made a secret of it.”

Related articles

• Hasidic Jew fired from NYPD over beard length (news.yahoo.com)
• Hasidic Jew claims NYPD fired him over beard length (foxnews.com)
• Hasidic Jew fired from NYPD over beard length (wtvm.com)
• Hasidic Jew fired from NYPD over beard length (kansascity.com)
• Hasid Fired From NYPD For Not Cutting Beard (alan.com)
• NYPD fires Orthodox Jew over beard length (timesofisrael.com)

Can we Pleeeez keep the damned Church away from the State?

David Barton, is a Republican Party activist, pentecostal preacher and fast-talking, self-promoting, self-taught, self-proclaimed historian who is miseducating millions of Americans about U.S. history and the Constitution.

Barton has been profitably peddling a distorted “Christian nation” version of American history to conservative religious audiences for the past two decades. His books and videos denouncing church-state separation have been repeatedly debunked by respected historians, but that hasn’t kept Barton from becoming a folk hero for many in the Religious Right. His eagerness to help elect Republicans has won him gratitude and support from national as well as state and local GOP leaders. Former senator Sam Brownback, now the governor of Kansas, has said that Barton’s research

“provides the philosophical underpinning for a lot of the Republican effort in the country today – bringing God back into the public square.”

David Barton seems to have discovered the scientific principle of testing your theories. He has actually developed a thesis and he says he could go a lot of places with it. I’m sure you can imagine most of those places he is going.

Here, see what you think about Barton’s new thesis:

Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a study between those that are on welfare and see how much and how often they read the Bible. You know, if Booker T. Washington is right that Christianity and reading the Bible increases your desires and therefore your ability for hard work; if we take that as an axiom, does that mean that the people who are getting government assistance spend nearly no time in the Bible, therefore have no desire, and therefore no ability for hard work? I could go a lot of places with this. I would love to see this proven out in some kind of sociological study, but it makes perfect sense

So you welfare collectors would all be successful workers if you only read the Bible! I bet folks like me who get Social Security (for which we worked our whole careers contributing to) but don’t read the Bible are on the same social bottom.

Think about how much more successful a Mitt Romney is, since he has The Book Of Mormon as well as the Bible.

 

Related articles

• The Tendentious David Barton (scottpaeth.typepad.com)
• Conservative Preacher Says People Are On Welfare Because They Don’t Read The Bible (alan.com)
• Why the Man Who Wrote ‘The Jefferson Lies’ Is A Right-Wing Liar Who’s Enabled By The Media (crooksandliars.com)
• David Barton’s version of ‘verbatim’ (maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com)
• David Barton Lies Shamelessly on the Daily Show (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• David Barton’s Jefferson — Sightings (Martin Marty) (bobcornwall.com)
• Taking a look at “The Jefferson Lies” (viewfrommiddleclass.wordpress.com)

A frightening story from the Religious Right:

Thank you to WarIsACrime.org for making us aware of this. Part of the article as follows:

How Christian fundamentalists plan to teach genocide to schoolchildren

By davidswanson

The story of Saul and the Amalekites has been used to justify genocide throughout the ages. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

The Bible has thousands of passages that may serve as the basis for instruction and inspiration. Not all of them are appropriate in all circumstances.

The story of Saul and the Amalekites is a case in point. It’s not a pretty story, and it is often used by people who don’t intend to do pretty things. In the book of 1 Samuel (15:3), God said to Saul:

“Now go, attack the Amalekites, and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”

Saul dutifully exterminated the women, the children, the babies and all of the men – but then he spared the king. He also saved some of the tastier looking calves and lambs. God was furious with him for his failure to finish the job.

The story of the Amalekites has been used to justify genocide throughout the ages. According to Pennsylvania State University Professor Philip Jenkins, a contributing editor for the American Conservative, the Puritans used this passage when they wanted to get rid of the Native American tribes. Catholics used it against Protestants, Protestants against Catholics. “In Rwanda in 1994, Hutu preachers invoked King Saul‘s memory to justify the total slaughter of their Tutsi neighbors,” writes Jenkins in his 2011 book, Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can’t Ignore the Bible’s Violent Verses (HarperCollins).

This fall, more than 100,000 American public school children, ranging in age from four to 12, are scheduled to receive instruction in the lessons of Saul and the Amalekites in the comfort of their own public school classrooms. The instruction, which features in the second week of a weekly “Bible study” course, will come from the Good News Club, an after-school program sponsored by a group called the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). The aim of the CEF is to convert young children to a fundamentalist form of the Christian faith and recruit their peers to the club.

(read the rest HERE.)

—

And yet, we can look at Muslims and see them responsible for acts like those in Syria and other places where women and children are killed… or look at the same kind of crimes in Guatemala a couple of years ago (The report on Dos Erres by This American Life comes to mind) and you’ll see what is almost an acceptance by the US Government (unless we are doing something that is invisible.)

Religion… the danger of extreme belief,,, rises to confront the world on a regular basis. Will we allow such a rise in our schools?

Related articles

• Are Christian Fundamentalists Teaching Genocide in Our Schools? (alternet.org)
• Christian fundamentalist “Good News Club” promotes genocide of nonbelievers in public schools (secularnewsdaily.com)
• [Update] How Christian fundamentalists plan to teach genocide to schoolchildren – Katherine Stewart – The Guardian (richarddawkins.net)
• Compassion Or The Cold Steel: A Case Study Of Old Testament Violence (bburleson.wordpress.com)