Few would argue the fact that Citizens United has been a major player in the Republican primary...and many if not most would concede that none of it has been healthy ...
As if you needed another reason to not vote Romney.
Celebrity business magnate Donald Trump endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, telling reporters he will not mount an independent campaign if ...
In a perfect world, the Republican contest to find a nominee to face Barack Obama would go on forever...or at least until August. You cannot attach a number to the ...
I suspect there are a ton of conservatives secretly agreeing with Begala and while it's too early in the game for Dems to get cocky, it's difficult to not smile ...
Quotes don't get much better than this one by Bob Dole.
"Why do people take such an instant dislike to me?" asked a perplexed Gingrich, to whom Dole bluntly ...
After the beating Gingrich took last night, it's hard to imagine under what scenario he can make a comeback. Florida is going to Romney and for Gingrich to regain the ...
There's a lot out there on the President's SOTU, so I'll keep my thoughts short and sweet.
The speech did what it had to do which was target liberals and independents ...
The highlights from last night's debate.
- Newt Gingrich can't wait to become president so he can revisit the early 60s and overthrow Castro in Cuba. War, baby, war.
- Santorum, who ...
It appears that the South Carolina verdict is forcing Romney to start taking Gingrich seriously.
“We’re not choosing a talk show host, we’re choosing a leader,” Romney said, saying that their ...
Mike Huckabee offers advice to Mitt Romney concerning his unreleased tax returns.
Let him [Romney] make this challenge: "I'll release my tax returns when Barack Obama releases his college transcripts and ...
Via Political Humor...
"Mitt Romney is coming under fire because even though he is a multimillionaire, he only paid 15 percent in taxes. That's not a tax, that's barely a tip." ...
Good line.
My guess is that after Romney fails to beat Obama in the general, Huntsman will be back in 2016. The most electable guy in the field and he could ...
I found this pretty funny...and accurate. It comes from a reader over at Balloon Juice.
So, let’s review. The contenders for the GOP nomination are
A vulture capitalist who believes that any ...
Lively little debate going on at one of last week's posts with Libertarianism put under the microscope.
ocLiberal:
I know I am in sketchy territory here, (start the indignant shouting now) but ...
In the contest to determine the winner of the Far-Right Politics gold medal, rack up a few more points for Newt Gingrich.
“I think an intelligent conservative wants the right federal ...
Via Political Humor...
"Congratulations to Mitt Romney. He won the New Hampshire primary last night. See, this is proof that even the multimillionaire son of a multimillionaire can beat the odds ...
Story 1:
North Korea punishing those who 'didn't display enough sadness over Kim Jong Il's death'
North Korean authorities are reportedly punishing citizens who did not display enough sadness over the death ...
In case you missed the story, Pope Benedict made headlines this week by doing what it is popes do best - putting the irrational fear of God into his followers.
The ...
Romney was asked whether questions dealing with distribution of wealth and power were a matter of jealousy or fairness.
You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class ...
In case you missed the story, Pope Benedict made headlines this week by doing what it is popes do best – putting the irrational fear of God into his followers.
The pope made some of his strongest comments against gay marriage in a new year address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican in which he touched on some economic and social issues facing the world today.
He told diplomats from nearly 180 countries that the education of children needed proper “settings” and that “pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman.”
“This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society. Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself,” he said.
Of all the things which could actually bring an end to human existence (e.g. nuclear war, global warming, a Rick Perry presidency), the Pope picks on same-sex marriage. It’s right out of a Rick Santorum stump speech. Scary stuff but how exactly would same-sex marriage end life as we know it?
Jimmy Kimmel to the rescue.
I find it pathetically ironic that one could always count on religion to spread a little more hate and bigotry around. How nice if religion truly was a place where tolerance and love found refuge, safe from a world where intolerance and hate is gaining ground. But, not so. As demonstrated by Pope Benedict’s words, religion has been and still is a major player in sowing the seeds of bigotry.
“I prayed and prayed and prayed. I’m a man of faith, I had to do a lot of praying for this one, more praying than I’d ever done before in my life. And when I finally realized that it was God saying that this is what I needed to do, I was like Moses. ‘You’ve got the wrong man, Lord. Are you sure?’” Cain told a crowd of over 100 people at the Young Republican National Federation…
Cain is probably telling the truth. What we’re not understanding, I think, is that Herman spells God, ‘K-O-C-H’…and there’s not one God in Cain’s world, there’s two.
If there is a just and loving God, Herman Cain will be the Republican presidential candidate next year because if there was ever a time when Americans needed a good laugh, it’s now.
Samuel “Joe The Plumber” Wurzelbacher formally announced his intention to run for the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, but when Political Correction caught up with him in April, Wurzelbacher sounded much more averse to the idea of pursuing higher office. “I pray to God I won’t,” he said. “I mean that very specifically.” Likening Washington, D.C. to some of his worst plumbing jobs, Wurzelbacher said, “I prayed to him, I said, ‘God, you know, I don’t want to run.’… Now, if God says, ‘Joe,’ you know, ‘I want you to do it,’ then I’ll do it, but I’ll do it because that’s what God, you know, that’s what prayer has led me to believe.”
I’ll venture a guess and say that religion has screwed up more people than it’s ever helped. Conservative politicians invoke the name of god in much the same way that magicians use the term ‘abracadabra’. Say the word and the naive become instantly mesmerized as magicianpolitician con-man pulls another fast one on his unsuspecting audience.
It seems that every second Republican running for public office is doing so at God’s calling. Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann have all stated they’re running because of voices chirping away in their heads. And Newt Gingrich, the poster boy of virtue and morality, when asked last year if he was seeking the presidency, had this to say:
“That will be up to God, and the American people.”
“…if God is willing to help Newt Gingrich become President of the United States, he either has a very twisted sense of humor or he’s completely lost his omnipotent mind.”
Since the Bible is filled with tales of mass murder and the slaughter of innocent men, women and children, I’m thinking that God is lacking anything resembling a sense of humor. So, I’m going with the part of him having lost his omnipotent mind.
As if you needed more reason to be wary of the right-wing’s obsession with religion and in particular presidential aspirants like Rick Perry.
An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus, is becoming more of a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.
The international “apostolic and prophetic” movement has been dubbed by its leading American architect, C. Peter Wagner, as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Although the movement is larger than the network organized by Wagner — and not all members describe themselves as part of Wagner’s NAR — the so-called apostles and prophets of the movement have identifiable ideology that separates them from other evangelicals.
Two ministries in the movement planned and orchestrated Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s recent prayer rally, where apostles and prophets from around the nation spoke or appeared onstage.
[...]
Thomas Muthee, the Kenyan pastor who anointed Sarah Palin at the Wasilla Assembly of God Church in 2005, while praying for Jesus to protect her from the spirit of witchcraft, is also part of this movement.
[...]
Tabachnick says the movement currently works with a variety of politicians and has a presence in all 50 states. It also has very strong opinions about the direction it wants the country to take. For the past several years, she says, the NAR has run a campaign to reclaim what it calls the “seven mountains of culture” from demonic influence. The “mountains” are arts and entertainment; business; family; government; media; religion; and education.
Do read the full article. It’s downright frightening.
Rachel Tabachnick is an expert on the religious right’s influence on politics. Here is how she describes the NAR.
“[Their issues are] anti-abortion, anti-gay rights — but they also have … the belief that government should not be involved in social safety nets, that the country is becoming socialist, if not communist … — all of what we’ve come to call ‘Tea Party issues’ of very small government. In the case of the apostles, they believe this because they believe that a large government that handles the safety net is taking away what is the domain of the church and of Christianity.”
Sounds to me like Tabachnick has just described a major part of the GOP platform. If Republicans take power next year, look for an assault on those “seven mountains of culture” unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. These people are determined to take Americans as far back into the Dark Ages as they possibly can.
Up to 150 students at a Missouri high school that ordered “Slaughterhouse-Five” pulled from its shelves can get a free copy of the novel, courtesy of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, library officials said on Thursday.
“All of these students will be eligible to vote and some may be protecting our country through military service in the next year or two,” Julia Whitehead, the executive director of the Vonnegut library in Indianapolis, said in a statement.
“It is shocking and unfortunate that those young adults and citizens would not be considered mature enough to handle the important topics raised by Kurt Vonnegut, a decorated war veteran. Everyone can learn something from his book.”
And why was the book banned?
The Republic School District took the move at its April 18 meeting following a complaint lodged by local resident Wesley Scroggins in the spring of 2010.
In his complaint, the Missouri State University associate business professor called on district officials to stop using textbooks and other materials “that create false conceptions of American history and government or that teach principles contrary to Biblical morality and truth.”
Here is the specific complaint he had regarding Slaughterhouse-Five. (You can read the full document he submitted to the Republic School District here. It’s quite a read.)
It contains very vulgar language throughout the book and covers topics such as sex outside of marriage and homosexuality. See pages 12?15 in the appendix for excerpts from the book.
Something is seriously wrong when religious zealots of this type are able to successfully force their individual thoughts on history and morality on to others in this manner. Scroggins also took issue with movies like “The Breakfast Club” and “Saving Private Ryan” being shown in schools because these films “have offensive (and violent) content that justifies the R rating.” He goes on to say…
Requiring children to be exposed to this content at school is immoral. It is an abomination to God to expose children to this material and this content will never be part of a moral education.
Depicting the true nature and consequences of war by way of films like “Saving Private Ryan” is an immoral act? His thoughts on sex education are even more bizarre.
A cursory review of 8th grade sex education materials indicate that children are being
exposed to immorality in this class. Materials such as “What Do You Know About HIV?”
and “HIV and AIDS? Facts For Young People” introduce children to concepts such as
homosexuality, bisexuality, oral and anal sex, and the use of condoms. See pages 28?29
for excerpts from the “HIV and AIDS? Facts For Young People” booklet.
Materials such as this introduce children to abominations (Lev. 18:22; 1 Cor. 6:9; Eph.
5:5; Gal. 5:19?21) according to God and equip them with the knowledge to have premarital
sex, which is also sinful (Matt. 15:19; 1 Cor. 6:18; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Cor. 5:9?11.
It would be fine if one could dismiss Scroggins as a lone wolf religious right-wing nutjob and nothing more. But you can’t. This garbage has infiltrated the Republican party at its highest levels. At least two of the Republican presidential candidates would feel right at home with this moralistic righteous bullshit…Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum. The desire to impose Christian dogma and morality onto the masses has gone beyond Pat Robertson spouting ignorance and hate to an audience of naive, simple-minded and frightened old people. You now have these people fighting hard to become president and you have them in state legislatures like Texas where banning textbooks and rewriting history is now the norm. You have them forming the base for the Tea Party movement which has found its way into Congress in a big way.
Science, history and intelligence are under siege by a small but powerful group of narrow-minded religious zealots. When they are able to get books like Slaughterhouse-Five banned from a high school’s curriculum, it might be time to wake up and do something about it. If not, Mr. Scroggins from Missouri might one day be sitting in the oval office in the form of a Michele Bachmann.
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