Howard Dean is Doing What Dems Need: Shaking Things Up

via Atrios via TPM: ..."The Republican Party took weeks to finally admit that it was responsible for some of the most outrageous campaign flyers in the last election. The Washington Note was the first to post these -- and Howard Dean, on his blog, was one of the few politicians (then withdrawn from the race) to roundly attack these flyers that said Democrats would BAN the Bible and turn that respective state (Arkansas, West Virginia, Ohio, and several others) into bastions of homosexuality. And now Dean is being clobbered by his own party for asserting that the Republican Party is mostly Christian, mostly white, and mostly male?! ..read on"

Only in politics can you tell the truth and get hammered. Do I think he needs to be a bit more precise. Yes. Also, the more they attack what Dean says the less effect it will have. 24/7 is devoting segment after segment on Howard Dean. After awhile the producers will grow tired of it as well the people they are trying to influence, and the only entertained members will be the rabid fundamentalists.

God is Pro-Choice

via Seeing the Forest

If you believe in free will, God is pro-choice. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that suggests anything to the contrary. If you accept the concept of free will, then allowing individual choice is a requirement for allowing people to choose between Satan or God. Free will is at the crux of the abortion debate. Martin Luthur broke from the Catholic Church over the issue of free will in his essay, Concerning Christian Liberty. The Catholic Church rejected the idea that God's grace removes freedom from the human will at The Council of Trent. read on

The Fundamentalist Right: an oxymoron

We’ve learned a lot from this election. We’ve learned that Jerry Springer airs on PBS in Oklahoma. We learned that we should post signs on the side of the highway when you cross the Mason/Dixon line that say, 'Caution: Minds Narrow’. We learned that we must never forget that there is a large section of the country where the terms “cousins once removed” and “coitus interruptus” are pretty much the same thing. We learned that “compassionate conservatives” are most conservative with their compassion. We learned that the reason they call it America’s Heartland is because clearly the brain is not there. But mostly we have learned that if we’re not extra special very careful, America is going to hang itself with it's Bible Belt.
I know that for the next four years we’ll have to get used to seeing the clock set back on many of the advances we’ve made over the last century. These changes will be accompanied by odd ironies and logic that just don’t make sense to those of us who live outside of the faith-based community.
And come 2008 Americans will ask each other, “Are you better off now than you were 400 years ago?”
The fundamentalists want to eliminate sex education in the schools. Abstinence is the answer. Ever notice most of these folks who preach abstinence as a way to temper appetites are 75 pounds overweight? Go to Disneyland just to be sure.
Masturbation is a sin and will be outlawed. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Masturbation is “self abuse”. Masturbation is “abuse” and boxing is a sport. I personally only once suffered a knockout, but I was in training.
They don't want teenagers to have condoms, in that "Silence of the Lambskins" campaign they’re running. Then they still try to blame teen sex on rock and roll music. Teenagers have sex because they're horny and because of peer pressure. If you're going to peg teen sex on rock and roll, why don't we just blame incest on Country and Western?
Regarding a woman’s right to choose, everyone is entitled to their beliefs; this is America. My belief happens to be that life begins when you start minding your own fucking business. I have a theory that the religious right wants to haul all of the coat hangers out of the closet to make room for the gays they want to shove back in. Remember, class: "Sodomy is evil". Unless it's a Glow Stick up an Iraqi prisoner's ass, lighting the way for Freedom across the globe. Then it's a Toby Keith song.
And, finally, they refuse to believe in evolution. That part I can understand, actually. Because if you subscribe to the theory of evolution, well then, there's a tacit obligation to PARTICIPATE in evolution. For some people that's a little too much pressure. Many of the righteous can’t recognize that Faith is a way to avoid responsibility. It’s always the people with recessive genes who don't believe in evolution. “I believe in Creationism,” they’ll say. Really? I believe in critical thought. But then, my reading matter is a little more up to date than yours.

Mike Dugan-C&L

Dan Rather retires and the religious right takes its shots!

There can be many things said about Dan Rather, but this one was the most ridiculous we heard all day.

Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition appeared on "Hardball" with Marty Kaplan of the USC Annenberg School of Communications and took her shots at Dan.

Video

Andrea: "I don't think he likes Americans!"

Matthews: "Dan Rather doesn't like Americans?"

Andrea: 'I don't think so. I think he's a grumpy old guy."

Marty: "Andrea, you just made my point about the right wing as well as I could ever possibly make it."

Here are some of the 'values" of TVC:

"Right To Life We also believe the government has the power to take the lives of those who murder others ...

Pornography: Pornography is a progressive addiction that ruins the conscience of the person. Frequently, this person acts out his sexual fantasies by molesting children, raping girls, and committing other sexual crimes—including murder.

Discrimination And Tolerance: We are not tolerant of behaviors that destroy individuals, families, and our culture. Individuals may be free to pursue such behaviors as sodomy, but we will not and cannot tolerate these behaviors. They frequently lead to death.

Love And Hate: The Bible teaches us that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us.

Nutty, Nutty from The Poorman

There are two sides to every coins. There is yin; there is yang. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you kill Obi Wan, he becomes more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Such is the way of the universe, and, if you are feeling a little disheartened by Bush's re-election, try to take a more holistic view: for every gloomy you, there's a happy Bob Jones. The cosmic balance is restored.

November 3, 2004

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

The media tells us that you have received the largest number of popular votes of any president in America's history. Congratulations!

In your re-election, God has graciously granted America—though she doesn't deserve it—a reprieve from the agenda of of paganism. You have been given a mandate. We the people expect your voice to be like the clear and certain sound of a trumpet. Because you seek the Lord daily, we who know the Lord will follow that kind of voice eagerly.

Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you.

Had your opponent won, I would have still given thanks, because the Bible says I must (I Thessalonians 5:18). It would have been hard, but because the Lord lifts up whom He will and pulls down whom He will, I would have done it. It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years—a brief time only—to leave an imprint for righteousness up upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.

Christ said, If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my father honour (John 12:26).

The student body, faculty, and staff at Bob Jones University commit ourselves to pray for you—that you would do right and honoor the Savior. Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them. Conservative Americans would love to see one president who doesn't care whether he is liked, but cares infinitely that he does right.

Best wishes.

Sincerely your friend,

Bob Jones III
President

PS: A few moments ago I read this letter to the students in Chapel. They applauded loudly their approval.

When I told them that Tom Daschle was no longer the minority leader of the Senate, they cheered again.

On occasion, Christians have not agreed with things you said during your first term. Nonetheless, we could not be more thankful that God has given you four more years to serve Him in the White House, never taking off your Christian faith and laying it aside as a man takes off a jacket, but living, speaking, and making decisions as one who knows the Bible to be eternally true.

Bob Jones: not opposing interracial dating as a tool of the anti-Christ since August of 2000! (The Pope is still Satan, though. On some things, there can be no compromise.)

And I Say It Began In The Garden Of Eden...Our New Issue from Hullabaloo

This could be the one, folks, where we prove our bona fides to the red states:

A suburban American school board found itself in court Monday after it tried to placate Christian fundamentalist parents by placing a sticker on its science textbooks saying evolution was "a theory, not a fact."

Atlanta's Cobb County School Board, the second largest board in Georgia, added the sticker two years ago after a 2,300-strong petition attacked the presentation of "Darwinism unchallenged." Some parents wanted creationism -- the theory that God created humans as related in the Bible -- to be taught alongside evolution. The board says the stickers were motivated by a desire to establish a greater understanding of different viewpoints. "They improve the curriculum, while also promoting an attitude of tolerance for those with different religious beliefs," said Linwood Gunn, a lawyer for Cobb County schools.

The controversy began when the school board's textbook selection committee ordered $8 million worth of the science books in March 2002. Marjorie Rogers, a parent who does not believe in evolution, protested and petitioned the board to add a sticker and an insert setting out other explanations for the origins of life. "It is unconstitutional to teach only evolution," she said. "The school board must allow the teaching of both theories of origin."

Liberals bi-coastal elites once again show that they don't have proper respect for middle America by insisting that science and religion are two different subjects. Until we learn to stop condescending and quit showing this kind of contempt for heartland beliefs we will lose.

Again, I say this should be OUR issue. Let's run on a national pro-creationism ticket in 2006. Then maybe they will let us back into America. So what else is new? We are dealing with an absolutist culture that demands total capitulation or nothing. Compromise will not work and it certainly will not work on these "values" issues. (Indeed, I think it's part of what makes us look weak to some other factions who might be willing to vote for us.) This is the same old shit over and over and over again. We backed off on the death penalty, gun control, welfare, affirmative action and here we are with a new slate of issues about gays. Tomorrow it will be creationism. Until we realize that their condition is that we FULLY EMBRACE their cultural dominance in both word and deed, they will not be satisfied.

It is not enough that they be left alone to do what they choose. We must join them and do it thoroughly and with fervor. No amount of tweaking will work. Their real beef is psychological and tribal. Issues are fungible.

Colored Demos: How to explain SCOTUS nominations? (Or, an essay on the art of becoming brilliant)

alicublog: What to do on those rare occasions when Libertarians feel bad about someone else

No More Mister Nice Blog: So suspicious, some are even suspicious of their suspicion (or something like that)

The Moderate Voice: Sarah Palin says US law should be Bible-based

AverageBro: What? Us racist? No way, dude!!!

Opinions You Should Have: Computers to Stop Investing in Humanity. IBM Selectric rates people "a sure short."

There's a new NY Times/CBS poll on the teabaggers, and guess what? It only confirms what we've been saying all along. They are mostly white male conservative sore losers who hate the poor and hate President Obama. Which means of course that they dislike black people, and are staunch Birthers and climate-change deniers. And they fall in line with the GOP because they do not want a third party.

The NY Times gave 17 Tea Party people 34 minutes of free ad time by posting videos of each one of their complaints. Did the Times do that for the blogosphere when we first started to rise? Did they do it when there were major Iraq war and immigration reform protests? Nope.

Anyway, Digby has a full rundown on the poll, so read the whole post because it's awesome. I'll only quote her wrapup.

They say the don't like the GOP 54% to 43%. But 92% of them despise the Democrats.

--

There's nothing particularly surprising about the rest of them either. These people are nothing new. They have different iterations, but when you get right down to it they are, quite simply, the far right. They hate poor people (especially blacks) and they hate government that helps poor people (especially blacks.) They are deluded about taxes and spending and are paranoid about the government being infiltrated by "the other." They believe they are the only "true" Americans and alternate between insisting that their "traditional values" are best represented by the Bible or the Constitution, both of which they believe they are ordained by God to properly interpret. And they do not really believe in democracy which is really why they hate the government.

When they lose they stage a national hissy fit of epic proportions and persuade the Village (where they are perceived as the personification of the heartland of America) that they are something very important. Now that they have their very own TV and radio networks featuring crazed right wing demagogues 24/7, they are more successful on those terms than ever. But they are nothing new, nothing new at all. They are mostly a bunch of cranky, white men with money who are trying desperately to hang on to their privileges. Same as it ever was.

They are what we have called "Republicans" for at least the last 30 years.

Most of them get their information from FOX News because they don't read websites and only 6% believe George Bush had anything to do with the deficit. Oh, and only 20% of them have heard of Ron Paul and they just love Glenn Beck. Why the media is spending so much time trying to figure these people out is a mystery to me now. They are arch-conservative racist wingnuts who hate the government, but still want their Social Security and Medicare.

Poll after poll will say the same thing. When they lose they get angry. When they get angry they make f*&ked up signs and scream in town hall meetings about the Constitution.

UPDATE: Rick Perlstein writes an incredible historical comparison in the NY Times about the teabaggers of today and yesteryear.

Watching the rise of the Tea Party movement has been a frustration to me, and not just because it is ugly and seeks to traduce so many of the values I hold dear.

“I just don’t have time for anything,” a housewife told a news magazine in 1961. “I’m fighting Communism three nights a week.”

Even worse has been the overwhelming historical myopia. As the Times’s new poll numbers amply confirm — especially the ones establishing that the Tea Partiers are overwhelming Republican or right-of-Republican — they are the same angry, ill-informed, overwhelmingly white, crypto-corporate paranoiacs that accompany every ascendancy of liberalism within U.S. government.

Continue reading »

Bernard Avishai: Keep the Heat On

Eunomia: This conservative nails it

No More Mister Nice Blog: Birther, tenther, liar

Alternate Brain: Texas legislature votes to rewrite Bible. Hey, it's Texas! Meanwhile, there's plenty of real lunacy coming out of Arizona and Georgia...

Lawyers, Guns & Money: Out-crazying Nixon

Angry Bear: Thank you Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsjy

The Left Coaster: The Real Tea Partiers, and some perspective

ArmsControlWonk:: N. Korea: Deadly in a Snowball Fight

Open Left: Voter intimidation tactics still thrive in America

The Baseline Scenario: Is Tim Geithner paying attention to the global economy? (h/t Politics in the Zeros)

Citizen Energy: Who has Obama been talking to?

HOLY CRAP: Archbishop chides Blair...What Would Jesus Eat?...Inquiring minds...Breakfast with the Family...The Illuminati...Defending our Prophets against Whaleofascism...The evil of banality...Christians oppose bill aimed at child prostitution...Workaholic Pope... H-E-double hockey sticks...Atheists naughty and nice...Sodomy, American Style...