Man Bites Dog or Christians help Atheist

It's the old man bites dog thing all over again, this bunch of Christians helping an atheist.  Who would think such a thing could happen?  Especially in Texas?

The irony is that a headline like "Texas Christians Raise Money To Pay Medical Bills for Atheist Protestor Patrick Greene," should be so commonplace that it wouldn't raise an eyebrow.  Isn't that the kind of things Christians are supposed to do routinely and without question.  Didn't their Jesus of the Gospels say "Love your enemies"? 

The reality is that such a headline is newsworthy because Christians are usually spewing hatred and bile at those they see a threat to their faith and their god.  I read a lot of Christian Right material and I'm constantly amazed at the vile rhetoric and the lying that is commonplace.

The storyline here is that Patrick Greene from Henderson County, Texas, may go blind in one eye because of a detached retina.  He had to retire and is looking at a huge pile of medical bills.  Greene is also an active atheist and has tried to have religious symbols barred from government property - one in particular being a nativity scene.  At one point he filed suit to achieve his goals but had to drop the suit due to his lack of finances. 

Some Christians heard about his condition and wrote Greene a check for $400 to help with his living expenses. 

These Christians said they did it because that's what "real" Christians are supposed to do. 

They are right but sadly, they are a minority amongst the Christian tribe!

Rachel Maddow takes on Willard "Mitt" Romney for his lying!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Santorum, the scumbag!

"Saintly" Santorum is reaching deeper into the depths of his depravity!  He is truly a scumbag in the same mold as the worst scumbags in history!

This horrendous video is the first of an 8-part miniseries - Santorum's desperate attempt to frighten Americans living in smaller communities in the heartland.

It is common knowledge that the vilest people on earth often wrap themselves in religious clothing.  Santorum, who claims to be an upstanding Roman Catholic, provides an appropriate example.   He has proven in this video that he has no morals, no ethical values, no concern for the truth.  He will do literally anything to get elected.  Nothing is beneath him.  He has sunk into the slime.  He is indeed a scumbag!

Pat Robertson's Jesus gonna get you!

I can't imagine anyone taking Pat Robertson seriously.  The man is a complete dolt and one of the nastiest christianists of all time.  Every time tragedy strikes, anywhere in the world, Robertson weighs in with some comment about it being his pissant little god's punishment for "sin."  9/11, said Robertson, occurred because there were too many gay people in the U.S.  Robertson's god can't abide "gayness." Being gay is sinful.

The big tragedy now, in the mind of this mental midget, is that poor Tim Tebow, Jesus' ambassador to the NFL and possibly the universe, got traded to the New York Jets.  Robertson thinks this is a terrible travesty because Tebow, the Jesus freak, did the Broncos so much good this past season and through Tebow, all the players in the NFL might become born-again!

Robertson, of course, has a right to his opinion even if he is a crazy old fool who believes he knows the mind of the deity.  But why would anyone care about his opinion?  Are there people who still watch the 700 Club and think this dodo has anything worth saying at all?

The worst of it is that Robertson's opinion involves his god punishing the Denver Broncos by injuring Peyton Manning.  If Manning got injured, opines the christianist kook, it would serve the Broncos right!  

Robertson's god is filled with hatred and revenge.  Robertson's god is a vicious, easily-offended god; a god who continually demands obeisance and sacrifice!  What's sad is Robertson's god does not even exist; the deity is merely a creation of his fevered mind.

I don't give a rat's ass about professional football, but at this point I'd say, "Long live Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos!"

The Republicans - how far they have sunk

In 1960, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona where the Goldwater family ruled.  The Republican Party contained a number of crazy fools then, too.  In fact, many of us thought Barry Goldwater, who is now credited with the birth of conservatism in the Republican Party, was the craziest fool of all.  He was a loose cannon.  People drove about in Arizona with bumper stickers that said, "Goldwater, my [picture of a donkey]".

And no one around in those days will forget his resounding cry that "...extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."  That simply clarified for most of us that Goldwater was dangerous and might very well start a nuclear holocaust with his simplistic view that we could use nuclear weapons to defeat our enemies in the same way as we had used conventional weapons.



But once in awhile, this rich, Republican, Jewish, Episcopalian heir to the Goldwater fortune said some things that made sense.  Like this:

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem.  Frankly, these people frighten me.  Politics and governing demand compromise.  But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise.  I know, I've tried to deal with them."

Mr. Goldwater's fears were well-founded. 

h/t to my friend Art Woodstone for the above quote and the inspiration for this post.

Science vs. Religion

Science flies us to the moon.

Religion flies us into buildings.

-- Victor J. Stenger in his new book, "God and the Folly of Faith"

Name calling, Amy Tan and the truth about women

[Image of Amy Tan from Wikipedia]

The famous writer, Amy Tan, pissed off as hell, resorted to calling the current crop of GOP candidates unsavory names, such as Rigid Sanctimonious, Nude Gingrich and Mutt Raunchy.

This display of ire had the effect of pissing off certain right-wing bloggers who thought Ms. Tan had gone off the deep end.  I mean, really, her names didn't make sense.  Romney isn't "raunchy"!  Is he?  And Gingrich isn't "nude"!  Is he?  Ms. Tan was just plain rude.

Actually, Ms. Tan, in my opinion, was fully justified in calling the moronic GOP candidates names.  In fact, I think she has exercised great restraint.  I would have called them much worse.  In fact, I have called them much worse.  They deserve to be called much worse!

Ms. Tan has defended her verbal assaults on her Facebook page.  This is what she said, in part:

"To those who criticize my perversion of the GOP candidates' names, please know that name-calling is not my usual standard of response.  Nor do I normally use expletives.  But I make exceptions.  Never in my lifetime have I seen such a line-up of candidates who want to pervert the lives of women, who want to f**k them over every which way they can think of.  These perverts are men, and variously they are telling us that single women should not have sex, should not use contraceptives, should consider a baby conceived from a rape to be a blessing, and to leave all matters concerning the uterus to them."

Ms. Tan then notes that the GOP candidates, like all of the Republican right "vote down the line on personal moral beliefs," but are out of touch with the real world.  She mentions she's the daughter of a Baptist minister and knows "how intractable religious beliefs are supposed to be, how by faith, you must carry those beliefs into the world, into all walks of life, without compromise, without listening to any other opinions."

But that doesn't mean it's right nor justified.  Obviously, religious beliefs are often the cause of evil, the source of nastiness and not a means of grace!  And that's why Ms. Tan concludes her diatribe thusly:

"To these GOP candidates who want to rule government by the divine guidance of their cocks, study the pages of history on the Inquisition and the Holocaust, and keep your hands off me, my nieces, my sisters, my women friends, their daughters and their daughters to come."


The Republican Party, which is, by and large, led and fed by fundamentalist christianists of both Protestant and Catholic stripes, has turned into a quasi-fascist ultra right party that would strip human rights out of the Constitution in favor of biblical mandates posited by ignorant desert-dwellers thousands of years ago.

The Republican Party, parroting the biblical notions of patriarchy, strives to put women in their "place," which invariably means "barefoot, pregnant and home."

The Republican Party thinks it can win an election in 2012 without the women's vote.

But there are cracks in the party's facade.  Richard Hanna, a Republican congressman from New York, fed up with the kooks now leading his party, had some words of advice for women.  These are "precarious times" for women, said Congressman Hanna.  Women need to look out for themselves, protect themselves.  In fact, said the congressman, women should give their money, not to the Republican Party or the GOP candidates, but to those who would best look after their interests, to those who speak for women, i.e. the Democrats.

That may not be much, but Mr. Hanna does provide a ray of light, a slender reed of hope.  Maybe our slide down the slippery slope of Republican depravity can be derailed?

Trayvon Martin RIP

Trayvon Martin was just 17 years old.  He was walking home on a sidewalk carrying a bag of candy.  

George Zimmerman, a gun-toting, self-appointed vigilante spotted Trayvon, suspected he was a "suspicious" character and made his suspicions known to the local police in Sanford, Florida.  The police dispatcher essentially told him to stand down, a directive that Zimmerman ignored.

Zimmerman chased, shot and killed Trayvon.

Florida has a law passed in 2005 under the reign of Jeb Bush called the "Stand Your Ground" law.  It says that if you are in your abode and are threatened with bodily harm, you may stand your ground and take whatever action is necessary.  In other words, you can shoot to kill without fearing any legal consequences. 

Seventeen states have such a law, thanks to the intensive lobbying efforts of the National Rifle Association.

Mr. Zimmerman was not in his abode.  He actively sought a confrontation.  It appears he shot and killed Trayvon in cold blood.

But some people think Zimmerman should be applauded; that he took a step toward eradicating a possible crime; that he did his duty as any upstanding citizen should do.

The FBI is investigating.


What follows is an essay written by my friend, Art Woodstone. 

How to rid the world of your favorite slimeball

First, you have to move to Florida and get him to move, too.  [Actually, you and he could move to one of 16 other states, including Illinois].  Secondly, you start an argument:  You tell him you hate him because he beats his kids, cheats on his wife, hates everybody who isn't white and talks trash at pickle ball.  It doesn't matter that none of this is true because you viscerally hate him just the same.

Three, you begin to shout and move toward him in a menacing manner.  If he has any kind of brain (maybe that's why you hate because you don't), he'll retreat.  When he's 15 feet away, you shout his name.  As he turns hesitantly in your direction, (step four) you pull your .45 and shoot him in the face!

Five.  When the cops arrive (after you called them), you claim you fired in self-defense, that he was threatening you.

Voila!  Your enemy is dead and you are home free!  What's even better, Americans across the country proclaim you to be a hero!

Romney, Santorum, Palin, Gingrich and other creatures of the night

Rick Santorum, the papal sycophant and posturing pinhead, landed in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Some folks gathered around. Santorum, the comedian among the Repugnican candidates for prezident, said: "It's good to be in the hometown of Rush Limbaugh, which some people see as a trip to Mecca."

In one swell foop, Santorum proceeded to insult all the world's Muslim community, and decent people everywhere!


In the arid state of Arizona where hardly a breath of sense can be felt, House Bill 2625 would allow employers to ask women in their employ for proof of medical prescription if they intend to use contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment. If, as one woman put it, you plan to use contraceptives for "slutty fuck-making," you could get fired!


When they say their opposition to Obama isn't about race, you can bet it's all about race. White privileged males and frightened little white women like Sarah Palin just can't abide the idea that a black man can be so much more intelligent and righteous than they are!

Racism appears in many forms: a Congressman from the deep south yelling out "You lie!" as the president is speaking to the gathered representatives; various emails sent out depicting the president as an ape, or worse; and now, a new bumper sticker just in time for election season which reads: "Don't Re-Nig in 2012."

The assholes just never give up!


The Texas governor and his Repugnican cohorts in the legislature have once again lived up to their reputation as complete wingnuts with not an ounce of common sense among them. Governor Perry, who just loves Jesus, has gone ahead with a new law that removes Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid Women's Health Program.

This is a problem for federal law does not allow discrimination against qualified family planning providers. So the feds pulled the plug and Texas loses the whole program "which provides cancer screenings, contraceptives and basic health care to 130,000 low-income women each year."

Ninety percent of the program's $40 million budget comes from the feds. Wait a minute! Isn't Perry opposed to federal grants? Doesn't Perry hate the federal government? Isn't Perry the one who spoke of Texas seceding from the Union?

What a reprehensible moron he is. He might love Jesus but he really hates people.


A new study out of Harvard University indicates that any amount of red meat can kill you sooner than you'd die normally. Doesn't bother me 'cause I haven't eaten red meat in years. And we can all think of examples which belie the study. Still, makes you think.


The problem George Romney has and will continue to have and will probably ultimately not be able to surmount even if he wins the Repugnican nomination is his Mormonism. Mormonism is so stupid, so idiotic, so unhistorical, so ridiculous, so racist, so irrational and so unChristian, that the Christianist fundamentalists will never be able to vote for him. Oh, wait a minute, I just described Christianist fundamentalism!


Here's an example of the above: An African-American pastor connected to the Santorum campaign has demanded that Romney "renounce his racist Mormon religion."


Cliff Stearns, a representative to Congress from Florida, has joined the so-called "birther" movement. Stearns is just another Repugnican creep who, beholden to the rich and powerful, votes always in the interests of those who pay his way. But he must be getting worried.   In central Florida, ignorance and dumbness hold sway, so now he's pandering to those people, too.


There is a new perfume on the market. Well, not really "on the market," but it's been produced for Pope Benedict XVI by Silvana Casoli. It's not to be sold but is only for the pope. Word is it stinks like incense. Nah, I just made that up. It probably smells more like Vatican Chanel No. 5.


Have you heard about the fellow who is claiming he's getting emails from dead people? It's possible, I guess. A lot of the political emails I get come from the brain-dead!


Willard Romney (Mitt) has stated publicly on a number of occasions that if he's elected prezident, he'll get rid of Planned Parenthood. Supposedly, the Repugnican opposition to Planned Parenthood is based on the fact that PP carries out so many abortions. But that's not it. Only 6% of the Planned Parenthood's work has to do with abortion. What Romney and Santorum and other right-wing religious kooks are working toward is the criminalization of contraception and consensual sex not for reproductive purposes. The abortion thing is a scam. Welcome to the Dark Ages!

Romney is also so damn dumb he doesn't know that a president doesn't have the power to get rid of Planned Parenthood!


Then there's Sarah Palin.  Sarah is convinced it is God's will that she become prezident. Lest you think that Palin has given up this conviction or her desire to take over the world for Jesus, you must remember that a few years ago in a Pentecostal church in Alaska, Palin was anointed and by the laying on of hands was deemed to be God's candidate for the presidency of the United States. This is all part of the new Pentecostal movement that is working hard to claim all of life for their particular deity.

So, Palin is looking for a brokered convention in which the delegates, filled with the Holy Spirit, will rise as one, proclaim their adoration, and adopt Sarah as their holy candidate, the only one capable to battling the evil that threatens to envelope the planet!


Santorum, meanwhile, is really upset about pornography. Someone needs to check his computer! It has been found that most times when people get crazy about pornography, they're the ones who have a problem.

Funny, though, it's the people in the red states (the conservatives) who seem to have the biggest love for pornography. Statistics indicate they view it and use it more than the "lib'ruls" in the blue states.

And when is Santorum going to tell us how he plans to create jobs? What's he going to do about health care other than to make it easier for insurance companies to gouge us?  We know he hates public education so that he plans to excise. And fornicators and gay folks or anyone who just enjoys screwing are going to pay a price!


All Repugnicans aren't ignorant. But most are. Three Repugnican candidates running for the Missouri state senate were asked what the federal minimum wage was. None of them knew. It is $7.25/hour.


I like what Joan Walsh said: The GOP stands for the Gas and Oil Party!


Teapot crackpots in our state legislatures have passed 135 bills restricting women's reproductive rights. The have passed ZERO bills to create jobs.


The politicos in the great state of Tennessee have passed a "Monkey" bill. These products of home-schooling (well, what else could they be?) have decided that students and teachers should have the "right" to question the "theory" of evolution and posit the possibility that there's a mighty deity high up in the sky who created everything that exists in six days about 6,000 years ago.

The fact that almost everything in science is based on the reality of the evolutionary "theory," has somehow passed over the top of these dunderheads! Being ignorant, they do not know what the word, theory means in scientific lingo. And they haven't been able to find the word, "theory," anywhere in the Bible. So, obviously, every good Christianist dodo in Tennessee knows that the evolutionary theory is bad, bad, bad.


The criminal governor of Florida, Rick Scott, just signed a new bill which would allow for the random drug testing of state employees. This has to be unconstitutional on grounds of invasion of privacy, but until the courts so declare it, I think we ought to start with the guv hisself followed by all the dumbass Repugnicans who voted to make this assault against humanity a law!


And now for the grande finale!

It's about Mitt. Seems Mitt's director of communications screwed up! His name is Eric Fehrnstrom and he was engaged in an interview on CNN when he got asked the question as to whether Romney is going to have to veer too far to the right in order to beat out far-right nitwits like Santorum and the Grinch.

Nah, said Fehrnstrom. Old Mitt just has to "hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everthing changes. It's almost like an Etch-a-Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again."

What??? WHAT??? Say again!!!

Ol' Mitt's got no morals, no firm beliefs, no passion for the cause? Ol' Mitt will say anything to get elected? Everything Ol' Mitt says can be wiped away just like when you shake an Etch-a-Sketch?

Heh, heh! Talk about blowing it! Mr. Fehrnstrom has validated the fears of everyone, not just the far-right nutcases. Romney changes positions like a chameleon. His knee-deep hypocrisy is no longer in question. It is a fact.


If you wanted to put a contingent of Repugnican low-lifes on parade, just line up the current crop of candidates for the Repugnican nomination: Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, and Paul. You could include the ones that have already dropped out, like Perry and Cain, but that would be overkill.

This has got to be one of the weirdest races toward the White House in years!