Obey all the laws of God

[Thanks to Atheist Cartoons]

I've seen this particular piece on several occasions and although there is an attribution for it, I'm not sure exactly where it originated.

Having said that, however, I thought it serves as a valid reminder of the fact that the Bible is filled with all kinds of nonsense and also of the fact that people who proudly claim to be "Bible believers" and insist the Bible is God's inerrant word for all time are delusionary.  

These fundamentalist Christians cherry-pick through the Bible just like all other professing Christians.  Passages they dislike or find discomfiting, they simply ignore.  

In our world, the Bible does not provide answers.  It confuses people and too often leads to hatred and the denigration of human beings for reasons unrelated to reality.  Sin is a religious concept.  It has no basis in fact.  How many Christians and Jews work on the Sabbath, which is expressly forbidden by God in his Word, the Bible?

The Sabbath prohibition against "work," for almost all people in the Hebrew and Christian traditions, is ignored because we understand that it is nonsense; to disobey the commandment is "sinful" only within a religious construct which we no longer accept and thus is of no value in our modern world.

Today, fundamentalist/evangelical Christians spend much time and energy railing against homosexuality and gay marriage, citing several Biblical passages.  It is strange, though, that they do not get exercised about all the other commands in the Bible which almost no one takes seriously today.

As you will see from the following:

* * * *

In her radio show, Dr Laura  Schlesinger said that, as an observant  Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination  according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot  be condoned under any circumstance.  The  following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura,  penned by a  US resident, which was posted on  the Internet.  It's funny, as well as  informative:


Dear Dr.  Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to  educate people regarding God's Law.  I  have learned a great deal from your show, and try  to share that knowledge with as many people as  I can.  When someone tries to defend the  homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply  remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it  to be an abomination ... End of  debate.

I do need some advice  from you, however, regarding some other elements of  God's Laws and how to follow  them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states  that I may possess slaves, both male and female,  provided they are purchased from neighboring  nations.  A friend of mine claims that this  applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians.     Can  you clarify?  Why can't I own  Canadians?
 
2. I would like to  sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in  Exodus 21:7.  In this day and age,  what do you think would be a fair price for  her?
 
3. I know that I am  allowed no contact with a woman while she is in  her period of Menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:  19-24.  The problem is how do I tell?  I  have tried asking, but most women take  offense.
 
4. When I burn a bull  on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates  a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9.  The  problem is my neighbors.  They claim the  odor is not pleasing to them.  Should I smite  them?
 
5. I have a neighbor who  insists on working on the Sabbath.   Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be  put to death.  Am I morally obligated to kill  him myself, or should I ask the police to do  it?
 
6. A friend of mine feels  that even though eating shellfish is an  abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than  homosexuality.  I don't agree.  Can you  settle this?  Are there 'degrees'  of abomination?
 
7. Lev.  21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of  God if I have a defect in my sight.  I have to  admit that I wear reading glasses.  Does my  vision have to be 20/20, or is there  some wiggle-room here?
 
8.  Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,  including the hair around their temples, even  though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.  19:27.  How should they  die?
 
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8  that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me  unclean, but may I still play football if I wear  gloves?
 
10. My uncle has a  farm.  He violates Lev.19:19  by planting two different crops in the same  field, as does his wife by  wearing garments made of two different kinds  of thread (cotton/polyester blend).  He also  tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.  Is it  really necessary that we go to all the trouble  of getting the whole town together to stone  them? Lev.24:10-16.  Couldn't we just burn  them to death at a private family affair, like we  do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.  20:14)
 
I know you have studied  these things extensively and thus enjoy  considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident  you can help.
 
Thank you  again for reminding us that God's word is eternal  and unchanging.
 
Your  adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D.  Professor Emeritus,  Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and  Special Education --  University  of  Virginia

P.S. (It would be a damn shame if we  couldn't own a Canadian  :)

 

Bill Maher gets it right: Liberty University is not a REAL school

Liberty University, founded by the notorious nogoodnik, Jerry Falwell, is NOT a real university, says Bill Maher.  Bill is absolutely right!  Liberty is the opposite of a real university.  In a real university, students are not spoon-fed religious/political crap but are given information and taught to think things through for themselves.  At Liberty, students are taught, not to think, but to believe!  Liberty is a propaganda machine!

And that's too bad, because if Liberty's diplomas are accepted as valid, that cheapens diplomas from real universities.  

Jane Lynch fills in for Rachel Maddow

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The evil that men do...in the name of righteousness...

...is almost beyond comprehension.  The Republican Party and its backers are now officially relegated to the sewers of political history!

GOP Super Pac planning dastardly attack on President Barack Obama!

Which leads the average person to wonder what can possibly be done to counter the avarice of these profiteers who have sunk to the bottom of the pond, lower than scum, to obtain their goals and increase their riches?

Please read this article from The New York Times.

European History in 3 1/2 Minutes

Bible-believing Christians, homosexuality and slavery

A fundamentalist christianist, in a recent  rant against homosexuals and Bible-believing Christians who maybe don't think homosexuality is such a big evil deal, wrote that, to God, sin is sin and must be punished, blah, blah, blah.

Furthermore, Bible-believing Christians must believe what God says in the Bible about homosexuality and homosexuals and homosexual behavior and to buttress his arguments, he quoted from both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

Certainly, one can find passages in the both of those mythical treatises which would imply that the Hebrew Yahweh and the later Christian version of Yahweh doth find homosexuals and their behavior a reason to get any deity worth his or her salt royally pissed.

And if one wishes to believe this nonsense, written by ancient persons who were wrapped in the ignorance of their times, that's fine.  Well, it's really not fine, for it leads to all kinds of hateful superstitions and religious superstitions usually lead to action that is despicable and ultimately lethal .  In fact, I've heard fundamentalist christianists pray to their god that he smite those who disbelieve with his mighty hand and send them to eternal hellfire for their comeuppance.

When push comes to shove for some of these folks, their god turns out to be just as blood-thirsty as the worst of other pagan gods!


My point, however, is this:  As a learned bishop (Lutheran) once told me, the Bible is a very dangerous book and every evil cause on the face of the earth has been defended on the basis of the Bible.  The attitude of many fundy christianists proves his point.

You can find justification for almost every one of your most cherished mythologies and traditions in the Bible if you look hard enough and have a creative enough mind to "accurately decipher" the scriptural language.

All Bible-believers, especially the fundies, pick and choose the passages they wish to "believe" and ignore whatever does not fit into their sadomasochistic theological schemes.  Thus, they seek out biblical passages to buttress their fundamentalist perversions.

But they ignore other commands/prohibitions of the deity because these are no longer considered of value in the current culture.  So, we don't hear anyone (that I know of) who pulls out the biblical exhortation to stone one's children to death for not obeying the Sabbath (which, my christianist friends should realize, is not the 1st day of the week but the 7th!).

Nor do present day fundies support slavery (well, maybe they do, but I haven't heard of any).  Yet, slavery was a valued institution in the legends of the Patriarchs and also in the 2nd century of the Common Era, and beyond.  It is said that the venerable Apostle Paul was a supporter of slavery as one might gather from the quotation posted above.

So, how does the christianist decide one biblical passage has validity for all time and another has used up its validity?

The phrase, "Bible-believing Christians," is an oxymoron.  A fundy, like every other person, believes only what he/she wants to believe.  And that's OK, because the Bible is so contradictory and filled with so much nonsense, that to do otherwise would drive one crazy.

Aha, there it is!

Deepak Chopra on why he will vote for President Obama

[Image from Oprah.com]

In a recent article for The Huffington Post, Deepak Chopra (with whom I have some serious religious differences) explains his belief that while Mitt Romney has "emerged from the contentious primary season in a damaged state," he may benefit from the trap in which President Obama finds himself.

The trap has to do with the lies of the Republicans who will say and do anything to bring Obama down.  Chopra spells out the situation this way:

"Acting as the only adult in the room should have gradually shaken some sense into his critics.  Obama doesn't name call of falsify the facts.  He exhibits tremendous intelligence, flexibility and a cool head in a crisis.  Most economists would say that his policies saved the economy from a meltdown, and at this point, even with a sluggish growth rate of 2.2% (still three times higher than the growth projected for Germany), the country has done better under Obama than it could possibly have under John McCain."

Chopra then lays out some major Republican lies which tend to resonate with frustrated and angry voters... such as -

* Obama's economic policies failed.  Not so.  The party of "no" effectively blocked almost all of his initiatives.

* TARP was a failure.  Not so.  Most of the TARP money has been paid back, and Detroit was brought back from the grave, etc.

* Obamacare is no good.  Not so.  What has already begun under Obamacare has been a huge blessing for millions of people and is very popular.

There's much more.  It's good stuff.  Read it all here.

Jon Stewart-The Daily Show and the Battle for the War on Women

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Don't every apologize, Jon, to those 16th-century Catholic ignoramuses!

Ruminations on Marriage, Gays, and God's Rules

This is a guest post by my good friend, Bob Poris.

I think the next amendment to the Constitution of the US and of each state should be a real defense of marriage. All divorce should be banned and adultery should be punished by stoning, (not the same as getting stoned). Then what God has joined together, no man or women can separate in any way. Then nothing gays can do will affect marriage. I would assume all religious people would like that as it follows what they tell us is God’s will.

Not being schooled in religious rules, I wonder if Adam and Eve were married and how they became parents? Did they formalize any rules given them by their Creator so that future generations could follow them? How did they know how to create a new life if both were alone in the world and both virgins? Since both derived from the same body originally, weren’t they related genetically? When did they determine what the rules were as to marriage, incest, procreation, sex and when did they learn which sexual practices were acceptable to God, the Father?

I was married almost three years when my wife became pregnant and I begged her not to tell her father as I did not think he would approve of us having sex. He was not only a tough guy, he was a prude. Imagine what went through Adam's and Eve’s minds when they did not have ministers and priests around monitoring their morals. Even if they had written rules, where did they keep stone tablets with the rules, as they had no pockets and fig leafs were pretty small and didn’t cover much.

Neither history nor the biblical book of Leviticus have much to say as to how all the rules were made and enforced starting with Adam and Eve. They did not have the arguments over contraception then, so that was not an issue.

I have lots of other questions but think it best to start at the simplest level first. In later years humans had to contend with clothing, pockets, sex as we know it now, but without pornography or portable pictures, all sorts of rules and laws in an age when brides were very young and abstinence was the rule.

If anyone out there is privy to these things I would appreciate them sharing their vast knowledge with me.

Thank you.

The Ten Commandments - The Basis of Our Laws and Morals

By Nonstampcollector

Prayer: What Does The Science Say?

Prayer: What Does The Science Say?

h/t to John Loftus at Debunking Christianity

The Book of Job

h/t to Dwindling In Unbelief

Mormons ain't Christians - Ev'rybody knows that! From the Daily Show

                       

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Mormon, Mo' Problems
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The GOP is made up of morons, and some Mormons.  A few self-described Republican "leaders" are pious Baptist preachers who live in a world unrelated to reality and who believe the most god-awful stuff (like the world was created in 6 days by a god up in the sky; a god who got really pissed at his creation in a very short time, so killed every living thing on earth in a vengeful moment (except for two of each kind, or was it seven of each kind?), and then a few thousand years later had his son born of a virgin after he impregnated her himself disguised as a holy spirit (which reeks of incest if you ask me) and then insists, like all ancient gods, that his son [who was also himself in disguise] had to be sacrificed to satisfy his blood lust and everyone must believe this or when they die this "loving" god will send to them to a hell where they will burn in eternal torment), yet have the gall to decry Mr. Romney's Mormonism, which is also full of god-awful and ridiculous beliefs!



More importantly, one wonders if these clowns have ever heard of the "no religious test for political office" clause in our Constitution?

I think Mormonism is idiotic.  I cannot understand how any rational human being can be a Mormon.  But then, I feel the same way about Roman Catholicism and fundamentalist religion of whatever stripe.

I dislike Romney intensely, believing him to be a liar and a fraud and without an ethical or moral base who will say and do anything to achieve the presidency.  But I don't give a damn about his religion so long as it does not impact the oath of office that the president takes to, above all else, uphold the Constitution of the United States!  

The religious kooks that appear in this video, including Billy Graham's son, are fanatics who would shove the Constitution under the bus in order to force their religious beliefs on the people of the United States.  That becomes very clear as they swish and sway and say that, while Mr. Romney is a Mormon, and thus not a Christian (which is really bad), Mr. Obama, being a lover of abortion, is a worse person than Romney.  Or,  as Mr. Stewart points out, "They hate Obama more than they love Jesus!"









                      

Oklahoma law would ban male masturbation - Jon Stewart Show

                       

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Jon Stewart discusses Palin on Today

                       

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Keep your religion out of my life!

[The following was borrowed from Dan Barker's new book, The Good Atheist.]

"More wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other cause.  More people have been persecuted, reputations ruined, and fortunes plundered and murders committed in the name of religion than any other enterprise.  And more everyday bigotry and prejudice is founded on what a person follows than any other factor ... Forget believing in God.  How about thinking for yourself on any subject!  Bottom line---I don't care what you believe, or what church you attend, or how religion-oriented your private life it.  Keep it out of my government.  Keep it out of my laws.  Keep it out of my bedroom.  And keep it out of the war rooms at the Pentagon!"

--Harvey Fierstein

Thank god we've evolved

Thanks to Atheist Cartoons.

Ten Signs You Are a Christian Fundie

[Disclaimer:  This was sent to me by a friend.  I do not know the name of the author.  I have made minor editorial adjustments.]

Here are the top ten signs you might be a Christian Fundamentalist:

10.  You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but become outraged when someone denies the existence of your god.

9.  You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from lesser life-forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim we were created from dirt.

8.  You laugh at polytheists, but have no problem believing in a trinitarian (three gods in one) god.

7.  Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how your G-d, Yahweh/Jehovah, slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua," including women and children, and even trees.

6.  You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and at Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that a "holy spirit" impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man/god who was soon crucified only to come back to life and ascend into the sky.

5.  You are willing to spend your life looking for small loop-holes in the scientifically-established age of the earth (4.55 billion years) but find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by pre-historic tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that the earth was only a couple of generations old.

4.  You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival Christians sects - will spend eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering.  And yet you consider your religion to be the most "tolerant" and "loving".

3.  While modern science, history, geology, biology and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" is all the evidence you need to prove the truth of Christianity.

2.  You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers.  You consider that to be evidence that prayer "works."  And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE rate was simply the will of god.

1.  You actually know a lot less than many Jews, Muslims, atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and "church" history, but still call yourself a Christian.

A Graphic Demonstration as to what's wrong with FAUX (FOX News)

Most folks reading this blog recognize that FAUX (FOX) News is an ultra-rightwing propaganda machine that has as its mission the health and well-being of the Republican Party and the corporate elites who are actually in control of the United States.

Most folks reading this blog will also agree that FAUX News has little concern for truth and goes out of its way to slant the "news" to further its mission.

A friend sent me this picture which dramatizes very graphically what's wrong with FAUX News and why FAUX News should not be considered a real news source but rather as the mouthpiece for the Republican Party, the corporatists and the Christianists!

Please click on picture to enlarge it.

Disclaimer:  I have not checked the authenticity of this picture, but from what I've seen of FAUX News, it's quite accurate as to the methods of their reporting!

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!

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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!

Frozen Planet - a Trailer

Frozen Planet is a BBC production and will be premiering on The Discovery Channel on Sunday, March 18, at 8:00 p.m.

Invite all your global warming deniers to take a look!

h/t to my friend Jose Mendonca. Please take a look at his marvelous photoblog here.

Sir David Attenborough on God

Santorum, doggy doo, and other funny stories

Rick Santorum, that 16th century Roman Catholic candidate for president of these United States, has decided that teleprompters are evil.  That's right.  Teleprompters!

One of the things about people who live via firm creedal affirmations, even though they may be highly educated, is they act stupid.  Santorum may have a couple of college degrees but he's still as dumb as doggy doo!

Lil' Rick (by "Lil'" I'm referring to his mind's grasp of reality) thinks that people who use teleprompters are not saying what's in their "hearts"!  Thus, this bit of "Trail Mix" from Lil' Rick on the campaign trail advising potential voters:  "It's important for you to understand who the person is in their own words, see them, look them in the eye...hear what's (in their) heart."  Evidently, in Lil' Rick's mind, teleprompters don't allow one to use his/her own words, look the audience in the eye or say what's in his/her "heart."  What he means by heart, of course, is your brain, as there's nothing in your heart except vessels and lots of blood!  And when you speak you're saying what your brain is telling you to say!  Your heart has nothing to do with it!

Lil' Rick plans to ban teleprompters just as soon as he's elected president!  I wonder if he'll ban speaker's notes; if he'll disallow memorizing a speech; if he'll make practicing a speech in front of a mirror illegal?

One never knows with someone as dumb as doggy doo!


Did you hear about the priest who denied a lesbian the Sacrament of Saving Grace?  Well, actually he covered up the paten so she couldn't take a cracker when she came to the altar!  It happened at the funeral mass for the woman's mother.  The priest mumbled something about the woman living with another woman which is a sin and against the rules of the church.

Think about this a minute.  All surveys conducted of priests in the Roman church indicate that a minimum of 25% of all priests are homosexual, and the number actually is probably more like 50%.  Who knows, maybe this priest was gay?

Every time I think the hypocrisy of the Roman church couldn't get any worse, it gets worse.  However, the priest was suspended pending an investigation.  So what's to investigate?  If the woman is a lesbian, then by god, she doesn't deserve saving grace.  She deserves to spend eternity in hell.  That's the teaching of the church!

And not just the Roman church but every so-called "evangelical" Christian church on the face of the earth!

Oh, yes, but remember God is luuuuuuve!


Harold Camping, you may remember, is that freaky fundamentalist who decided that the world would end on a certain date and then when it didn't he said it would end on another day and then when it didn't a few months went by and now he's saying he was wrong.  You think?


Mr. Boehner, the Republican who's Speaker of the House, said the other day that some of the GOP members of Congress are pretty smart but a lot of them are real dummies.  Good grief, what took him so long to figure that out?


You'll be glad to know that Roman Catholics in England are amassing to fight gay marriage in their fair country.  Gay marriage, they assure us, will destroy traditional marriage, blah, blah, blah.  And god hates gay stuff so we can't have any of that.

It's all rather funny, because recent surveys indicate two things:  Fewer and fewer people are getting married these days.  They are living together and having children together but they aren't getting married.  I think god has condemned them to hell, also.  That's what the Bible says!  Secondly, over 50% of all heterosexual marriages end in divorce.  Divorced people then go out and get married and divorced all over again.

But the church doesn't worry about those people even though the bible says they're all terrible sinners.

Why do you suppose that is?

What these English Catolicks show us is, that once again, as has been the case for 2000 years, the Roman church and a lot of other churches are on the wrong side of history!


Six of our states in the United States are offering a lottery in which the winner will receive $1,000 per day for life. The lottery is very profitable and sucks money out of the suckers who play it!  We also know that the lottery is most attractive to those least able to toss money down the drain!  It's a shame that our state governments are engaged in such a sham!  And once again, rather than make those who gain the most from government pay for it's blessings, the government socks it to the poor!


In Mt. Sterling, Ohio, a police person tased a 9-year old boy.  The police department then tried to cover up this tasing.  The mayor found out.  He suspended the entire police department and the city is now "guarded" by the county sheriff.  It's rather sad when we can no longer trust those who are entrusted to guard our safety!


Katie Couric has mentioned that she is in awe of Hillary Clinton's brainpower.  I think that is true of many people around the world.  Gee, I wonder what Ms. Couric thinks of Sarah Palin's brainpower?   Oh, stop laughing!


The Russian Orthodox Church wants to ban "gay propaganda." Can't their god do anything about gay propaganda, especially if she's really opposed to gay stuff?  Maybe the best thing would be to ban the Russian Orthodox Church from promoting Russian Orthodox Church propaganda.  That would be a much more creditable step toward making the world a better place than banning "gay propaganda."


Stupidity rules! Not a good thing. The other day, in the downtown area of the city in which I live, I ran across some teapot crackpots setting up to protest President Obama and high taxes and the government in general.  I stopped to talk to one of these crackpots as he was pulling a sign out of his car which read, "Obama Must Go!"

This gentleman, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, complained that Obama has done nothing for the country, was probably not an American citizen, and most likely was a Muslim.

Recent surveys of possible GOP voters in Alabama and Mississippi indicate similar sentiments.  In Alabama, for example, 14% of these voters think Obama is a Christian; 45% think he is a Muslim; and 41% are not sure. 

In that great southern racist state of Mississippi, 12% of 656 possible GOP voters think Obama a Christian; 52% say he's a Muslim, and 36% are not sure.

What we're facing is a massive denial of reality among undereducated and ignorant people who have come to believe that if they believe something it must be true!

Not a good sign for the future of our country.


Speaking of a denial of reality:  The freakish Republican Senator from Oklahoma, James Inhofe (who just happens to have a new book out denying the reality of global warming), says that global warming is a hoax because "only God can change the climate."

He bases his thinking on some obscure biblical passage written by ignorant tribesmen wandering the desert some 3,500 years ago who also believed the world was flat, the sun could stand still in the sky, and that god created everything in just six days (then got so tired he had to rest and now demands that all people rest on the 7th day and if you have children that refuse to rest of the 7th day you should stone them until they lie dead and bleeding on the ground!). These ignorant tribesman knew nothing of science, medicine, philosophy or much of anything else.  They did know some silly stories passed down from one generation to another about some guy name Noah, another guy named Moses, a fellow who was called Abram or Abraham, oh, and some gent with a colorful coat who was called Joseph.

Inhofe is way too ignorant to be serving in our government or any government for that matter.  Faith is not what counts when you're involved in running an enterprise that holds the life and death of the planet in its hands.  Reason is what counts!  Knowledge is what counts.  Science is what counts.

Religion kills.  It always has and it always will in spite of its tendency to wrap it's killing in pious cloaks and cliches and "faith" traditions.  It's God's will! Catholics killed millions.  Lutherans killed thousands.  Followers of Calvin killed a bunch, too.  Muslims have a mandate from the Quran to kill infidels and they have done so with impunity down through the ages.  Most every religion in the world has a similar history.

And I'd be willing to bet that if the Roman church ruled the world, it wouldn't be long before gays and other pariahs like Jews and Muslims and lots of Protestants would be literally running for their lives.  So watch out for Santorum!  And Gingrich!

The wacky world in which we live!

* He was elected mayor of a small town on the US/Mexico border.  He was elected by a wide margin of votes.  He believes President Obama is illegal - that the president is not a natural born citizen and thus is ineligible to be president.  He believes Obama's election was part of a CIA conspiracy.  He has ties to a very radical racist right-wing group.  But the worst of it is that he believes Obama is the incarnation of evil.  In other words, Obama is evil in the flesh.

* In Colorado, the state supreme court ruled that students and faculty at the state's universities who had valid concealed weapons licenses could carry guns on campus thus overturning the ban on carrying weapons which had been imposed by the educational institutions.

* Legislators in the enlightened state of Utah have decided to forbid any discussion of homosexuality in the schools and allow the dropping of sex education in the schools.  Nothing like godliness in good ol' Mormon country!

* In New Hampshire, state legislators have dropped mandated contraception coverage.  No doubt they look forward to more babies, more abortions and more poverty.

* The GOP neocon idiots calling for strikes on Syria and war on Iran have not discussed how they would pay for such misguided actions.  A huge part of our current budget deficit is the result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which Georgi W. Buski conveniently neglected to include in his budgets.  It is interesting to observe that most Republicans believe we cannot afford anything but war! 

* The brilliant, intellectual genius, good Christian and promiscuous liar, Michele Bachmann, crawled out of her cave in Minnesota to warn the country that Obama's desire to have insurance companies pay for contraception coverage is likely to lead to a policy of "one child per family."  Hmm...not a bad idea!

* The Catholic bishops who have a reputation of overlooking sexual assaults on young children by their peers in the priesthood, are all worked up about their Catholic institutions (schools, hospitals, etc.,) having to pay for contraception  coverage for their employees when the Roman church does not believe in contraception.  But it isn't true that the institutions have to pay for contraception coverage.  Obama changed the policy so the insurance companies pick up the tab.  That didn't matter to the old, white men who have never been married or raised a family and thus know next to nothing about what that entails.  So, they are still screaming about Obama's "war on religion," which is nothing but a smokescreen to hide their own pernicious dealings with their criminal priests.  Is there any question anymore that the Roman church is one of the greatest incubators of criminality in the world?

* An addendum to the above:  A number of the Catholic institutions referred to in this contraception controversy have publicly stated they have no problem providing contraception coverage to their employees.  Not only so, but the bishops seem to be so out of the loop they don't realize or don't care that about 90+ percent of their constituents ignore the church's teaching on birth control.

* Pat Robertson, the aging agent of a spurious and evil deity, claims that the recent tornadoes which tore up the Midwest occurred because the people living in that area had not spent sufficient time in prayer to Robertson's god.  It's interesting, though, that the Midwest is considered one of the more religious areas of the country.  California, on the other hand, is often said to be the hotbed of decadence and immorality.  I don't think California has many tornadoes.  Florida gets tornadoes and hurricanes, and what's worse, we got Rick Scott as governor, so obviously those of us who live in the Sunshine State are seriously lacking in goodness and time spent on knees in abject pleading.

* It's about time we got serious about gun control!  Enough is enough.  A teacher, recently fired, returned to his Episcopal church school in Jacksonville, Florida and shot dead the principal after which he committed suicide.  That hardly made a ripple in the news cycle for such events have become commonplace.

I'm going to say this out loud so listen up:  the Second Amendment has nothing to do with the right of individuals in 2012 to own guns, carry them on their person, and shoot other people with them.  The Second Amendment refers to the rights of states to form and arm militias.  Like the state National Guard!  

The NRA (talk about the incarnation of evil) has hornswoggled the whole country into thinking that the Second Amendment is a sacred promise to every Tom, Harry, Mary and dick in this country that they can own any kind of gun and any amount of guns no matter what kind of people Tom, Harry, Mary and dick may be or what their mental state might be or whether they are a danger to themselves and others just by being alive, much less carrying around AK 47's under their black trench coats!

* Mrs. Willard Romney, wife of the presidential wannabe, while sitting on a personal fortune of $250 million, said she doesn't consider herself wealthy.

* Patricia Heaton, who I loved as Debra in "Everybody Loves Raymond," is a right-wing, ultra-Catholic blowhard who spouts the Vatican hard line on abortion, contraception and only the Catholic god knows what else.  Shut up Ms. Heaton or I'm not gonna watch any more of your old re-runs!

* Did you see the latest pictures of our vanishing ice caps and how the seas are rising and how we've got one hell of a problem that is rapidly getting out of hand?  Probably not.  Didn't make the news.  But right on the front page was a note about Kim Kardashian's long legs.  What a great country this is.

* Evidently employers and government bureaucrats will now have the right to demand your Facebook password.  Give it to them.  Then set up a fake Facebook account but don't tell anybody.  Big Brother is everywhere!

* There's a new bill being proposed in South Carolina that would take away the driver's licenses of high school dropouts.  Hey, that will really solve the problem.  Now the kids won't be able to drive to their jobs.  Maybe some of them dropped out to earn money so their families can eat.  So, now they'll lose their jobs.  Maybe they can become state legislators in South Carolina.  Stupidity and ignorance seems to be the main qualification for that job in that state!

* The ultra-right-wing christianist governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, signed a law requiring women to have an ultrasound procedure before they can legally have an abortion.  Virginia is the 7th state to require this procedure.  While it no longer involves a vaginal intrusion (state-rape) it is still an unwarranted assault on women.  I like what one person suggested:  that every man be required to have an anal prostate exam before he can obtain ED drugs like Viagra.

* Santorum believes that every sperm is sacred, a person.  It is mind-boggling that anyone can be as stupid as he is!

* An atheist billboard which reads, "You know it's a myth, and you have a choice," was supposed to be placed on a building in a mostly Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn.  The landlord, who is Jewish, backed down at the last minute, ostensibly because of pressure from local residents.  Words are fearsome things!

* Joyce Meyer has written a prayer book for children, called "Every Which Way to Pray."  In it she suggests that children be taught that prayer is simply talking to God and they can just talk to God anytime and any place, that he will never be too busy to hear their concerns.

What a crock.  There's something obscene about teaching young children who don't know better that there's a caring big ol' man up there somewhere who's going to take care of them.  They'll learn that's not true soon enough.  About the same time they realize Santa is a myth cut out of the same cloth!

* I know a 20-something young lady who firmly believes in the power of prayer.  Whenever she wants something, she convinces herself that it is God's will and then she urges her friends to "pray, pray, pray."  I don't think she will ever see the inherent contradiction.  If something is God's will, then why must one engage in "pray, pray, pray"?  Why must one persist in a constant, sickening, pleading for God to do what it is his will to do?

And on that note, I shall close this rant.

Forget prayer.  Enjoy!  Do what you think is best, and try to be kind to others so we can make this a better world for all people.  If there were a God who cared, that's what I think she would want us to do!

More on Santorum and religion

 "My lie was this big!"

[Photo from the Christian Science Monitor]

Joan Walsh, writing at Salon, has an excellent article dealing with Santorum's phony attack on JFK's statement about separation of church and state.

She begins it this way:

"We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever.  Church and state are, and must remain separate.  All are free to believe or not believe, all are free to practice a faith or not, and those who believe are free, and should be free, to speak of and act on their belief."

Santorum went after JFK, a fellow Catholic, but a Democrat, claiming that JFK said people of faith had no role in government.  As Ms. Walsh points out, that was a lie on Santorum's part.  As I would point out, it's what we've come to expect of Santorum.

Regarding the above quote:  that was not JFK speaking, it was none other than Ronald Reagan when he was running for re-election in 1984.

Read all of Ms. Walsh's article here.

Santorum, throwing up and the Grand Inquisitor

News item:   The "saintly" Rick Santorum said that John F. Kennedy's take on the U.S. Constitution as to separation of church and state was just plain horrid.  I mean, really!  Kennedy actually believed and had the gall to say that his allegiance to the Constitution as president was more binding than his allegiance to a bunch of priestly old men in skirts who pranced around chancels!  How could that be? 

Santorum was so incensed by this thought that he "almost threw up"!  Well, you can understand that.  I mean doesn't everybody think that the US of A ought to be ruled by Canon Law, by Santorum's perverted view of Christianity?


Not so long ago a group of people gathered to listen to lil' Rick explain his view of the Constitution, religion and the place of religion in our government. 

Lil' Rick explained the best he could.  It was like moving back in time.  I mean, the sun revolves around the earth?  The earth is flat?  The pope rules?  Jews are bad?  Muslims are worse?  People do not have a right to have sex within the confines of their homes?  Homosexuals are like dogs-on-dogs?  Public education is terrible?  No woman should ever have an abortion?  Sex education is of Satan?  The United States is under the spell of Satan?  Birth control must be outlawed?  Let's bomb Iran?  Never apologize, even when you're wrong?  The president must follow Catholic theology?  The Crusades were about American values?  The glaciers are not melting?  Drill, drill, drill so we can send even more oil to other countries?  Immigrants are bad and should be driven from our shores (unless, of course they are Irish and Catholic!)?

Then, when lil' Rick got to talking about Kennedy and the separation of church and state and how religion is supposed to play an important role in the government (the Catholic religion, of course), all the people stood up ....

... AND THREW UP!!!!

Romney and Santorum: Liars and perpetrators of nonsense!

Willard Romney, the richest of the nogoodniks running for the GOP nomination, thinks that everyone should be, and, in fact, is proud of his success and is happy as punch that his wife runs around in two Cadillacs.  Not one, but two.  And Willard has other cars too.  He's been successful, he says, and that means he can have as many cars as his little black heart desires.

He's right.  He can drive Caddies 'til GM goes out of business.

But he might be wrong about flaunting his success in the face of people who have no jobs, who have lost their homes and their savings and wonder where their next meal is coming from.

You think?  Maybe?

All of which doesn't mean Willard is a bad man.  Stupid perhaps.  Uncaring, certainly.  An elitist?  Sure.  Unable to empathize with other less fortunate people?  Absolutely!

But the latest gambit of Mr. Romney is a blinding example of the fact that while he may have money he has no class.  He is not honest.  Nor is he concerned about the country he wishes to lead.  He is says that the auto industry bailout was a mistake.  It was money that should not have been spent.  He doesn't mention that it saved the industry,  and that much of it has been paid back.

But Romney slithers deeper into the slime that is GOP politics these days.  He claims that the role Obama played in the auto bailout was corrupt; that Obama wasn't concerned about the auto industry but only about his union backers and that the bailout was a payoff to the unions.

This is a desperate ploy on the part of Willard and may well backfire.  And it raises the question that if he's really concerned about corruption in government why he hasn't gone after the Congress, the members of which are assumed to be corrupt as they are primarily concerned with the welfare of those who paid for them to be elected rather than the welfare of the people of the United States.  

Certainly, the unions benefited in that UAW members went back to work as their jobs were saved.  But to conclude that makes Obama corrupt is a far reach that compromises only Romney's ethics.


And then there's Rick Santorum.   Far from being the saintly character he pretends to be, Santorum is a slimeball of inordinate proportions.  He is ignorant and he is stupid.  He has a mean streak!

His persona and beliefs derive from the fact that he is essentially a fascist theocrat and believes the USA needs to be run according to the Roman Church and under the rule of Canon Law.

Consider what he has said:

Life begins the moment sperm and egg meet.  Every single sperm is sacred.  Thus, birth control should not be allowed.  You may remember his infamous statement that contraception is a huge danger in this country:  "It's not OK.  It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."

How are things supposed to be?  Exactly as the Roman church has ordered.  Sex is a privilege granted by the church and not a right.  Santorum said that the Supremes were off base when they ruled that consensual sex within the confines of our homes was a right.  "Then," cried this moron, "you have the right to bigamy, the right to polygamy...to incest...to adultery...the right to anything."

This paragon of Catholic virtue, ignorant as doggy doo, said "This right to privacy doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution."

There's so much more:  homosexuality he compares to "man-on-dog" sex.  He thinks the Crusades were a good thing, they had to do with our "core American values."  He doesn't believe in Global Warming.  He hates public education (which makes some sense because he gets paid big bucks by the private education industry) and the Catholic Church has always hated public education for the same reason Santorum does:  Public, secular education is about helping people learn the difference between truth and bullshit while religious education is always first and foremost about indoctrination in bullshit! 

Santorum epitomizes the rationale for disbelieving in a god.  If there were a god such as the one which Santorum espouses, she would be a monster unworthy of worship or obedience.

But Santorum's wife is convinced that Santorum's god wants him to be prezident!  Dear Karen told Glenn Beck "I personally thing this [Santorum's candidacy] is God's will.  I think He has us on a path.  And I do think there's a lot more happening than what we are seeing."

This is important because as she told Beck, "...I do believe if President Obama is elected again, I do believe we are going to lose our nation as we know it."

And now the latest:  Santorum pontificated that Obama should not have apologized for the accidental burning of the Qurans in Afghanistan.  It made Obama look weak.  This is rampant stupidity on Santorum's part   To most, if not all Muslims, the Quran has sacred qualities which trump just about anything else on earth.  To deface, defile or destroy a copy of the Quran is unthinkable.  People who do such things will earn the enmity and animosity of the great bulk of the Muslim population.

The burning was an accident.  It seems the people involved were not paying attention.  Thus, the United States inadvertently but seriously insulted many millions of people around the globe.  Why wouldn't we apologize for such a thing?  How does such an apology make one look weak?  It doesn't, of course.  It shows that we respect other people and their beliefs.  Which is something Santorum doesn't understand.

I wonder if Santorum has ready any of the gospel stories about his Jesus.  The Jesus of the Gospels would find Santorum an incredible asshat and disavow him and his policies in a heartbeat!  The truth is Santorum doesn't believe in Jesus.  He believes in the Catholic Church and there's a huge difference, a gulf the size of the universe between the Jesus of the gospels and any of our current Christian churches!

Finally, Santorum had the gall to call Obama a "snob" because the President thought every child should have the opportunity to go to college.  Santorum was merely playing politics, of course, for he went on to say that not everyone was college material and lots of people work with their hands, blah, blah, blah.  Meaningless pap designed to play to his ignorant and gullible base.


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