Month: April 2018

 
From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:

Christians love to think that they have — thanks to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit — some sort of supernatural discernment power that allows them to ferret out the true spiritual condition of everyone with whom they come in contact. Evangelicals, in particular, believe they have some sort of God-given radar that locks on unknown believers and lets them know that they are fellow believers. This radar is a spiritual paternity test of sorts, letting Evangelicals know when one of their family is in the vicinity. I heard countless preachers say that the “spirits” of two or more believers recognize each other when they come in contact with each other. Woo hoo! God’s children are in the house, baby!

Recently, a Christian who commented about unbelieving clergy still pastoring churches illustrated this point:

I also can’t help but think that living and walking out a lie every day is going to eventually take a psychological/emotional toll on anyone. I think it would also work against the pastor really being vulnerable or drawing close to his/her congregation for fear of letting something slip. Eventually people who are closer to the pastor will be able to discern that something just isn’t quite right here.

According to this Christian, she gets Spiderman-like tingly feelings that would let her know if a pastor is faking it. The idea behind her feelings is the notion that Christians can know a pastor well enough that any lying or dishonesty would peg their lie-meter, exposing the hypocrite for all to see. The problem with this thinking is that in real life that’s not how it works.

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From PZ Myers:

Hank Azaria has responded to the Apu controversy on The Simpsons. Recently, people woke up to the fact that the character is a terrible stereotype (Hari Kondabolu made a whole movie about it), and Azaria finally thought about it and publicly recognizes that Kondabolu is right, and that the show should change.

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From The Borowitz Report:

All of the major cable news networks interrupted their regularly scheduled programs to cover the phenomenon, as a man who was identified as “President” spoke in complete, grammatically correct English sentences with no visible sign of strain or discomfort.

Just minutes into the telecast, thousands of viewers called the networks to inquire if they were witnessing a hoax.

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From Dave Dubya:

The most egregious treason committed by the Party of Trump is not limited to their corruption, kleptocracy, or kakistocracy by the worst, least qualified, and most unscrupulous citizens. It’s not even in their fealty to Putin.

Putin and the Trump Administration will be gone eventually. But what will remain?

The Party of Trump and their legions of Angry White Americans are at war with our Constitution’s First Amendment. The founders knew a free press is vital to inform the citizens of democratic representative republic, as well as to question and speak truth to power. There is no place for this freedom in the far Right’s plan for totalitarian dominance.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.

 
From tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors:

Hannity has been a fraud since the very beginning of his career at KCSB: he wasn’t even a student there. So the article from The Guardian, while somewhat breathless, lays out all the many ways that Hannity is beyond unethical in his dealings with his guests. It is not just that he should reveal his business relationship with Mikhail, er, Michael Cohen, but his feather nesting with HUD properties and having Ben Carson on is absolutely a violation of everything I ever learned about ethics and not just journalism. The conflicts of interest are astounding.

I have a hard time believing that Fox is not reeling from these revelations, as crappy as they are. Or at least demanding a piece of the action.

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From Jonathan Bernstein:

The Trump era has changed a lot of things in Washington, but House Republicans have behaved in a remarkably familiar way, given their split between mainstream conservatives and radical ones which dates back even before the Tea Party’s rise at the beginning of the Obama administration. The Freedom Caucus took things several steps further, helping to convince House Speaker John Boehner to retire in 2015. Here’s how he described those lawmakers in Vanity Fair last year:

They can’t tell you what they’re for. They can tell you everything they’re against. They’re anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That’s where their mindset is.

In an era when the Republican Party has almost universally adopted very conservative positions, it’s difficult to establish oneself as a True Conservative on policy grounds alone. Style becomes crucial.

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From nojo at Stinque:

CLASSIFIED BY: DIRECTOR
DECLASSIFY ON: 20271231

January 6, 2017

What follows are notes I typed in the vehicle immediately upon exiting Trump Tower.

I said the Russians allegedly had tapes involving him and prostitutes at the Presidential Suite at the Ritz Carlton in Moscow from about 2013. He interjected, “there were no prostitutes, there were never prostitutes.” He then said something about him being the kind of guy who didn’t need to “go there” and laughed (which I understand to be communicating that he didn’t need to pay for sex).

January 28, 2017

I had dinner with President Trump in the Green Room at the White House last night. I explained that he could count on me to always tell him the truth. I said I don’t do sneaky things. I don’t leak. I don’t do weasel moves. I imagined that Russian hookers likely have expertise in both departments, but I did not raise this point in conversation.

At about this point, he turned to what he called the “golden showers thing” and recounted much of what he said previously on that topic, adding that he had known supermodels who craved the opportunity to “polish his brass” (which I took to refer to massaging his testicles and/or penis), and that he had never paid for intimacy, although the aftermath was occasionally expensive.

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From driftglass:

It has been awhile since we dropped in on the bobs and weaves of the Running Man of Bowling Green, but he’s back baby!

And this time Senator Rand Paul is running away from…

…Senator Rand Paul.

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The President helps First Lady Michelle Obama off the stage after she thanks White House chefs.

A beautiful couple.

Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.