Month: February 2018

 
From Dave Dubya:

Note: The following statements do not apply to Blacks, immigrants, liberals, Democrats, Muslims, Mexicans and even Americans of Mexican ancestry.

“We wish him well, he worked very hard. We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it’s a tough time for him. He did a very good job when he was in the White House. And we hope he has a wonderful career and he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it and certainly he’s also very sad now. He also, as you probably know says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that.”

“There is no recovery for someone falsely accused — life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”

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From the Borowitz Report:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a televised event that many deemed unnecessarily cruel, millions of Americans were briefly reminded on Monday that they once had a President.

Unsuspecting Americans who turned on cable news Monday morning were suddenly assaulted with the memory of a time when the country’s domestic affairs, international diplomacy, and nuclear codes were entrusted to an adult.

CNN, one of the networks that televised the event, immediately said that it regretted doing so, and acknowledged that reminding Americans that they recently had a President had caused widespread bereavement and distress. “CNN deeply apologizes for the error,” a network statement read. “It will never happen again.”

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From James Wigderson:

It’s official. Paul Nehlen, the racist candidate in the first congressional district running in the GOP primary against House Speaker Paul Ryan, has had his Twitter account suspended. As a private organization, Twitter is certainly within its rights to suspend Nehlen’s account. However, they are making a mistake.

Nehlen is an anti-Semite, a racial provocateur, and has even personally profited from his own campaign for public office. If there was any chance of him winning an election, I would gladly drop my policy against campaign donations and donate all I could to stop him. He is an evil, vile man.

He is also a candidate for public office.

The irony of Nehlen getting suspended by Twitter is that it was Nehlen’s posts on social media that revealed the real Paul Nehlen.

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From The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser:

I recently watched a miniseries on David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and the horrific loss of innocent human life at Waco. The miniseries was a poignant reminder of the fact that bad things can happen when people believe the Christian Bible is the Word of God and is meant to be read literally and taken at face value.

Koresh was considered a cultist, but were his beliefs about the Bible that much different from countless Evangelical churches who say the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God; that every word of the Bible is to be obeyed and practiced; that God said what he means and means what he said (and in some sects continues to say in prophecies and dreams)? Think about the American religious landscape for a moment. Look at how Bible literalism affects (infects) everything from public discourse to governmental policy. Everywhere we look — IF we dare to do so — we see the tragic consequences of Bible literalism. Never mind the fact that the Bible is an ancient religious text of sketchy provenance and is chock full nonsense. That the Bible plays such a vital part in the ebb and flow of American life should frighten us. Why? Because if history teaches us anything, it teaches us that ruthless, conniving men can use the Bible and naivety of Christians to advance their agendas, leading to everything from slavery and war to colonialism and genocide. It is Bible literalism that lies behind efforts to criminalize homosexuality, ban birth control, make abortion illegal, and constitutionally ban same-sex marriage. It is Bible literalism that fuels the patriarchal movement, causing untold spousal and child abuse. It is Bible literalism that leads people to demand creationism be taught in public schools.

Just look at how often Bible literalism affects government at every level.

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Wondering why a few conservative friends fail to be impressed.

 
From Mark Bear at MadMikesAmerica:

I apologize to those of you who are not of a faith orientation due to hypocritical behavior by those who call themselves “Christians.” I also ask your forgiveness that White Evangelical leaders have not only supported Trump but continue doing so, despite the persistent worldly behavior engaged in by him.

In addition, I also apologize to each of you if I have ever engaged in behavior that does not mirror that which I personally and publicly profess. I offer this apology, not to those who are IN the Church, but to those of you who will never step foot inside a church due to this blatant hypocrisy.

Apparently, my “White Evangelical” friends cannot seem to stop placing obstacle upon obstacle in front of those who want nothing to do with the modern-day church. I need to be clear here: I do not EXPECT Trump to “act” as though he were a Believer because for him to do so, would be clearly disingenuous.

After all, he is on record stating he “never has asked for forgiveness,” because he frankly does not believe “he has ever done anything which requires him to do so.” Just so we are all clear: This answer was provided to a media personality in a “Christian” environment. And despite THAT answer, the media personality interviewing Trump was just fine with Trump’s response, and so were 81% of those who self-profess being “Christians” in this nation; those labeled “White Evangelical.”

However, I also want to be clear here about an ancillary issue: Not all of us are like those leaders who find every justification under the sun for Trump’s worldly behavior. Many of us are disgusted with Trump and those evangelical leaders providing such excuses for him.

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From driftglass:

I have been writing about Mr. David Brooks since I started blogging. Almost 13 years now. And I can tell you one thing that is absolutely true: David Brooks and Sean Hannity are in the exactly same business.

Seriously. Exactly the same business.

Of course, Sean Hannity’s customers are more “inbred trailer trash” —

— while David Brooks’ clientele are more Bert Cooper —

— but Mr. Brooks and Mr. Hannity are most assuredly in the same business.

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From John Pavlovitz:

God doesn’t bless America.

That’s not how this works.

I’m sorry to break it to you, Bible Belt Christians—but that’s just how it is.

I know this kinda wrecks the convenient narrative you’ve been working for the past 60 or so years (and hitting especially hard the past eighteen months), but honestly that nasty bit of heresy has done enough damage already and it needs to go. It’s straight-up of the devil.

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From Infidel753:

Why does the cost of the census go up so much every decade? Well, the population is larger each time, of course, but not by nearly enough to explain the huge increases in cost. A big part of the reason is probably that rising public resistance to participating. And why is that happening? Well, a big chunk of the population is just paranoid about government, but even those who are not are naturally resentful of the ever-increasing intrusiveness of the census questions. It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of the non-Constitutionally-mandated data collected over the last few decades is inaccurate, given the natural tendency of people to put false answers on their forms out of sheer annoyance.

Unlikely as it is, I’d like to see the Democrats make an issue of this for the coming election.

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