So Very Christian

This is the first of probably many posts about the deep felt Christian attitudes of our far right brethren.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

"It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ’Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,"’ she said Friday.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gary Simons, said no one knew Sinclair, who was not a church member, was gay until the day before the Thursday service, when staff members putting together his video tribute saw pictures of men "engaging in clear affection, kissing and embracing."

Wright called the church’s claim about the pictures "a bold-faced lie." She said she provided numerous family pictures of Sinclair, including some with his partner, but said none showed men kissing or hugging.

The 5,000-member High Point Church was founded in 2000 by Simons and his wife, April, whose brother is Joel Osteen, well-known pastor of the 38,000-member Lakewood Church in Houston. Now High Point meets in a 432,000-square-foot facility in Arlington, near Dallas.


So much for supporting the troops.

Lies and More Lies

To those wing-nuts in the area who don't realize a fact spoonfed to them should be swallowed with caution. Here's some news: Jeri Thompson is not a lawyer. The Trail has more.

It is a measure of how rapid Jeri Kehn Thompson's rise to prominence has been that there has been widespread confusion about a basic fact of her background: whether or not she is a lawyer.

Several major news organizations -- including USA Today, the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and The Post -- have in recent months referred to Jeri Thompson as both a political consultant and lawyer in articles about Fred Thompson's nascent presidential campaign, in which his wife has taken a leading role.

And supporters of the Thompsons have repeatedly invoked Jeri Thompson's status as an attorney to challenge insinuations that the 40-year-old mother of two is a mere "trophy wife" for the 64-year-old actor and former Tennessee senator. On Fox News last week, host Chris Wallace quoted a letter from a viewer attacking NPR's Juan Williams for having previously used the 'tw' phrase in reference to Thompson: "You chauvinist pig. Jeri Thompson is an intelligent, accomplished woman. She is a lawyer. And she has worked in the public policy arena." Added conservative blogger Ed Morrissey last month: "Anyone with access to Google knows that Mrs. Thompson worked as an attorney and media consultant in DC."

Well, presumptuous as it may be to challenge the holy writ that is Google, the hard fact is that Jeri Thompson is not a lawyer. There is no trace in public records of Thompson holding a license to practice law in D.C. or any of the states in which she has resided. And today, campaign spokeswoman Linda Rozett said conclusively, "Jeri Thompson does not have a law degree."

Never mind!

Because We Don't Want to Play Anymore

courtesy of This Modern World

Finally doing the right thing ... ignore Fox. Let them blather to their shrinking base of angry white men and women who barely understand English.

Still Clueless After All These Years

After 3,679 American deaths, 27,104 Americans wounded and 60,000+ Iraqi casualites, Patrick McIlheran almost got it, in an ironic sort of way.

Posting about the news that Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, author of the much-disputed "Shock Troops" article, has recanted his story, McIlheran attempts to use Beauchamp's alleged deceit to question the motives of the (as he calls it) "surrender-now side."

His final sentence of the post, however, was almost a striking condemnation of this entire misbegotten affair and the failure of the McIlherans on the right to honestly view the excursion into Iraq, rather than mouthing platitudes provided to them by this administration. If McIlheran had had the courage, this is what he would have written:

What good can come from the war against the war in Iraq if it's a campaign founded on lies?

That was nearly the first honest thing you've said about Iraq, Paddy! Keep trying.

Mark Belling v Margaret Farrow

Jessica McBride tantalizes us with this five word reportage of a Mark Belling and Margaret Farrow debate. She says, "Who do you think won?" Such in-depth reporting.

Somewhat surprisingly, dad29, a decidely right-wing kind of guy (btw: I thought McBride said anyone not using their own name was gutless and she wouldn't allow their posts), steps in and says this about Belling:

"It is not unusual for Belling to make asinine and uninformed statements to keep interest/ratings in his show. If it's a 'sliming contest,' Belling wins. Not the first time."

In retrospect, daddio's response doesn't really surprise me. I will say this, he is a straight shooter. McBride's response is not a surprise either, alas:

"I don't agree with your description of Belling at all. I think he calls it like he sees it and acts from principle not partisan allegiance."

I wonder what sort of principles Belling employs when hanging out at Victors and ogling the young girls, many who are of an age to be his daughter, if he had managed to have any. Thankfully, he has not reproduced.

However, saying Belling is not a partisan hack is precious. In the world of McBride, down really is up.

UPDATE: After the fact, McBride adds this. Apparently she reads other blogs.

(My take? Belling won hands-down. Arguing for the legal defense of racial preferences isn't an easy sell.)

A Bridge Too Far

Those who've been saying that it's the Bush administration's fault for the failure of the bridge in Minnesota are not being fair. While true that sufficient funding for maintenance has been inadequate, this was the case for the previous Clinton administration, too.

What the real shame is that the Clinton administration, in its zeal to be elected was willing to move so far to the center as to be emulating the me-first attitudes of the previous Republican administrations. They managed to fool Democrats, who desperately wanted to return a Democrat to the White House after 12 years of Republican mis-rule, and now Ms Clinton hopes to do the same again. Her flip-flopping on Iraq is just one measure of her desperation for the presidency.

We must first make sure that a Republican is not returned to office, because the neglect of our infrastructure will continue and more tragedies will occur ... all because the greed of the moneyed elite and their hapless minions, the so-called angry white men and women who would sell their souls for a return to the gloried 50s are incapable of thinking for themselves. Read some of the local blogs if you think that thought is necessary for conservatism to prevail.

I don't know who I favor yet, but I do know that I cannot support Ms Clinton. I cannot support anyone who will do anything to be elected. I cannot vote for anyone who will not show the fortitude and a backbone to make a stand rather than standing on poll results. Here are some thing I will look to when deciding:

What I want is a structured plan for an exit from the illegal conflict in Iraq.

I want recall of the Patriot Act and have it replaced with legislation that both protects our nation and its citizens and protects us from overzealous and power-hungry politicians.

I want universal health care ... period. Proper health care for anyone should not be a monetary concern.

I want religion put back in its place, where it belongs ... in the family and in the faith community ... it does not belong in the political sphere, nor should government be favoring one religion over others.

I want my son to shower regularly and use deodorant.

All of the points above can be reached, except perhaps the last one, which likely will not occur until he reaches the age where girls are attractive.

But for now, don't blame Bush for this one tragedy ... this one carried the weight of history.

O'Reilly Rant

This is the first I've seen the video of Bill O'Leilly v. Senator Chris Dodd ... only heard the audio previously. Watching, though, reminds me of what it's like when battling some of the local conservative numb-nuts in print. Just like O'Leilly, they cherry-pick facts and merely try to shout down rather than engage.

Now, that is not true of all conservative bloggers ... but their cause is not helped by the clowns among them. Here is the video, courtesy of atrios.

Irony Never Sleeps

Because I'm bored today ... let's turn to Tom Tomorrow for enlightenment.

In light of the question posed in this week’s cartoon, Jack Hitt passes along yet another example of what has become an entirely predictable trend:

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - The minister of a Baptist church has been charged with indecent exposure and driving under the influence, and police officers say he propositioned them.

Tommy Tester, 58, of Bristol, Va., was wearing a skirt when he was arrested last week after allegedly urinating in front of children at a car wash, police said. Police also said Tester offered to perform oral sex on officers who were sent to the scene. Authorities identified Tester as the minister of Gospel Baptist Church in Bristol and an employee of Christian radio station WZAP-AM in Bristol.

Using Conservatives' Logic ....

h/t Tom Tomorrow

Oh my.

The well-known hate site BillO’Reilly.com is being investigated by the Secret Service for threatening Hillary Clinton’s life. Well, actually it was just some commenter, but by Billo’s own standards, if the comment is on his site, that means he condones it. Why does Bill O’Reilly want Hillary Clinton to die?

Feed 'em a Peanut

Kudos to James Wigderson at Wigderson Library & Pub for taking on the ridiculousness at Carrick Bend Thoughts (an odd name for the site since very little thought emanates). Wiggy said this:

"Dave of Carrick Bend Thoughts posted a picture of Governor Doyle & Lt. Governor Lawton posing with caricature Native Americans from the old TV series F Troop. He captioned it, "The Governor and Lt Governor meet with concerned constituants (sic) to discuss the the impact of indian (sic) gaming on Wisconsin politics." No context, no link.

Dave was a little unhappy when Mike Mathias at Pundit Nation called it "offensive and juvenile."

"Does anyone wonder why Republicans find themselves battling charges of being insensitive to minority groups?

It’s because too many of you don’t speak up when individuals like Carrick sling their vile hash around.

Regardless of how one feels about Doyle or his gaming polices, our politics and political discourse are tarnished by Carrick’s brand of…well, what is it exactly? It looks like the kind of thing that would draw hoots of approval from readers of websites that advocate white supremacy."

Dave replied with two posts to Pundit Nation readers (in the second he refers to visitors as Nazis ... the last refuge of the weak-minded). In the first post he linked to a post, which contained a YouTube compilation of clips of Jesus and God jokes from Family Guy. Dave thought this an example of the lack of a moral compass of lefties.

I left this message for Dave: "God has a better sense of humor than you ... the ultimate joke."

Dave chose not to accept the comment (he has comment moderation turned on). Why might you ask? The comment was fairly innocuous.

The answer is that Dave is the on-line equivalent of those radio cowards Charlie Sykes, Jeff Wagner, etc. They say they accept comments from listeners, but you know the only ones who really get through are those who agree with them.

...or white supremacists.

Righteous Outrage?

I have a real big problem with all of the Barry Bond's haters. There have been many unkind observations that Bonds must have ingested steroids at some time. But the fact is there is no proof. The time may come when the truth is finally determined ... yet, Barry Bonds is vilified here, here and here by local conservosphereans who claim some sort of love for baseball, certainly not for the adage "innocent until proven guilty."

I don't hear the same chorus of outrage at Jason Giambi who has admitted to using steroids. I hear the crickets from the right, but no outrage over Mark McGwire and his non-answers regarding steroid use. Hell, I'm surprised they're not all over Jose Canseco ... he is Hispanic after all, the right's favorite whipping dog of late.

Lastly, I hear no words of approbation for Bud Selig who knew about the problem but did nothing about it. Of course, baseball was in a mini-renaissance. He probably didn't want to ruin his legacy ... but now, the best he can do is say what those on the right refuse to admit. However, Selig's admittance of innocence before guilt is pathetically lukewarm.

Read here for more on the subject by Buster Olney.

Poor right-wingers, so misunderstood.

Draft a College Republican

Saw this at both jef4wi and This Modern World. I liked it so I reproduce it here for the two or three that look at this blog infrequently. Listen to the Tom DeLay part especially. The man is an absolute putz.

The Sky is Falling

h/t via Illusory Tenant

Regarding the outcry from conservatives about the defeat of the John Doe amendment which would have provided immunity for anyone who alerted authorities about supposed terrorists, and the accusations were found to be false ... this comment by Steve:

Clearly, the way to fight terrorism is to encourage as many people as possible to cry wolf. Surely there’s no way that could be bad for us in the long run.

Hee hee!

The Homophobes Are Coming

h/t Working for Change

This is important. I've already sent in my two-cents to our senators. You can too.

President Bush just doesn't seem to get it. He continues to propose right-wing nominees for top posts in our government as if Congress was still controlled by rubber-stamp Republicans, eager to please their fundamentalist base.

The latest in Bush's series of inappropriate and ideologically-slanted nominees is Dr. James Holsinger of Kentucky, whom Bush has nominated to the post of United States Surgeon General. Holsinger has exhibited a pattern of hostility to gays and lesbians that is evident throughout his career. Consider:

Dr. Holsinger, along with his wife, co-founded the Hope Springs Community Church in Lexington, which operates a so-called "ex-gay" ministry -- with the type of "conversion therapy" that has been condemned by both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association.

Holsinger currently serves as president of the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church; in this capacity he opposed a decision to allow a lesbian to be an associate pastor, and supported a pastor who would not permit an openly gay man to join the church.

He also authored a white paper in 1991 -- "Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality" -- trying to make a medical argument that homosexuality is unnatural and unhealthy. (A University of Minnesota professor on human sexuality has said this paper would have received a "failing grade" in his class.)

Holsinger is, of course, entitled to his private religious views, however narrow and exclusionary they may be. But the U.S. Surgeon General needs to be the chief medical officer for ALL Americans -- not just the heterosexual ones. Tell your Senators to reject this nomination and force President Bush to choose competence over ideology for his next nominee.

Are You Awake, Mr. President?

The vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, will be briefly in power for a second time according to this report from MSNBC. The reason for his assumption of power on Saturday is the president will be under the effects of anesthesia while a colonoscopy is performed.

Apparently, a previous operation was performed in 2002. At the time:

The 2002 procedure began at 7:09 a.m and ended at 7:29 a.m. Bush woke up two minutes later but did not resume his presidential office until 9:24 a.m., after [Doctor] Tubb conducted an overall examination. Tubb said he recommended the additional time to make sure the sedative had no aftereffects.

My question: How could the doctor tell the difference?

Stick Them Where?

"Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV"

by the Asylum Street Spankers



For my friend, Fred. Oh the idiocy!

More Irony

This is really bad. I wrote a post about some of the nastiness from the right wing (courtesy of This Modern World). The responses have been interesting.

Tom McMahon sent me a comment with a link to his site where he had posted about Hunter Thompson. I zipped over and found that some of the comments matched in ferocity and venom those I posted earlier.

As I said in the comments, echoing something capper said, I know it is true that there are those on the left who can wallow in the depths too. It's just sad to see.

To be fair, below are some of the comments left with Tom. Sorry you had to face that, Tom. I could share some stuff that equals that from one of our local cheddarsphereans ... but, I guess, what is the point. He's not worth the energy and nor are the people who commented at your site.

This guy started out ok, but then the weirdness kicked in.

Mr McMahon Its so obvious that you have read little of Hunter S. Thompsons' literary genius. The man was the most gifted and articulate Social and political commentator of the 20th century. He was a man who lived without fear and lived fully everyday of his life.

Your problem with HST is that he lived his life his way without apology. He lived outside your preconceived ideas of right and wrong and made it work. He proved that you can live a productive life and still ingest whatever you want without losing your intelligence or success. Not everyone is capable of living that lifestyle and no one should try to immitate his life. Yet he did live his life without hipocrisy.

So all I have left to say to you, you bloated greedhead nazi is Fuck you and your GOP horse that you rode in on.

This fellow (appropriately named Chris ... inside joke) was lost from the beginning.

Here we have a bunch of uptight greedy-eyed squares attempting to grind Hunter's image into the dirt. Screw on your heads, Dr. Thompson was one of the most creative and brilliant men in literature this century, do you read Thomas? Obviously not enough. Hunter stayed young and idealistic until he died, you, however, my fatbodied Tommy, are a rotting corpse with no life left in you, don't be envious, loosen your collar and let some blood flow to your oxygen deprived brain meats.

This person wouldn't even include a name. Coward.

When you die, there will be no one will be SOOOO sick of you because you are a talentless partisan hack.

Take a break from force feeding us with the leftovers of your moral self f***atio and learn that the drugs Hunter S. Thompson took are just as bad as the cheeseburgers you slug down like ambrosia.

How stereotypical of a truly revolting kind of conservativfe to judge a man's life not by his merit but by GASP drug consumption.

You are a revolting pig of a man whose simple mindedness would never be able to grasp the brilliance of a man who searched for truth.

You could not find truth if it were right below the pompous tint in your squinted eyes and the gluttony of your corpulent double chin.

Last one. There's more, but I think you all get the point.

hey you cheese burger engulfing Nazi, why dont get your thumb out of your ass and come to terms with the fact that he is a success of an author to some and a revolutionary who lived by his own terms to others.... you know what fuck you mussolini im gonna go get an h.s.t. tattoo now, eat cock!



Sorry, Tom.

Fox Reality

The wingnuts love Fox. Why not, it feeds into their twisted sense of what's real. Witness this from This Modern World.

As Tom Tomorrow points out, the vote was actually 52 in favor of pullout. It fell short of the 60 votes needed. But Fox would have you believe a majority voted to shoot down the plan.

I wonder how Fred at Real Debate would see this?

Irony Never Sleeps

h/t This Modern World

A sampling of the email Markos received from Bill O’Reilly’s viewers after Bill O’Reilly — who later in the same broadcast professed complete computer illiteracy — denounced Daily Kos as a "hate site."

U/R A DIRTY RECTUM LICKING COMMIE SLIME MAGGOT!

BORN FROM KARL MARX’S ROTTING FECES.

Your Evil, Fascist Organization.

Fascist scum like your organization need to be removed and sent to another universe from this one. Evil prevails in your organization, and I hope you will receive the reckoning you deserve when all of you meet your Makers. A gentle riddance to thou in the interim.

You…
…suck beyond belief. Hurry up and die.

I have never seen so much hate

I have never seen so much hate you would embarrassed Nazi’s

Why can’t people like you just make a living, instead of hating everyone else?

Are you all muslims?

I just say fuck you, asshole

Kos

I hope you all die a slow death. Much like you wish on good honest people like T. Snow, the Pope, etc. Liberal Fucks! I hope you choke on the smog & drown in the global warming waters caused by cows. You people are so stupid.

IE: San Fransisco is much better now a days since the liberal invasion 1/2 century ago. Hmmmm: It’s full of disease, poverty, queers(goes with disease…..), and polution. You people can’t keep your backyard clean, but cont. to impose your views on other parts of the country. I’m so sad your still around. I’m sure you’ll die off sooner than later. Much like you morals have. Go eat some grass

Anyone who’s been on or mentioned by one of these shows knows there will be a flood of this sewage in their inbox soon thereafter. O’Reilly certainly knows it as well.

Reads like some of the high-minded commenting found at Real Debate and Badger Blogger here in SE Wisconsin.

Just a Question

What do you think of this statement and do you think it is a fair one to make (bonus points if you can guess who said this)?

"My sons are 25 and 30. They are blond-haired and blue-eyed. One amendment today said we could not sell guns to anybody under drug treatment. So does that mean if you go into a black community, you cannot sell a gun to any black person ...."